Why we’re making this statement
In Victoria, people can be made to receive mental health treatment they have not agreed to, including medication or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This is called compulsory treatment. It can happen in hospital or while a person lives in the community.
Compulsory treatment can cause lasting harm and takes away people’s right to make decisions about their own bodies. The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System called for it to be used less, but services still rely on it.
Our position
VMIAC is led by consumers with lived experience of mental distress. We are calling for an end to compulsory treatment so people can get support without losing control over their bodies and lives.
We want everyone to have access to the mental health supports of their choice, including during a crisis. Support should respect people’s needs, culture, and right to say no.
We reject all compulsory treatment because it harms people and takes away their human rights. Making it gentler is not enough. It must end, with people who have experienced it leading the change.
The problem
Forced treatment can leave people frightened and powerless. It can cause lasting trauma, and treatments can have serious side effects. People may avoid seeking help because they fear being forced into treatment again.
First Nations people and people from some cultural backgrounds experience compulsory treatment more often. The harm can be worse when services do not respect their culture.
Voluntary and peer-led support gets too little funding and is hard to access. Services keep using force, and the people who are harmed often get no apology or help.
The solution
Government must:
- Change the law and fund a plan to end compulsory treatment.
- Fund more voluntary support, including peer-led services and crisis support
- Provide free legal help so people can challenge compulsory treatment.
- Train staff in human rights, report on compulsory treatment, and hold services responsible for harm.
- Recognise the harm caused and offer apologies, support, and compensation to help make up for it where appropriate.
Glossary
- Compulsory treatment: Mental health assessment or treatment that a person has not freely agreed to.
- Compensation: A payment to someone for harm they have experienced.
- Consumer: A person with lived experience of mental distress who uses, or may use, mental health services.
- Crisis: A time when someone is in severe distress or needs urgent help.
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): a treatment where an electric current is passed through the brain to cause a seizure while the person is asleep under anaesthetic.
- Human rights: Basic rights everyone has, including the right to be treated with dignity, make choices about their own life, and be free from violence and abuse.
- Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System: An independent inquiry held from 2019 to 2021 that looked at problems in Victoria’s mental health system and recommended changes to improve it.
- Voluntary support: Mental health supports a person freely chooses to use and can say no to.
Read our full position statement here for more detail.