Mental Health Tribunal Rules 2014
Authorised by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel
Authorised Version
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Mental Health Tribunal Rules 2014
S.R. No. 89/2014
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Rule Page
PART 1—PRELIMINARY 1
1 Object 1
2 Authorising provisions 1
3 Commencement 1
4 Definitions 1
PART 2—APPLICATIONS TO THE TRIBUNAL 2
5 Form of applications 2
6 Information to be contained in an application 2
7 Manner of lodging applications 2
PART 3—PROCEEDINGS 4
8 Register of proceedings 4
9 Application for joinder 5
10 Joinder of parties 5
PART 4—DOCUMENTS TO BE GIVEN TO THE TRIBUNAL 6
11 Filing and service of documents 6
12 Clinical reports to be given to the Tribunal 6
13 Specified circumstances in which clinical reports are to be
given to the Tribunal 6
14 Content of clinical reports referred to in rule 13 8
15 Clinical report in relation to application for electroconvulsive
treatment 9
16 Contents of clinical report in relation to application for
electroconvulsive treatment 9
PART 5—ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS 12
17 Review of decision of Principal Registrar to reject application 12
18 Withdrawal of proceedings 12
19 Corrections to orders or statements of reasons 12
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Rule Page
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PART 6—DURATION OF ORDERS 13
20 Duration of the Order 13
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Authorised by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel
Authorised Version
1
STATUTORY RULES 2014
S.R. No. 89/2014
Mental Health Act 2014
Mental Health Tribunal Rules 2014
The Rules Committee established by section 207 of the
Mental Health Act 2014 makes the following Rules:
PART 1—PRELIMINARY
1 Object
The object of these Rules is to regulate the
practice and procedure of the Mental Health
Tribunal.
2 Authorising provisions
These Rules are made under section 207 of the
Mental Health Act 2014 and all other enabling
powers.
3 Commencement
These Rules come into operation on 1 July 2014.
4 Definitions
In these Rules—
register of proceedings means the register
established under section 176 of the Act;
the Act means the Mental Health Act 2014.
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Part 2—Applications to the Tribunal
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PART 2—APPLICATIONS TO THE TRIBUNAL
5 Form of applications
For the purposes of section 186(a) of the Act, an
application to the Tribunal must be in writing.
6 Information to be contained in an application
For the purposes of section 186(b) of the Act, an
application to the Tribunal must contain the
following information—
(a) the name of the person making the
application;
(b) the postal or email address of the person
making the application;
(c) if the person making the application does so
on behalf of another person, the name and
postal address or email of the person on
whose behalf the application is made;
(d) the name of the designated mental health
service at which the person who is the
subject of the application is receiving
treatment under the Act, if applicable;
(e) particulars of the application that are
sufficient to identify the nature of the
application.
7 Manner of lodging applications
(1) Subject to subrule (2), for the purposes of
section 186(c) of the Act, an application to the
Tribunal may be lodged with the Tribunal by post,
facsimile or other electronic transmission.
(2) An application to the Tribunal to perform
electroconvulsive treatment under section 93 or 94
of the Act must be lodged by facsimile or other
electronic transmission.
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(3) An application to the Tribunal under the Act is
lodged when it is received by the Tribunal.
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Part 3—Proceedings
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PART 3—PROCEEDINGS
8 Register of proceedings
For the purposes of section 176 of the Act, the
following details must be contained in the register
of proceedings in respect of each proceeding
commenced in the Tribunal—
(a) the kind of hearing under the Act;
(b) the name and state-wide Unit Record (UR)
number of the person who is the subject of
the proceeding;
(c) the name of the designated mental health
service where the person is treated at the
time of the hearing, if applicable;
(d) the date and place of the hearing;
(e) the names and class of member of the
Tribunal members constituting the Tribunal
for that proceeding;
(f) the application or a copy or electronic record
of the application which commenced the
proceeding;
(g) the determination of the Tribunal;
(h) any statement of reasons prepared under
section 198 of the Act;
(i) the Treatment Order or an order approving
electroconvulsive treatment, if applicable;
(j) if the proceeding relates to an application for
approval to perform neurosurgery for mental
illness, any clinical information about the
person who is the subject of the application
that has been submitted to the Tribunal in
support of the psychiatrist's application for
approval.
