{"id":"mental-health-regulations-2025","name":"Mental Health Regulations 2025","slug":"mental-health-regulations-2025","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":236147,"registerId":"sa-mental-health-regulations-2025-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Mental Health Regulations 2025","content":"South Australia\nMental Health Regulations 2025\nunder the Mental Health Act 2009\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tStatement of rights (sections 9, 12, 23, 27, 37 and 46 of Act)\n4A\tVisits to and inspection of residential authorised community mental health facilities (section 52A(1) of Act)\n5\tNotification to Commissioner of Police of action taken under Act (section 57(10) of Act)\n6\tArrangements between South Australia and other jurisdictions (Part 10 of Act)\n7\tScale of legal practitioner fees (section 84(3) of Act)\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Mental Health Regulations 2025.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations—\nAct means the Mental Health Act 2009.\n4—Statement of rights (sections 9, 12, 23, 27, 37 and 46 of Act)\n\t(1)\tA statement of rights given under section 9 of the Act to a voluntary patient must contain—\n\t(a)\tan explanation of the circumstances in which a community treatment order or an inpatient treatment order may be made; and\n\t(b)\tan explanation of the effect of Part 6 of the Act; and\n\t(c)\tan explanation of the effect of section 106 of the Act; and\n\t(d)\tany other information required to be included by the Minister.\n\t(2)\tA statement of rights given under section 12 of the Act to a patient as soon as practicable after the making of a level 1 community treatment order must contain—\n\t(a)\tan explanation of the circumstances in which an inpatient treatment order may be made; and\n\t(b)\tan explanation of the effect of section 106 of the Act; and\n\t(c)\tany other information required to be included by the Minister.\n\t(3)\tA statement of rights given under section 23 of the Act to a patient as soon as practicable after the making of a level 1 inpatient treatment order must contain—\n\t(a)\tan explanation of the powers that may be exercised in relation to the patient if the patient is absent without leave; and\n\t(b)\tan explanation of the effect of section 106 of the Act; and\n\t(c)\tany other information required to be included by the Minister.\n\t(4)\tA statement of rights given under section 27 of the Act to a patient as soon as practicable after the making of a level 2 inpatient treatment order must contain—\n\t(a)\tan explanation of the powers that may be exercised in relation to the patient if the patient is absent without leave; and\n\t(b)\tan explanation of the effect of Part 6 of the Act; and\n\t(c)\tan explanation of the effect of section 106 of the Act; and\n\t(d)\tany other information required to be included by the Minister.\n\t(5)\tA statement of rights given under section 37 of the Act to an involuntary inpatient before commencing a leave of absence must contain—\n\t(a)\tan explanation of the effect of section 38 of the Act; and\n\t(b)\tan explanation of the powers that may be exercised in relation to the patient if the patient is absent without leave; and\n\t(c)\tany other information required to be included by the Minister.\n\t(6)\tA statement of rights given under section 46 of the Act to a patient as soon as practicable after the making by the Tribunal of an order or decision under the Act in respect of the patient must contain information required to be included by the Minister.\n4A—Visits to and inspection of residential authorised community mental health facilities (section 52A(1) of Act)\nPursuant to section 52A(1)(a)(i) of the Act, the following residential authorised community mental health facilities must be visited and inspected at least once in every 2 month period:\n\t(a)\tNorthgate House (Beachside and Woodland wards);\n\t(b)\tthe Repat Neuro‑Behavioural Unit.\n5—Notification to Commissioner of Police of action taken under Act (section 57(10) of Act)\nNotification under section 57(10) of the Act to the Commissioner of Police of action taken under the Act in relation to a person who has been arrested for an offence and released from police custody for the purpose of medical examination or treatment under the Act must be given as soon as practicable after the action is taken in accordance with the following requirements:\n\t(a)\tif a community treatment order is made in respect of the person as a result of the examination—the notification must include details of the type of order and its duration;\n\t(b)\tif an inpatient treatment order is made in respect of the person as a result of the examination or before the expiry of such an order made as a result of the examination—the notification must include details of the type of order and its duration and specify the treatment centre at which the person is an involuntary inpatient;\n\t(c)\tif the person is subsequently transferred to another treatment centre—the notification must specify the treatment centre to which the person is transferred.\n6—Arrangements between South Australia and other jurisdictions (Part 10 of Act)\nFor the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of corresponding law in section 61 of the Act, the following are declared to be corresponding laws:\n\t(a)\tthe Mental Health and Related Services Act 1998 of the Northern Territory;\n\t(b)\tthe Mental Health Act 2007 of New South Wales;\n\t(c)\tthe Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 of Victoria;\n\t(d)\tthe Mental Health Act 2015 of the Australian Capital Territory;\n\t(e)\tthe Mental Health Act 2016 of Queensland;\n\t(f)\tthe Mental Health Act 2013 of Tasmania;\n\t(g)\tthe Mental Health Act 2014 of Western Australia.\n7—Scale of legal practitioner fees (section 84(3) of Act)\nA legal practitioner (not being an employee of the Crown or a statutory authority) who represents a person under section 84 of the Act is entitled to receive fees for their services from the Minister in accordance with the scale prescribed by fee notice.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nLegislation revoked by principal regulations\nThe Mental Health Regulations 2025 revoked the following:\nMental Health Regulations 2010\nPrincipal regulations and variations\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2025\n89\nGazette 14.8.2025 p3320 \n14.8.2025: r 2\n2025\n111\nGazette 30.10.2025 p4286\n30.10.2025: r 2\nProvisions varied\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\nr 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n30.10.2025\nr 4A\ninserted by 111/2025 r 3\n30.10.2025\nSch 1\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n30.10.2025\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"No scope assessment is possible. The document contains no legislative text — only a broken page error from the South Australian legislation website. The actual Mental Health Regulations 2025 could not be retrieved or analysed."