Partnerships

NSW Police

Memorandum of Understanding between NSW Police and NSW Health

The Memorandum of Understanding between NSW Police and NSW Health was developed and released in 1998 to provide a framework for the effective management of people with a mental illness when the services of NSW Police, NSW Health, mental health services, and the Ambulance Service of NSW are required. It grew out of the need for a formalised system for cooperation between these important areas of service delivery, particularly when dealing with mental health crisis intervention.

The document is being reviewed and revised by an interdepartmental working group overseeing its implementation, taking into account models of local practice which have been working well and issues which have arisen locally in respect of implementation.

A primary objective of this Memorandum of Understanding is to improve the response to and outcomes in the management of mental health crises that involve responses from services.

NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care

Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care and NSW Health for People with an Intellectual Disability and Mental Health Problem

A draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been developed between the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (DADHC) and NSW Health to provide guidance in the provision of services to people with an intellectual disability and a mental illness or disorder. It replaces the 1990 joint protocol 'The Provision of Mental Health Services to People with Developmental Disabilities'.

The draft MOU has been developed with the assistance from the Intellectual Disability and Mental Health Working Party. The Working Party was established to build on the direction set by the NSW Interagency Action Plan on Mental Health for people with an intellectual disability and a mental health issue to facilitate greater coordination of services to increase service access and effectiveness. The work of this group is undertaken on behalf of the DADHC/Health Senior Officers Group and is in line with the joint agency commitment made to the NSW Ombudsman in response to the Report in to Reviewable Deaths (2006). The MOU will be released in 2009.

NSW Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health (CRRMH)

Established in 2001, the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health (CRRMH) is a major initiative of NSW Health, the University of Newcastle and Greater Western Area Health Service.

The CRRMH aims to improve the mental health of people living in rural NSW through academic leadership, research, education, service development and information services.

The CRRMH facilitates a range of service development projects that enable improved response to people experiencing a mental illness, including the development of a Rural Mental Health Emergency and Critical Care Plan, the Mental Health Emergency Care Learning and Development Program and the Farm-Link and the Drought and Climate Change Mental Health Assistance Programs aimed at improving pathways to care for people in rural communities.

The Rural Psychiatry Project

TheRural Psychiatry Project (RANZCP, NSW Branch) established in 2002 in collaboration with MHDAO supporting psychiatrists' services in rural areas.  The collective impact of the Rural Psychiatry Project initiatives between 2002 and 2009 has been to

• Increase access to basic psychiatry mental health services
• Increase professional development and capacity of psychiatrists within rural areas
• Increase the number of psychiatry trainees based in rural NSW
• Increase the number of consultant psychiatrists providing services to rural NSW
• Increase engagement and communication within the rural psychiatry workforce
• Encourage and facilitate entry of rural based medical practitioners into the psychiatry specialty
• Facilitate communication between public mental health services and private practicing psychiatrists

A number of agreements between NSW and other States have been developed to allow the cross-border transfer of persons covered by mental health legislation. Agreements are listed below.

1.  Agreements concerning absconding forensic patients

NSW-Victoria Agreement for the return of Absconding Forensic Patients

• NSW-Victoria Agreement for the return of Absconding Forensic Patients
  • Schedule 2, Interstate Apprehension Order

NSW-Queensland Agreement for the return of Absconding Forensic Patients

• NSW-Queensland Agreement for the return of Absconding Forensic Patients

• Schedule 2, Interstate Apprehension Order

2.  Agreements concerning civil patients

This Agreement allows for the movement of patients detained under the civil provisions of mental health legislation across the borders, specifically:

• Admission of interstate involuntary patients
• Transfer of involuntary patients to and from each jurisdiction
• Recognition of interstate Community Treatment Orders
• Apprehension of absconding civil patients

NSW-Victoria Agreement for the transfer of Civil Patients between NSW and Victoria

• NSW-Victoria Agreement for the transfer of Civil Patients between NSW and Victoria
  • Schedule 2, Civil Interstate Apprehension Order
  • Schedule 3, Interstate Transfer Request Notice

NSW-Queensland Agreement for the transfer of Civil Patients between NSW and Queensland

• NSW-Queensland Agreement for the transfer of Civil Patients between NSW and Queensland
  • Schedule 2, Civil Interstate Apprehension Order
  • Schedule 3, Interstate Transfer Request Notice

NSW-ACT Agreement for the transfer of Civil Patients between NSW and the Australian Capital Territory

• NSW-Australian Capital Territory Agreement for the transfer of Civil Patients between NSW and the Australian Capital Territory
  • Schedule 2, Civil Interstate Apprehension Order
  • Schedule 3, Interstate Transfer Request Notice

NSW-South Australia   Agreement for the transfer of Civil Patients between NSW and South Australia