CRITERIA FOR COMPULSORY ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT
Criteria for an Assessment Order (s29): completed by a mental health practitioner or registered medical practitioner
(a) the person appears to have mental illness; and
(b) because the person appears to have mental illness, the person appears to need immediate treatment to prevent-
(i) serious deterioration in the person’s mental or physical health; or
(ii) serious harm to the person or to another person; and
(c) if the person is made subject to an Assessment
Order, the person can be assessed; and
(d) there is no less restrictive means reasonably available to enable the person to be assessed
Assessment Order (AO)
(s28)
COMPULSORY ORDERS o Can be inpatient or Community AO o Enables a person to be taken to and detained in a Designated Mental Health
Service (DMHS- Ballarat Health Services) to be compulsorily examined by an
Authorised Psychiatrist (AP) to determine whether treatment criteria apply to the person o Made by a Mental Health practitioner or a registered Medial Practitioner o AOs are valid for 24 hours; Inpatient Assessment Order (IAO) allows 72 hours for transport to DMHS and the 24 hours commences from time the person is received o Treatment may only be provided with consent or if urgently required o Made by Authorised Psychiatrist after assessing a person o Maximum duration 28 days
Temporary Treatment
Order (TTO)
(s45)
Treatment Order (TO)
(s52)
Treatment Criteria for a TTO (s5): completed by an
Authorised Psychiatrist
(a) the person has mental illness; and
(b) because the person has mental illness, the person needs immediate treatment to prevent-
(i) serious deterioration in the person’s mental or physical health; or
(ii) serious harm to the person or to another person; and
(c) the immediate treatment will be provided to the person if the person is subject to a Temporary Treatment
Order or Treatment Order; and
(d) there is no less restrictive means reasonably available to enable the person to receive the immediate treatment
Advance Statement
(AS)
Nominated person
(s23)
(s19) o Made by the Mental Health Tribunal that enables a person to be compulsorily treated in the community or taken to & detained & treated in a DMHS o CTO has maximum duration of 12 months; ITO maximum of 6 months. All
TOs for patients <18 are maximum of 3 months
SUPPORTED DECISION MAKING MECHANISMS o Flagged on CMI & details accessed via Ballarat Mental Health Service/medical record o Document that sets out a person’s treatment preferences in the event they become a compulsory patient o Flagged on CMI & details accessed via Ballarat Mental Health Service/medical record o Person (who is willing, available and able), nominated by the patient to provide support, help represent the patient’s interests, receive information and assist the patient to exercise their rights. May be <18.

RESTRICTIVE INTERVENTIONS & OTHER PROVISIONS
Restrictive interventions (s105)
Seclusion
Bodily restraint
- Physical restraint
- Mechanical restraint
Forms:
MHA 140 Authority for use of restrictive interventions
MHA 141 Approval for urgent physical restraint
MHA 142 Restrictive interventions observations
Police powers
Authorised persons
(s12)
(s351) previously s10 under
Statement of Rights
MHA 1986 o May only be used after all reasonable and less restrictive options have been tried or considered and have been found to be unsuitable. Must be stopped immediately if no longer necessary o Bodily restraint may be used in a DMHS to prevent imminent and serious harm to the person or another person; or to administer treatment or medical treatment o Restrictive interventions require notification of the nominated person, a guardian, the carer, (if the AP is satisfied the carer or care relationship will be affected), the parent of a person <16 and the Secretary to DHS
(where relevant) o Bodily restraint requires continuous observation by a registered nurse or registered medical practitioner, clinical review no less than every 15 mins and examination by the AP every 4 hours o The restrictive intervention provisions of the Act apply to persons subject to Orders under the MHA 2014 (e.g., Inpatient Assessment
Order) and restrained in Ballarat ED o Police have powers to apprehend a person who appears to have mental illness and needs to be apprehended to prevent serious and imminent harm to themselves or another person o Police must arrange for the person to be taken to a registered medical practitioner or MH practitioner for examination o Person may be released from police custody into the care of a hospital when there are no significant safety risks or concerns
Authorised persons are: Police officers, ambulance paramedics, medical practitioners employed by DMHS, mental health practitioners who may enter premises, apprehend, search, use force and bodily restraint and transport people to DMHS in prescribed circumstances.
Must be provided to patients, nominated persons, carer and parent of someone <16 at key points, including when an Assessment Order is made
Medical treatment
(s74)
Disclosure of health information
(s346) o Where a patient lacks capacity to consent, medical treatment may be administered with the consent of the first person listed in section 75 of the MHA 2014 who is reasonably available, willing & able to make a decision concerning the proposed medical treatment o Urgent medical treatment may be provided without consent (s77).
The Act mandates when a patient’s mental health information must be disclosed & to whom, & when information may be disclosed
For further information contact Ballarat Mental Health Service or visit: www.health.vic.gov.au/mentalhealth/mhactreform