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content is present in the document — it is a website error page only","Cannot assess complexity of the actual Mental Health Regulations 2025 without access to the text","Score of 1 reflects the simplicity of what was actually provided (a 404 error), not the likely complexity of the underlying legislation"],"plain_english_summary":"## ⚠️ Document Not Available\n\nThis document does not contain any actual legislation. Instead, it appears to be a **404 'Page Not Found' error** from the South Australian legislation website (legislation.sa.gov.au).\n\nWhat this means for you:\n- The **Mental Health Regulations 2025** may exist, but the document provided here contains no legislative content — only a broken webpage error message.\n- If you were trying to access these regulations, the link or bookmark you used may be outdated (the SA legislation website was updated on **24 March 2026**).\n\n**What to do instead:**\n- Visit [legislation.sa.gov.au](https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au) directly and search for *Mental Health Regulations 2025*\n- Report broken links to: OPCWeb@sa.gov.au\n\nNo legal analysis of the actual regulations can be provided based on this document."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"These regulations operationalise and narrow implementation detail of the Act: they prescribe content for patient statements of rights (r 4), add a specific inspection frequency and identify two named residential authorised community mental health facilities for bimonthly visits (r 4A), set notification content and timing to the Commissioner of Police after action under the Act (r 5), declare which other jurisdictions' laws are 'corresponding laws' (r 6), and require the Minister to pay non‑Crown legal practitioners per a published fee scale (r 7). The instrument therefore shifts several implementation choices into regulation (reducing ambiguity) while leaving some particulars (additional ministerial information and fee scales) to delegated instruments or Ministerial direction."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross‑references to provisions of the Mental Health Act 2009 (e.g. statements of rights under sections 9, 12, 23, 27, 37, 46) increase reading effort.","Recurrent delegations to Ministerial direction ('any other information required to be included by the Minister' in r 4) create discretionary implementation risk and uncertainty for providers.","Operational compliance rules (named facilities to be inspected every 2 months in r 4A) impose scheduling and resourcing burdens on inspectors and facilities.","Procedural notification requirements to Commissioner of Police (r 5) specify timing and content, creating administrative obligations for health services and police coordination.","Interjurisdictional declarations (r 6) affect cross‑border recognition and transfer mechanisms, requiring legal/administrative alignment.","Fee payment mechanism delegated to a separate fee notice (r 7) leaves quantum and payment mechanics outside the regulations, requiring consultation of a secondary instrument."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set practical rules under the Mental Health Act 2009: they specify what must appear in patients' statements of rights, require bimonthly inspections of two named community mental‑health residences, set what police must be told after treatment decisions, declare which other jurisdictions' mental health laws count as corresponding laws, and require the Minister to pay private legal practitioners under a published fee scale. Affected parties include patients, treatment centres, police, legal practitioners and the Minister; the main effects are administrative reporting and compliance obligations."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations appear consistent with the original intent of the Mental Health Act 2009. They provide procedural details for patient rights notifications, facility inspections, interstate arrangements, and legal fees - all standard regulatory functions supporting the parent Act. The 2025 version adds one new provision (4A) for facility inspections and removes a schedule, suggesting refinement rather than scope expansion."},"complexity_factors":["Only 1 defined term ('Act') in the interpretation section","Straightforward structure with 7 substantive provisions plus short title and legislative history","Minimal cross-referencing - primarily references back to specific sections of the parent Act","No nested exceptions or conditional logic beyond simple 'if-then' scenarios in section 5","Prescriptive content (what must be included in statements) rather than discretionary powers","Legislative history table adds bulk but is administrative metadata, not substantive law"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set out the practical details for how South Australia's Mental Health Act 2009 operates day-to-day. They cover five main areas:\n\n**Patient Rights Information**\nThe regulations specify what must be explained to people receiving mental health treatment. Different types of patients get different information:\n- **Voluntary patients** (people who agree to treatment): must be told when they could be forced into treatment and what happens if they try to leave\n- **People on community treatment orders** (treated at home): must be told when they could be hospitalised against their will\n- **Hospitalised patients**: must be told what happens if they go absent without leave, and what rights they have to appeal\n- **Patients on leave from hospital**: must be told the conditions of their leave and consequences of breaking them\n- **Patients after Tribunal hearings**: must be given information the Minister requires\n\n**Facility Inspections**\nTwo specific residential mental health facilities must be inspected at least every two months: Northgate House (Beachside and Woodland wards) and the Repat Neuro-Behavioural Unit.\n\n**Police Notification**\nWhen police arrest someone, release them for mental health assessment, and treatment orders are made, police must be told: what type of order was made, how long it lasts, and where the person is being treated (including if they're moved).\n\n**Interstate Recognition**\nThe regulations recognise equivalent mental health laws from all other Australian states and territories, allowing for coordinated care when people move between jurisdictions.\n\n**Legal Fees**\nPrivate lawyers (not government employees) who represent people under the Act can claim fees from the Minister according to an official fee scale.\n\n**Why this matters**: These regulations protect vulnerable people by ensuring they understand their rights and situation, create accountability through facility inspections and police notification, and enable seamless mental health care across Australia."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/mental-health-regulations-2025","history":"/api/acts/mental-health-regulations-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/mental-health-regulations-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/mental-health-regulations-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/mental-health-regulations-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/mental-health-regulations-2025/documents"}}