Committee
Resumed from an earlier stage of the sitting. The Deputy Chair of Committees (Hon Dr Steve Thomas) in the chair; Hon Stephen Dawson (Minister for Environment) in charge of the bill.
Comments and speeches by various members
Clause 30: Decision-maker may set new expiry day for authorisations during operative period — Hon ALISON XAMON: I move —
Page 19, line 6 — To delete “section 3; and” and substitute — section 3(a) or (b); and
I understand from the minister’s earlier reply that there is agreement from government to support this amendment. Can I just confirm that that is the case?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON: That is correct.
Amendment put and passed.
Clause, as amended, put and passed.
Clause 31: Decision-maker may modify or remove conditions of authorisations during operative period — Hon ALISON XAMON: I move —
Page 23, line 4 — To delete “section 3.” and substitute — section 3(a) or (b).
Amendment put and passed.
Clause, as amended, put and passed.
Comments and speeches by various members
Clause 44: Validation of assessments and examinations —
Comments and speeches by various members
Hon ALISON XAMON: I rise to make a few comments about this, understanding that at the moment, the Mental Health Act enables people to be involuntarily detained having been assessed through electronic means. That was one of the key provisions that we had within the Mental Health Act, particularly for people who were otherwise not able to access any sort of treatment at all, recognising that people are detained under the Mental Health Act for their own safety. That is why we have this. I would be very surprised if a number of people were not subject to provisions under the Mental Health Act as a result of being electronically assessed through the COVID period. I would be stunned if that was not the case. In both the briefing and the second reading debate, I raised concerns about wanting to ensure that the people who were being subject to those provisions were being recorded. I asked whether consideration would be given for the “Mental Health Infection Control Directions” to require that that data was kept. I said that a reasonable way for that to occur would be for that to be reissued, because it is important that we are keeping that information. Ultimately, the Mental Health Tribunal will determine whether people have been detained appropriately, and, as I said, being assessed through electronic means is not out of the ordinary; we now have that within our state. But I would like to ask the minister again whether there is any chance that the directions themselves are able to be reissued to ensure that that data is able to be kept. The question being asked now, which is perfectly reasonable and something that I would certainly want to know if I were the Mental Health Tribunal president, is: how many people have been subject to these new provisions as a result of the different process because of COVID?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON: The “Mental Health Infection Control Directions” were made under the Public Health Act 2016 and are issued by an emergency officer who has been authorised as such by the Chief Health Officer. An emergency officer is authorised to issue directions because they consider it necessary to do so to prevent, control or abate the serious public health risk presented by COVID-19. The content of the directions deals directly with the need to prevent, control or abate the serious public health risk of COVID-19. The requirement to record the use of audiovisual communications can be done through a policy commitment with the implementation of such a policy requiring cross-agency coordination and liaison. I am informed by the Mental Health Commission that this planning has commenced. As I previously noted, the Mental Health Commission has confirmed that use will be tracked and a sample audit done to analyse this use. In addition, the Chief Psychiatrist is in the process of developing guidelines for the safe implementation of the use of audiovisual communication in the circumstances contemplated in the directions and these amendments.
Clause put and passed.
Comments and speeches by various members
Bill read a third time and returned to the Assembly with amendments.