Title: I don’t want compulsory treatment
Producer: Independent Mental Health Advocacy
Name of speaker: Wanda Bennetts (all speech content)
Speech Content: Are you having compulsory mental health treatment? You might not know it, but the Victorian Mental Health and Wellbeing Act says you have rights that mental health services must respect.
Independent Mental Health Advocacy, or IMHA, helps people to learn about and use their rights. This video is a guide to your rights and options when you disagree with your compulsory treatment order.
A treatment order lets a hospital or mental health clinic give you treatment even if you don't want it. There are different types of orders. A main difference is between inpatient treatment orders, which means you must stay in hospital while you receive compulsory treatment, and community treatment orders, which lets a service give you compulsory treatment while you're in the community.
These decisions about compulsory treatment are normally made by a psychiatrist or the Mental Health Tribunal. The Mental Health Tribunal makes decisions about treatment orders. They also make decisions about whether or not people can receive electroconvulsive treatment. It's important to know that they are independent and not part of a hospital or clinic.
We know that compulsory treatment can feel like you have no say in what is happening to you, but you do have rights.
Two basic rights are the right to be told why you're on an order and the right to apply to have your treatment order revoked or changed by the tribunal. Remember, you have options if you want to get off your treatment order. For example, you can talk to your psychiatrist about your treatment order, ask them “how do I meet the criteria for this order?” You can request a second psychiatric opinion to review your treatment order, and you can appeal your treatment order to the tribunal.
If you would like information, you can call Victoria Legal Aid on 1300 792 387. Remember, you can contact IMHA to talk with an advocate about your options. If you would like to learn more or talk to an IMHA advocate. You can call us on 1300 947 820, hear a recording of your rights on 1800 959 353, see our website on www.imha.vic.gov.au, or see our fact sheets which should be available at your service.
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