The Mental Health Review Board was established under Part 6 of the Mental Health Act 1996 (the "Act"). The objects of the Act are:

(a) ensuring that persons having a mental illness receive the best care and treatment with the least restriction of their freedom and the least interference of their rights and dignity;

(b) ensuring the proper protection of patients as well as the public; and

(c) minimising the adverse effects of mental illness on family life.

The role of the Mental Health Review Board ("the Board") is critical in ensuring the objects of the Act are met. The Board provides involuntary patients, whether detained in an authorised hospital or subject to a Community Treatment Order in the community with a speedy, informal and fair means of having their involuntary status reviewed, either upon request or periodically.

The establishment of the Board under the Act also embodies Principle 17 of the United Nations document 'Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care' (1991). Principle 17 requires that involuntary detention be reviewed at reasonable intervals by a body that is judicial or otherwise independent, assisted by qualified mental health practitioners. The United Nations principle also requires that the review body's procedures be simple and expeditious and that there be a right of appeal to a higher court against a decision.

There were a number of reasons behind the decision to publish Handbook 2000, the Board's inaugural policy handbook. The goals of the original Handbook included:

• articulating the way in which the Board goes about its task of reviewing
  the involuntary status of patients; and
• being open and accountable to the Board's 'client base', which includes mental health consumers, carers, service providers, advocacy groups, non-government
  organisations, the Health Department, the Minister, and the general community.

Feedback has been received from various sources since publication and in early 2001 further feedback was sought from interested persons and groups. I thank all persons who took the time to provide feedback to the Board. This revised edition of the Handbook takes account, where possible, of the feedback received and is intended to provide a clear guide to how the Board seeks to meet the responsibilities given to it by the Act.

In an area as dynamic and complex as mental health, new situations will inevitably emerge which will require new responses. I therefore request feedback in relation to matters in this Handbook or those matters that observers consider should be included in the Handbook but have not been. The feedback will be considered for inclusion in future editions of the Handbook, which will be published as the need arises.

Neville Barber
PRESIDENT

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