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9 Application for joinder
An application of a person to be a party to a
proceeding under section 183(2) of the Act
must—
(a) be in writing; and
(b) provide reasons why it is desirable that the
person be joined as a party.
10 Joinder of parties
(1) For the purposes of section 183(3) of the Act, a
Tribunal member of the class of senior member
may join a person as a party to a proceeding.
(2) An order to join a person as a party may be made
on the papers.
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Part 4—Documents to be Given to the Tribunal
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PART 4—DOCUMENTS TO BE GIVEN TO THE TRIBUNAL
11 Filing and service of documents
(1) Unless otherwise provided by these Rules or the
Act, if a document is required or permitted to be
given to the Tribunal, it is taken to be given to the
Tribunal when it is physically or electronically
received by the Tribunal Registry at a time when
the Tribunal registry is open for business.
(2) If a document is received at a time when the
Tribunal registry is not open for business, the
document is taken to be received by the Tribunal
on the next day on which the Tribunal registry is
open for business.
12 Clinical reports to be given to the Tribunal
(1) In any hearing of the Tribunal, a psychiatrist or
authorised psychiatrist (as the case may be) must
provide the Tribunal with a clinical report.
(2) A clinical report given to the Tribunal must be in
the form specified in any applicable Practice Note
issued for the purposes of providing, making and
giving clinical reports.
13 Specified circumstances in which clinical reports are
to be given to the Tribunal
Without limiting rule 12, a psychiatrist or
authorised psychiatrist (as the case may be) must
provide the Tribunal with a clinical report in
accordance with rule 14 to enable the Tribunal to
conduct a hearing and determine—
(a) whether to make a Treatment Order under
section 55 of the Act in relation to a person
who is subject to a Temporary Treatment
Order; or
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(b) an application by an authorised psychiatrist
for a Treatment Order under section 54 of
the Act in relation to a person who is
currently subject to a Treatment Order; or
(c) whether to make a Treatment Order or
revoke an Inpatient Treatment Order under
section 55(1) of the Act in relation to a
person who is made subject to an Inpatient
Treatment Order that was varied to the
Inpatient Treatment Order from a
Community Treatment Order by an
authorised psychiatrist; or
(d) an application to revoke a Temporary
Treatment Order or Treatment Order under
section 60 of the Act; or
(e) an application under section 66 of the Act; or
(f) an application under section 100 of the Act
for neurosurgery for mental illness; or
(g) an application by or on behalf of a security
patient under section 272 of the Act in
relation to whether the criteria set out in
section 94B(1)(c) of the Sentencing Act
1991 currently apply to the patient; or
(h) under section 273(1)(a) or (b) of the
Act whether the criteria set out in
section 94B(1)(c) of the Sentencing Act
1991 currently apply to a security patient
who is subject to a Court Secure Treatment
Order; or
(i) an application by or on behalf of a security
patient under section 278(1) of the Act to
revoke a Secure Treatment Order; or
(j) under section 279(1)(a) or (b) of the
Act whether the criteria set out in
section 276(1)(b) currently apply to a
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security patient who is subject to a Secure
Treatment Order; or
(k) an application by a security patient under
section 284(1) of the Act for a review of an
authorised psychiatrist's decision to not grant
a leave of absence; or
(l) an application by a security patient under
section 294(1) of the Act for a review of a
direction to be taken to another designated
mental health service; or
(m) an application by an authorised psychiatrist
or the chief psychiatrist under section 321(1)
or 323(1) for an interstate transfer of
treatment order.
