Victoria urged to ditch change to mental health law that allows electric shock therapy on children

Updated

Legal advocates are calling on the Victorian Government to reject a proposed law that allows psychiatrists to use electric shock therapy on children.

The Federation of Community Legal Centres is lobbying the Government over changes to the mental health bill, which includes the potential for the use of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) to treat severe depression and other illnesses in children under the age of 13.

The Victorian Government says the new legislation will significantly improve patient welfare, and give patients a greater say in their treatment.

But the federation's senior policy adviser, Dr Chris Atmore, says the legislation erodes patients' human rights.

"We're concerned about the possible impact on children's developing brains," she said.

"This is really a once-in-a-generational time to get things right in terms of acknowledging and supporting the human rights of people who either have mental illness or are labelled as being mentally ill."

ECT induces controlled seizures in a patient as electric currents are passed through electrodes placed on the head.

It is used to treat severe depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but is described by many psychiatrists as a last-resort medical treatment.

Minister says decision not taken lightly

Victorian Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge says the decision to allow ECT on children was not taken lightly.

"[We have been] taking advice from psychiatrists who say that in a very small number of cases it may be the best treatment and they didn't want that capacity to provide ECT removed," she said.

"They want to be able to make clinical judgements about what is the best treatment for any individual and not be limited by exclusions or bans."

Ms Wooldridge says the legislation gives patients a greater say in their treatment.

"This bill is about providing care to people with significant mental illness when they can't make a decision for themselves," she said.

"There are always human rights decisions and limitations when you remove someone's right to make a choice about their treatment, but the bill itself significantly enhances their right to have a say about the treatment they receive."

Critic warns of inadequate complaint procedures

Dr Atmore says the draft for the new bill included a proposal to ban the treatment, but that suggestion was not taken up by the Government.

She says the legislation has inadequate complaint procedures and has removed the power of the Mental Health Tribunal to review patient treatment plans, including medical prescriptions.

"Mental health legislation in Victoria is the oldest in the country and in many ways quite anachronistic," she said.

"Other jurisdictions overseas have really moved more towards an approach that more clearly recognises the human rights of people with mental illness and that people with mental illness should not be treated any differently to people with other forms of illness."

Topics: mental-health, health, rights, human, law-crime-and-justice, medical-procedures, medical-ethics, vic, australia

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