Mental Health Legal Centre Inc.
Human Rights Policy Work
Don't let the Government 'wind back' the Victorian Charter of Human Rights
The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (‘the Charter’) is currently under review by the Victorian Government. The Charter is designed to protect the human rights of all Victorians, including people who experience mental health issues (‘consumers’), and has been operating effectively in Victoria for the past four years.
Government is considering whether to wind back this critical human rights instrument (see 'Review of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights' below)
The Charter promotes the values Fairness, Respect, Equality and Dignity in one clear easily accessible document. It promotes fairer outcomes by encouraging the Government to consider human rights when it develops laws and policies, and ensuring that public authorities like public mental health services act consistently with consumers’ human rights.
The MHLC believes the Charter is an important tool for consumers and that winding back the Charter will have an adverse impact on their rights.
If you agree, please sign our CONSUMER PETITION calling on the Victorian Government not to 'wind back' the Charter
- Download and print off MHLC's Fact sheet and petition (pdf)
- Sign the petition together with your name and Victorian street address (no PO Boxes) and post the original (no photocopies) to Fiona Seymour, Mental Health Legal Centre, 9th floor 10-16 Queen St, Melbourne, 3000 by Monday 14 November 2011.
- MHLC will present the petition to Parliament on behalf of Victorians who experience mental health issues.
How else can you take action?
- Forward the petition on to other mental health consumers who may be interested. You can gather as many or as few signatures as you like & send the petition sheet(s) back to MHLC;
- Contact your local MP or the Minister for Mental Health, Mary Wooldridge MP and urge them not to 'wind back' the Charter. Use the following link to find their contact details.
Review of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights
On 14 September 2011 the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee (SARC) tabled in Parliament its review of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (the Charter). Its recommendations to the Victorian Government, if accepted, would effectively render the Charter meaningless. Those recommendations include winding back the role of courts and tribunals in enforcing human rights and providing remedies when they are breached, and winding back other mechanisms to ensure public authorities, like public mental health services, act compatibly with human rights. The Government has six months to respond to the SARC's recommendations.
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Link to the SARC's full report (14 September 2011)
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MHLC's submission to the Review of the Charter (1 July 2011) (pdf 205kb)
MHLC stressed the importance of the Charter as a tool to further the rights of people with psychiatric disability in Victoria, and called for the Charter to be strengthened, not rolled back. For example, we recommended full implementation of the rights and principles in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, introducing provisions to allow a person to bring a claim for breach of a Charter right of its own accord, and giving Courts and Tribunals the power to order compensation in certain cases where a Charter right has been breached by a public authority. - Terms of reference for the Review of the Charter (2 May 2011) (doc 54kb)
MHLC cases & articles on the Charter of Human Rights
The MHLC regularly uses the Victorian Charter of Human Rights (the Charter) in its advice and representation for individual clients and in its systemic advocacy. Click on 'recent cases' under the 'Advocacy &Casework' link to the left for examples of how we have used the Charter to enforce the rights of people with psychiatric disability.
- Patrick's case (19 July 2011) - Supreme Court of Victoria decision dismissing an Administration Order and confirming our client, Patrick's right to choose where to live, his right to privacy and his ability to enjoy these rights equally with other people. See link to the relevant section of our website.
Right to Health
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Mr Anand Grover, visited Australia in November and December 2009.
The MHLC, together with other non-governmental organisations, met with the UN Special Rapporteur. This was an opportunity to raise our concerns regarding the right to health of people with a mental illness, particularly those subject to involuntary psychiatric treatment, and the right to health of people with mental illness in the criminal justice system.
We put together two facts sheets:
1. The right to health & mental health service provision in Victoria (doc 101kb) November 2009
- Involuntary psychiatric treatment & lengthy 8-week MHRB review period;
- The extent of involuntary ECT and seclusion;
- Adverse side effects of psychiatric treatment and medication – cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment;
- The lack of single-sex psychiatric wards;
- Advance directives for mental health
2. Mental health issues in Victorian Prisons – Inside Access fact sheet (.doc 99kb) November 2009
- Why are so many people in prison mentally ill?
- How is mental illness dealt with in prison?
- Women in prison
- What are the costs of imprisoning people with a mental illness?
- How can we keep people with mental illness out of prisons?
- Issues raised by people in prison regarding mental illness
The UN Special Rapporteur highlighted in his report on Australia (at para 70-71), the significant overrepresentation of people with mental illness in prison and the “insufficient provision of replacement community-based treatment options” post de-institutionalisation.
Download the UN Special Rapporteur’s full report:
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover Mission to Australia – full report, 3 June 2010 (.pdf 156kb)
Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities and Mental Health Rights Forum 20th May 2008
This Community Legal Education session explored how the Charter could assist people who have been diagnosed with a mental illness:-
About the Charter of Rights, Issues of Concern to Consumers and Charter, Relationship between Charter and Convention on Rights of Persons with a Disability - Sophie Delaney Coordinator MHLC (Coordinator / Principal Lawyer MHLC)
How might the Charter impact on involuntary treatment and access to treatment choices - Barbara Shalit MHLC (Senior Lawyer MHLC)
Advance directives and the Charter of Rights - Vivienne Topp MHLC (Policy Coordinator and Lawyer MHLC)
Charter and the right to a fair hearing at MHRB: what it means and how to ensure it - Catherine Leslie MHLC (Lawyer and Pro-Bono Coordinator MHLC)
Full-text article on Involuntary Treatment by Dr David Webb (PhD Doctorate and Psychiatric Survivor)
Report on the outcomes of the day
