Recommendations
The Royal Commission's final report includes 65 recommendations in addition to the nine interim report recommendations.
The recommendations set out a 10-year vision for a future mental health system in Victoria where people can access treatment close to their homes and in their communities. Importantly, people with lived experience of mental illness or psychological distress will be central to the design and delivery of this new mental health and wellbeing system being implemented as a result of this Royal Commission.
The Royal Commission's recommendations are grouped around four key features of the future mental health and wellbeing system:
1) A responsive and integrated system with community at its heart
2) A system attuned to promoting inclusion and addressing inequities
3) Re-established public confidence through prioritisation and collaboration
4) Contemporary and adaptable services.
The Government of Victoria has committed to implementing all recommendations, establishing Mental Health Reform Victoria for this purpose. In July 2021, its staff and functions moved to the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Division within the Department of Health (Victoria).
The 2021-22 Victorian State Budget responded to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System, with the Victorian Government announcing a record $3.8 billion investment in mental health and wellbeing.
Among the recommendations was the development of a new Lived Experience Agency to support innovation in the mental health sector.
A new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act for Victoria
The Royal Commission found that implementation of the Mental Health Act 2014 (Vic) had not lived up to expectation. Originally, that legislation was lauded as making Victoria a "leader" in mental health reform in Australia. [2] The Royal Commission's interim report concluded that the least restrictive means possible were not being used by mental health services. The final report found that because mental health services do not routinely record whether and how they seek informed consent to treatment, it is 'unclear to what extent authorised psychiatrists consider these provisions before administering treatment.' [3]
Other issues identified in the final report were regarding quality and safety as well as oversight processes to give effect to legal obligations. The final report spoke to evidence that:
'it is difficult to see what actions are being taken to hold services to account for quality and safety or human rights failings. Transparency about these activities allows consumers and their advocates to engage in a more meaningful way with the various oversight and improvement arrangements, and hold those charged with these functions to—in turn—be held to account. In contrast, the lack of information about how the Department of Health, the Chief Psychiatrist and other bodies are responding to quality and safety concerns can leave consumers feeling disempowered and distrustful.' [3]
As part of its recommendations, the Royal Commission recommended the repeal of the current Mental Health Act 2014 and enactment of a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act for the state of Victoria.
This new Act aimed to:
- promote good mental health and wellbeing for all people in Victoria
- reset the legislative foundations for the mental health and wellbeing system
- support the delivery of services that are responsive to the needs and preferences of Victorians
- put the views, preferences and values of people living with mental illness or psychological distress, families, carers and supporters at the forefront of service design and delivery.
The Royal Commission has recommended that the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act be passed no later than mid-2022.
The Department of Health ran public engagement to help with the drafting of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill from June to August 2021. The department will work with consumers, families, carers, supporters, workers and providers to develop guidelines, regulations and processes to support the new Act once it has been passed by the Victorian Parliament. The new Act also provided for the replacement of the previous Mental Health Complaints Commissioner that had been criticised for under-enforcement of human rights. [4] However, the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has also been criticised for similar issues [5] and for a lack of transparency. [6]
Moira Shire Council is a Local Government Area in the Northern Victoria Region of Victoria, Australia. Located in the north-east part of the state, it covers an area of 4,045 square kilometres (1,562 sq mi). As at August 2021 the population was 30,522.
The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health was established by U.S. President George W. Bush through Executive Order 13263 on April 29, 2002 to conduct a comprehensive study of the U.S. mental health service delivery system and make recommendations based on its findings. The commission has been touted as part of his commitment to eliminate inequality for Americans with disabilities.
Mary Louise Newling Wooldridge is a former Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 2006 to 2019. She was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Doncaster from 2006 to 2014; her seat was abolished in a redistribution for that year's election, and she was subsequently elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for Eastern Metropolitan Region in November's state election.
Riverview Hospital was a Canadian mental health facility located in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It operated under the governance of BC Mental Health & Addiction Services until it closed, in July 2012. In December 2015, the provincial government announced plans to replace the obsolete buildings with new mental health facilities, scheduled to open in about 2019. On October 12, 2021, the new Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction opened on the site.
Marlene Kairouz is a former Australian politician. She was a Labor member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly between 2008 and 2022, representing the electoral district of Kororoit. She was the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation between 2016 and 2020.
Donato Antonio "Don" Nardella is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1992 until 2018, representing Melbourne North Province in the Legislative Council (1992-1999) and Melton in the Legislative Assembly (1999–2018). He was a member of the Labor Party from 1992 until 2017, when he was forced to resign from the Labor caucus over an expenses scandal; he then sat in parliament as an independent.
Ambulance Victoria (AV), a Victorian agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, is the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in Victoria. Ambulance Victoria was formed on 1 July 2008 with the merger of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service (MAS), Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV), and the Alexandra District Ambulance Service (ADAS). Ambulance Victoria has undergone significant reform since 2008.
Will Fowles is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2018, initially representing the seat of Burwood in Melbourne's Eastern suburbs. Ahead of the 2022 Victorian state election, the seat of Burwood was abolished by Victoria's Electoral Boundaries Commission, leading Fowles to stand for the seat of Ringwood, where he resides with his family.
The Australian state of Victoria is regarded as one of the country's most progressive jurisdictions with respect to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation is a statutory authority in the Australian state of Victoria, originally funded by hypothecated taxation raised by the Victorian Tobacco Act 1987. It was the first health promotion body in the world to be funded by a tax on tobacco.
Stephanie Maureen Ryan is a former Australian politician. She was a National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2014 to 2022, representing the Legislative Assembly seat of Euroa. Ryan retired from politics at the 2022 Victorian state election, citing family reasons. Making the announcement while pregnant with her second child, Ryan expressed a desire to seek more flexible employment.
Healthcare in Cornwall was until July 2022 the responsibility of Kernow clinical commissioning group, until it got replaced by Integrated care system, as a result of the Health and Care Act 2022. As far as the NHS is concerned, Cornwall includes the Isles of Scilly.
Social prescribing is when a Social Prescribing Link Worker engages with a patient to support them with a plan which can be a series of signposting or referrals to support in the community, in order to improve their health and wellbeing. The concept has gained support in the NHS organisations of the United Kingdom as well as in Ireland and the Netherlands and forms part of the NHS Long Term Plan. The referral mechanisms, target groups, services offered through social prescribing vary across settings. However, the process usually involves screening for non-medical needs and referrals to support services that are typically offered by community-based organizations.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is a royal commission established on 8 October 2018 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902. The Honourable Richard Tracey and Ms Lynelle Briggs were appointed as Royal Commissioners. The Commissioners were required to provide an interim report by 31 October 2019, and a final report by 30 April 2020. Tracey died of cancer in October 2019 and was replaced by Tony Pagone. The final report was tabled on 1 March 2021.
Dustin Raffaele Halse is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from November 2018 to November 2022, representing the seat of Ringwood. On 24 November 2021, Halse shared publicly that he would not be recontesting his seat in the 2022 Victorian state election.
James Benjamin Kingsley Newbury is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2018, representing the seat of Brighton. Newbury is the currently the Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Equality, and the Manager of Opposition Business.
Beverley McArthur is an Australian politician. She has been a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council since 2018, representing Western Victoria Region.
The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council were up for election at the time the writs were issued, however the election in the district of Narracan was deferred due to the death of a candidate.
On 8 July 2021, the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), issued Letters Patent, which established the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
