What is a Mental Health Tribunal?

• A number of states and territories have Mental Health Tribunals. These are independent bodies set up exclusively to deal with mental health issues.
• The tribunal’s role is to act as a safeguard under the legislation (written law) for individuals with mental illness. The tribunal's primary function is to protect the rights and dignity of people with mental illness. In particular it must determine whether a person should be given compulsory mental health treatment or not.
• If you are experiencing a mental health crisis and cannot give informed consent to necessary medical treatment in a state or territory that has a Mental Health Tribunal it is likely that the tribunal will make this decision for you. They will always have regard to any advance directives that you may have made.
• Some examples of the kinds of decision the tribunal can make include:
  • whether a compulsory patient should receive electroconvulsive treatment (ECT);
  • whether a patient should be transferred to other mental health facilities;
  • whether a person should receive neurosurgery; and
  • many aspects of patient security.