Mental Health Legal Services
Specialized legal support for mental health tribunal and guardianship matters.
At Monardo Legal, we provide mental health legal services and advocacy for people subject to the provisions of the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW).
The main objective of the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW) is to ensure the 'care, treatment and control' of people who are 'mentally ill' or 'mentally disordered'. The Act deals with: how a person can be made an involuntary patient due to mental illness, the consequences in terms of care, control and treatment, and some elements of mental health care and treatment for voluntary patients.
If it is decided you have a 'mental illness' or are 'mentally disordered', you can be: taken to hospital against your will for further assessment, treated in hospital without your agreement, stopped from leaving a hospital, or placed under a community treatment order.
However, this does not mean: you can be treated with substandard care, you lose all your rights when in hospital, or your needs (age, gender, religion, culture, language) can be ignored.
Your rights: You have the right to be given information about treatment, treatment alternatives and possible effects; be involved in developing your treatment plan; and be told your legal rights in a language you understand.
Mental Health Review Tribunal (MHRT): If kept in hospital against your will as an involuntary patient, your situation must be reviewed by the MHRT as soon as practicable. The MHRT holds relatively informal inquiries at each hospital every two weeks. At the hearing, you can be legally represented. The MHRT can decide you will be kept as an involuntary patient for up to three months, order discharge, place you under a community treatment order, or discharge you into the care of your primary carer.
We can help if: You or a family member are being kept in hospital against your will and wish to request an early psychiatric discharge; you want to appeal against the hospital's decision; or you are considering compensation claims related to mental health treatment.