Media Release (12 October) – Cutbacks by Legal Aid NSW Will Leave Thousands of Public Hospital Mental Health Patients Without Assistance

From 12 October 2026, Legal Aid NSW has stopped providing legal assistance to patients in public hospital mental health wards who are facing Mental Health Review Tribunal (MHRT) hearings to authorise involuntary treatment. Due to funding cutbacks, Legal Aid will only represent people in narrowly defined matters under the Mental Health Act, mainly initial involuntary detention.

The MHRT oversees the decisions of doctors to detain a person in a mental health unit against their will, but also other aspects of involuntary treatments. With nearly 7,000 Tribunal hearings reported each year, patients will no longer have any legal representatives to provide advice or advocacy when they appeal their involuntary detention or proposed treatment.

Many of these patients cannot afford or find a private lawyer, and without representation they will struggle to challenge doctors’ opinions about the need for involuntary care.

Consumers facing the Mental Health Review Tribunal are experiencing severe mental health issues and the decisions of the Tribunal significantly impact their rights and freedoms. To withdraw this longstanding Legal Aid service will have a major impact on the confidence they and their families and carers can have that their human rights are being respected according to law.

MHCN has written to the Attorney General urgently requesting that this decision be reversed and funding provided to the NSW Legal Aid Service to continue this vital work. We also requested that the implementation of this reduction in service is delayed so that appropriate consultations can take place across mental health services in NSW about its impacts.

Jonathan Harms, CEO of MHCN, says: “This is a set-back for the human rights of consumers who are entitled to know that their liberty is only taken away when absolutely necessary and after due process has been observed.”

Read the full media release here – https://www.mentalhealthcarersnsw.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/MHCN-Media-Release_Cutbacks-by-Legal-Aid-NSW-will-leave-thousands-of-public-hospital-mental-health-patients-without-assistance-2.pdf