Statement: Victoria's new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act

Mental Health Victoia welcomes the passing of the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act. The Act will come into effect next year.

Its passage into law is a significant step in laying out the architecture of the new mental health system in Victoria.

We have been conducting a lot of work behind the scenes, engaging with our members, government and other stakeholders over the course of the Bill's development.

Mental health and human rights report

A substantial part of our response to the Act is the report into mental health and human rights we have produced in partnership with the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law.

The Human Rights Roadmap: 40 ways to operationalise human rights in Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing system is a landmark report for mental health reform.

According to MHV Senior Legal Policy Advisor Joshua Finn, it "provides a roadmap for how human rights can be embedded into mental health and wellbeing legislation, and implemented within our services and practices now and in the future".

The report will be launched on 6 September 2022 at the sector wide Our Reform conference. Tickets for this event are expected to sell out very soon so book today if you have not done so already.