Mental Health Act 2015

While a person is detained at a mental health facility under section 85, the person in charge of the facility—

may keep the person in the custody that the person in charge considers appropriate; and

may subject the person to the minimum confinement or restraint that is necessary and reasonable to—

prevent the person from causing harm to themself or someone else; or

ensure that the person remains in custody; and

may subject the person to involuntary seclusion if satisfied that it is the only way in the circumstances to prevent the person from causing harm to themself or someone else; and

must ensure that any treatment, care or support administered to the person is the minimum necessary to prevent any immediate and substantial risk of the person detained causing harm to themself or someone else.

Special provisions apply for the emergency administration of electroconvulsive therapy (see s 160).

Subsection (1) (c) does not apply if a person has a mental illness for which, in the opinion of a psychiatrist, the most appropriate treatment is long acting medication.

In deciding whether to administer long acting medication, the psychiatrist must take into account the likely deterioration in the person’s condition within 3 days after the psychiatrist’s examination of the person.

If a doctor believes on reasonable grounds that the detained person should be given medication for the treatment of the person’s mental disorder or mental illness, the doctor may—

approve the giving by appropriately trained people of medication prescribed by or under the authority of the doctor; and

use, or authorise someone else to use, the force and assistance that is necessary and reasonable to give the medication (forcible giving of medication).

If the detained person is subjected to confinement, restraint, involuntary seclusion or forcible giving of medication, the person in charge of the facility must—

enter in the detained person’s record the fact of and the reasons for the confinement, restraint, involuntary seclusion or forcible giving of medication; and

tell the public advocate in writing of the restraint, involuntary seclusion or forcible giving of medication; and

keep a register of the restraint, involuntary seclusion or forcible giving of medication.