14 Content of clinical reports referred to in rule 13
A clinical report referred to in rule 13 must
contain the following—
(a) information on the relevant clinical and
personal background of the person who is the
subject of the proceeding;
(b) if the psychiatrist or authorised psychiatrist
is required to be satisfied as to certain
matters under the Act, the reasons as to why
the psychiatrist or authorised psychiatrist is
so satisfied;
(c) particulars of the treatment currently
provided to the person who is the subject of
the proceeding;
(d) particulars of the treatment which the
authorised psychiatrist proposes to provide to
the person who is the subject of the
proceeding;
(e) any advance statement of the person who is
the subject of the proceeding;
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(f) any second psychiatric opinion with respect
to the person who is the subject of the
proceeding;
(g) the views and preferences of the person who
is the subject of the proceeding;
(h) if required under the Act, the views and
preferences of the following persons with
respect to the person who is the subject of
the proceeding—
(i) the nominated person;
(ii) a guardian;
(iii) a carer;
(iv) a parent, if the person is under the age
of 16 years;
(v) the Secretary to the Department of
Human Services.
15 Clinical report in relation to application for
electroconvulsive treatment
A psychiatrist or authorised psychiatrist (as the
case may be) must give to the Tribunal a clinical
report in accordance with rule 16 to enable the
Tribunal to hear and determine an application for
the performance of a course of electroconvulsive
treatment under Division 5 of Part 5 of the Act.
16 Contents of clinical report in relation to application
for electroconvulsive treatment
A clinical report in relation to an application for
electroconvulsive treatment must contain the
following—
(a) information on the relevant clinical and
personal background of the person who is the
subject of the proceeding;
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(b) the reasons why the psychiatrist or
authorised psychiatrist is satisfied as to the
matters that the psychiatrist or authorised
psychiatrist is required to be satisfied under
the Act in order to make the application to
the Tribunal;
(c) the proposed number of electroconvulsive
treatments to be performed for the course of
electroconvulsive treatment;
(d) the proposed date by which the course of
electroconvulsive treatment must be
completed if the application is granted by the
Tribunal;
(e) the views and preferences of the person who
is the subject of the proceeding and the
reasons for those views and preferences,
including any recovery outcomes that the
person would like to achieve, in relation to—
(i) electroconvulsive treatment; and
(ii) any beneficial alternative treatments
that are reasonably available;
(f) if required under the Act, the views and
preferences of the following persons with
respect to the person who is the subject of
the proceeding—
(i) the nominated person;
(ii) a guardian;
(iii) a carer;
(iv) a parent, if the person is under the age
of 16 years;
(v) the Secretary to the Department of
Human Services;
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(vi) if the person is a young person who is
not a patient, the views of the person
who has legal authority to consent to
treatment;
(g) if the application is made under section 94 of
the Act in respect of a young person who
does not have capacity to give informed
consent, the informed consent in writing to
the performance of a course of
electroconvulsive treatment on the young
person given by a person who has the legal
authority to consent to treatment for the
young person.
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Part 5—Additional Applications
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PART 5—ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS
17 Review of decision of Principal Registrar to reject
application
An application under section 187 of the Act to
seek review of a decision of the principal registrar
to reject an application must be in writing.
18 Withdrawal of proceedings
An application to seek leave from the Tribunal
under section 188 of the Act to withdraw an
application must be in writing.
19 Corrections to orders or statements of reasons
An application for the Tribunal to correct an order
or statement of reasons under section 199(2)(b) of
the Act must—
(a) be in writing; and
(b) unless special circumstances exist, be made
to the principal registrar within 20 business
days after the day on which the order or
statement of reasons is given to the person;
and
(c) provide reasons for the person's claim that
there is a clerical mistake, error,
miscalculation or defect of the kind specified
in section 199(1) of the Act that should be
corrected; and
(d) if practicable, provide particulars of the
correction proposed.
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Part 6—Duration of Orders
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PART 6—DURATION OF ORDERS
20 Duration of the Order
(1) For the purposes of determining the duration of a
Treatment Order, the Tribunal may calculate the
duration in any manner it sees fit, including
calculating the duration in a number of weeks
immediately following the conclusion of the
hearing for that proceeding.
(2) The Tribunal may state the duration of the
Treatment Order in the Treatment Order by stating
the commencement date of the Treatment Order
and the expiry date of the Treatment Order.
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Dated: 30 June 2014
MATTHEW CARROLL,
President
DOMINIQUE SAUNDERS,
Deputy President
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