Terminology and focus
Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC) acknowledge the wide range of language and terminology used in the field of mental health and have endeavoured throughout this Manual to be sensitive to its usage. However, there are sections where specific terms related to legislation need to be used: for example the 'treatment, care and control' of people under the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW), may not be a phrase that the MHCC would choose to use in regards to the principles and standards for Recovery Orientated Practice in mental health services, however, they have a particular meaning in the context of the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW).
The purpose of the 3rd edition is to bring together in one resource the package of mechanisms, services and systems available to people with mental illness, their families, carers and others, including health professionals. It includes the overlapping issues to do with treatment and health care rights, disability support rights and the participatory and civil rights of people with mental disorders to participate in society as parents, employees, community members and leaders.
However, whilst MHCC takes a leadership role in promoting legislative reform and policy development in other spheres, this Manual does not seek to advocate around the law, it merely informs on the status of the law as its stands, presenting realistic ways in which people can exert their rights and meet their obligations.
MHCC is committed to ongoing communication with government agencies about the efficacy and outcomes of legislation and policies currently in place with regards to mental health. Its discussions with members and with government are published regularly in policy and position statements and submissions that are freely available through the Mental Health Coordinating Council's website at: www.mhcc.org.au
To uphold human rights requires more than legislation. It requires that people with mental illness and carers know their rights, and that the professions are adequately trained in these as well as codes of ethics and practice, standards and quality improvement systems. All such systems need to be supported so that working cultures in human services support recovery-orientated practice, prioritising the need for people with mental illness to be as involved as much as possible in decision-making about their care and treatment, as well as being meaningfully involved in the development of policy and service delivery models. All workplaces need to nurture an inclusive society able to respond to people when they are at their most vulnerable, and provide the opportunities for people to contribute in the community.
Some people with mental illness may at some stage find themselves in hospital, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and so will come into contact with treatment orders under the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW). A simplified overview of the Act is provided so that people dealt with under the Act in the course of illness may understand their rights and responsibilities and how to maximise their autonomy within the system. However, a more in-depth Guidebook to the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW) will be available through NSW Health, the NSW Institute of Psychiatry and the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal at a later date on the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal website at: http://www.mhrt.nsw.gov.au/
When people return to a level of recovery and wellness where they are equal and active partners in their own treatment decision-making, then the rights that apply to all citizens in obtaining health care also apply to a person with ongoing mental illness. People then simply use mental health services and other services without being involuntarily treated and where contact with health professionals is in no way coercive.
MHCC aims to contribute to a system of services and advocacy structures in which the status, independence and human rights of people with mental illness, families and carers is advanced. Its aim is to promote the recovery and return to active participation in the community at all levels of all people with mental illness.
Disclaimer
- The legal and other information contained in this Section is up to date to 23 February 2011.
- This Manual only refers to the law and practices applying to the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).
- MHCC does not guarantee the accuracy nor is responsible for the content or the currency of the content of external documents and websites linked to this Manual.