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Mental health legislation Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
Mental Health Acts (MHAs) enable the involuntary commitment and treatment of people suffering acute psychiatric illness. Each jurisdiction in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand has its own MHA and attempts to balance civil liberties with the need to prevent serious harm and provide care.
Powers and duties of psychiatrists
Powers and duties of psychiatrists in Australian and NZ law - a literature review
Summary tables
The following tables summarise the MHAs across Australia and New Zealand.
We've highlighted key issues relevant to psychiatrists’ powers and responsibilities under the legislation on eight different topics:
- Involuntary commitment and treatment
- Informed consent to psychiatric treatment
- Regulation of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- Special provisions governing informed consent to ECT
- Seclusion
- Restraint
- References to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Māori
- Definition of a forensic patient
All tables [PDF; 490KB]
Use these tables to:
- better understand your legal context
- see where the Acts share common features, and where the anomalies are
- appreciate the differences for colleagues working in other (or across) jurisdictions
- assess the practical effect of different laws
- inform advocacy efforts.
See RANZCP position statement: Mental health legislation and psychiatrists: putting the principles into practice
