Involuntary Admission

When a person is admitted to a mental health facility as an involuntary patient on the grounds of mental illness or mental disturbance, Mental Health Services must notify the Tribunal of the admission.

The Tribunal will conduct a hearing within 7 days from the date of admission and make a decision about whether the person should remain an involuntary patient.

The Tribunal may decide any of the following:

• That the person be detained as an involuntary patient on the grounds of mental illness for a period of not longer than 3 months;
• That the person be detained as an involuntary patient on the grounds of mental disturbance for not longer than 14 days;
• That the person meets the criteria for involuntary treatment in the community, and place them on a Community Management Order for not longer than 6 months;
• That the person does not meet the criteria for involuntary admission and revoke the order for admission.

Where the Tribunal revokes an order admitting a person as an involuntary patient it must order that:

• The person be discharged immediately, or
• The person be discharged when arrangements can be made for their care.

A person must be discharged from an approved treatment facility not later than 7 days after the Tribunal orders it so.

To order that a person be detained as an involuntary patient the Tribunal must be satisfied that all of the following criteria are met:

• The person has a mental illness or mental disturbance;
• The person needs treatment that is available at a mental health facility;
• Without that treatment the person is likely to cause imminent harm to themselves or another person, or is likely to suffer serious mental or physical deterioration;
• The person is not capable of giving informed consent to treatment or has unreasonably refused to give informed consent; and
• There is no less restrictive means of making sure the person receives the treatment.

Where the Tribunal makes an order to detain a person as an involuntary patient, it authorises treatment that may be administered to the person under the order. The authorisation generally refers to appropriate standard treatment (such as anti-psychotic medication administered orally or by injection).

Non-standard treatment cannot be administered to involuntary patients without express approval of either the Tribunal or another person or body. The treating psychiatrists must make a separate application for approval to administer such treatment to involuntary patients.
Treatment categories that require express approval are:

• Non-psychiatric treatment, such as a surgical operation or procedure (approval of either the Tribunal or legal guardian is required);
• Major medical procedure (approval of either the Tribunal or the Local Court is required);
• Clinical trials and experimental procedures (trial or treatment must be approved by an ethics committee and the approval of the Tribunal must be obtained);
• Electro-convulsive therapy (approval of Tribunal is required, except in an emergency situation where it is deemed immediately necessary).

Psychosurgery and coma-therapy are not allowed to be performed on anyone in the NT. Sterilisation is not allowed be to be performed on a person as a treatment for mental illness or mental disturbance.

Mental Health Services may revoke a Tribunal order when a person no longer meets the criteria for involuntary admission. This means a person may be discharged before the Tribunal order has expired.

Where a person remains an involuntary patient for the duration of the order, the Tribunal will conduct another hearing to decide whether a further order needs to be made.