Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Please address correspondence to the author. Email: c. Competing interests: Maylea was a member of the expert advisory group that provided advice and guidance to the team drafting the Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill of Drawing primarily on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act of , this paper argues that while the new legislation is not, in fact, rights based, it does represent some rights-related improvements over existing legislation.
The paper concludes with a discussion of how rights-based legislation could be applied to the Victorian context, using the latest guidance from the World Health Organization and the United Nations.
The CRPD obligates signatory countries to reform many conventionally used coercive practices in psychiatric treatment, care, and support, particularly the use of involuntary treatment, detention, seclusion, and restraint. For example, all Australian jurisdictions, New Zealand, Scotland, England and Wales, China, India, and Canada have attempted to improve rights protections for people subject to coercive practices under mental health legislation.
The impact of these reforms is not yet clear. For most jurisdictions, the CRPD has not led to such significant revisions. This paper considers the example of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act of in Victoria, Australia, enacted in September and due to come into force in September , when it will replace the existing Mental Health Act of The new act does not abolish any coercive practices, although the Victorian government has committed to the abolition of seclusion and restraint within 10 years.
Instead, it establishes the groundwork for an improved mental health system rather than attempting legal compliance with international and local human rights law. For this paper, I used a doctrinal analysis, drawing on a human rights-based disability approach.
