Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, ss 33–35

Compulsory Treatment Orders (both community and inpatient orders) last for up to six months. They can end earlier or they can be extended for a further six months, following a review of the order. If the order has been extended for another 6 months, it can then be extended for another 12 months but the order must be reviewed again.

Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, s 35

A compulsory treatment order can end earlier if, at any time while the order is in place, your responsible clinician or the Review Tribunal decides that you are “fit to be released from compulsory status”. If this happens, the compulsory treatment order stops immediately and you can no longer be made to receive treatment under the Mental Health Act.

Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, ss 34, 34C, 34D

A compulsory treatment order can be extended if, at the end of the six months, you are still not fit to be released from compulsory status. In the last 14 days of the six months, the responsible clinician must review your case and decide whether you are fit to be released. If you are not fit to be released, the responsible clinician can apply to the Family Court to have the compulsory treatment order extended for a further six months.

The judge can only extend the compulsory treatment order if:

• you still have a mental disorder, and
• the order is still necessary. An order is necessary if without the order it is likely that you will not continue with your treatment and without the treatment you will continue to have a “mental disorder”.

The judge has to examine you and have another hearing to decide whether the order should end or be extended if:

• you do not consent to the compulsory treatment order being extended, or
• someone else wants to have their say in court about the order.

You can also agree to have the judge examine you and have all or part of the hearing happen online if you are on a community treatment order.

If you agree to the order being extended and no one else wants to have their say in court about the application, the judge can decide whether to extend the order or not without examining you or having a formal hearing.  You can only consent to the order if you have had legal advice about the application and have given your consent in writing to the court and the DAMHS.

See: “The process for making a compulsory treatment order” for information about how the hearing works.

Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, ss 34A, 34B, 34C, 34D

If a compulsory treatment order has been extended for 6 months and your responsible clinician believes you are “not fit to be released”, they can apply for the order to be extended again for a further 12 months. Your responsible clinician has to review your case 14 days before the end of the extended order to see if you are “fit to be released”.

Your responsible clinician can apply to have the compulsory treatment order extended again for a further 12 months each time it is due to end if they still believe you are not “fit to be released” after reviewing your case.

The judge has to examine you and have another hearing to decide whether the order will be extended within 2 months of the application being made, unless:

• you consent to the order being extended and,
• no one else wants to have their say in court about the application.

You can also agree to have the judge examine you and have all or part of the hearing happen online if you are on a community treatment order.

If you consent to the extension and no one else wants to have their say in court about the extension, then the court does not need to have a formal hearing. You can only consent to the order if you have had legal advice about the application and have given consent in writing to the court and the DAMHS.

See: “The process for making a compulsory treatment order” in this chapter for information about how the hearing works.

Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, ss 34A, s34B, 76

Your case has to be reviewed three months after the compulsory treatment order is first made and then at least every six months after that. Your case also has to be reviewed before your compulsory treatment order is extended. These reviews are called clinical reviews. They are undertaken by your responsible clinician.

Before a clinical review, the responsible clinician has to send you a notice telling you when and where the review will happen. You have to go to the review. If you don’t go to the review, a DAO can ask the police for help to get you to attend the review.

At the review, the responsible clinician will talk to you and to the health professionals involved with your care to decide whether or not you are “fit for release from compulsory status”.

Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, s 76

The responsible clinician must issue a certificate of clinical review saying whether or not you are “fit to be released from compulsory status”.

If the responsible clinician thinks that you are “fit to be released”, the compulsory treatment order will end immediately, and you will not have to accept any more treatment. If you have been treated in hospital, you will be free to leave.

If the responsible clinician thinks that you are “not fit to be released”, you must be sent a copy of the certificate and a statement explaining the legal consequences of the certificate. These consequences are that:

• the compulsory treatment order will continue, and
• you have a right to apply to the Review Tribunal for a review of this decision.

A copy of the certificate and the statement must also be sent to:

• your principal caregiver (if you have one)
• your usual GP or nurse
• your welfare guardian (if you have one)
• a district inspector and official visitor.

These people also have a right to apply for a review of the decision that you are “not fit to be released from compulsory status”.