Objectives of the MHA

For mental health enquiries, please email MHA@publicguardian.qld.gov.au.

The Mental Health Act 2016 (MHA) commenced operation on 5 March 2017.

The main objectives of the MHA are:

  • To improve and maintain the health and wellbeing of individuals who have a mental illness and do not have the capacity to consent to treatment
  • To enable individuals to be diverted from the criminal justice system if they are found to have been of unsound mind at the time of committing a crime or to be unfit for trial
  • To protect the community if persons diverted from the criminal justice system may be at risk of harming others.

The main objectives are to be achieved in a way that:

(a) safeguards the rights of individuals

(b) is the least restrictive of the rights and liberties of a person who has a mental illness, and

(c) promotes the recovery of a person who has a mental illness, and the person’s ability to live in the community, without the need for involuntary treatment and care.