Legal Orders and Statements of Rights

A series of Legal Order Forms and Statements of Rights have been approved by the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

These forms help clinician to carry out the functions and powers provided under the Mental Health Act 2009.

In August 2012, the Mental Health (Inpatient) Amendment Act 2012 came in to operation and its main purpose was to remove the stigmatising terms – detention and detain and to address minor practical matters.

What were Detention and Treatment Orders level 1, 2 or 3 are now called Inpatient Treatment Orders 1, 2 or 3. The change in terminology does not in any way alter the functions of the orders or the limitations on their duration.

All forms have been updated after extensive feedback from services, consumers, carers and other stakeholders, to both improve their functionality and to meet medical records requirements.

Additional forms have been created to meet the requirements of directives and standards, and to provide optional documentation which will be useful in some service settings.

Where to obtain Legal Order Forms and Statements of Rights

All forms can be found on the Mental Health Legal Order Forms page.

Statements of Rights have also been updated after feedback from services, consumers, carers and other stakeholders, and have been translated into 15 languages in addition to English, which can be downloaded from the Mental Health Statements of Rights page.