Advance Statements are documents that have always been available to mental health patients. However, with the advent of the new Mental Health Act in Victoria in 2014, it is worth revisiting these documents and changes that may affect you.
An Advance Statement is a document, completed by a person with mental health issues, that lists information about them and their desires for treatment in the event that they become an involuntary patient under the Mental Health Act.
The document provides information about the persons General Practitioner, Mental Health Worker, Psychiatrist and or Psychologist and any other workers or medical people they may refer to for their disorder or illness. The document also provides information about other people involved in the persons recovery such as carers and family members. It also sets out the contact details of anyone and their relationship to the person who have to be contacted if they are placed on an Order under the Act.
An important aspect of Advance Statements is that they do not expire. Nor can you change them. Should you wish to change the content of an Advance Statement then you need to make a new one. This will then take precedence over the old Advance Statement.
An Authorised Witness must sign both the Advance Statement and the Revocation of an Advance Statement. Given that the witness must establish that the person understands what the document is that they are signing and that they have the capacity to sign the document, it may be best to have a mental health professional sign as the Authorised Witness. Whilst you can have other people witness the document, they may not understand what the document actually entails and may have difficulty establishing that the person making the Statement understands its content.
The following video, prepared by the Victorian Department of Health explains about Advance Statements.
More information is also available on Advance Statements at the Victorian Dept of Health website.
You can download a proforma for an Advance Statement and also a form to Revoke an Advance Statement below.
