Mental Health Act 2016

The main objects of this Act are—

to improve and maintain the health and wellbeing of persons who have a mental illness who do not have the capacity to consent to be treated; and

to enable persons to be diverted from the criminal justice system if found to have been of unsound mind at the time of committing an unlawful act or to be unfit for trial; and

to protect the community if persons diverted from the criminal justice system may be at risk of harming others.

The main objects are to be achieved in a way that—

safeguards the rights of persons; and

is the least restrictive of the rights and liberties of a person who has a mental illness; and

promotes the recovery of a person who has a mental illness, and the person’s ability to live in the community, without the need for involuntary treatment and care.

For subsection (2)(b), a way is the least restrictive of the rights and liberties of a person who has a mental illness if the way adversely affects the person’s rights and liberties only to the extent required to protect the person’s safety and welfare or the safety of others.