In accordance with section 758 of the Act, the Tribunal publishes select statements of reasons that have been modified to ensure that the Tribunal does not publish any information that identifies any person, is the subject of a confidentiality order, or is not permitted to be disclosed pursuant to section 743 (restrictions on disclosing victim impact statement).
The Tribunal publishes statements of reasons because doing so:
- provides a mechanism for its stakeholders and the broader community to better understand Tribunal decision-making
- enhances openness of public administration in a way that sufficiently protects the privacy of Tribunal participants
- promotes decision-making quality.
The Tribunal will publish statements of reasons for Tribunal decisions when the President considers that the requirements of the legislation are satisfied and there is a sufficient reason to do so in accordance with the Tribunal's rationale above.
The Tribunal is unlikely to publish any reasons for a decision that is the subject of an appeal to the Mental Health Court.
Statements of reasons will be edited to prevent publication of information which may identify, or lead to the identification, of a person who was the subject of the proceedings, appeared as a witness or was otherwise involved or mentioned in the proceeding. You will notice that the published statements of reasons contain a notation similar to the following:
“This is an edited version of the Tribunal’s statement of reasons issued pursuant to section 756 of the Mental Health Act 2016. The patient and persons attending the hearing have been de-identified and, in some cases, may be allocated pseudonyms for privacy reasons. Other details that may lead to the identification of the patient may have also been modified or omitted. The Tribunal’s modification or omission of these details does not affect its decision or its reasons for the decision.”
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