The Commissioners of the Hospital for the Insane was a government body established by the Colonial Government of Tasmania in 1859 to provide care and treatment for persons in mental health hospitals in Tasmania, including the Hospital for the Insane, New Norfolk . It was established following the passing of the Mental Hospitals Act 1858. Each hospital was to have its own board of at least five commissioners, including two with medical qualifications. The Commissioners were required to inspect and report on the hospital and its patients periodically, could make and establish rules and regulations for the hospital, could order the discharge of any patient, and had the ability to suspend the Superintendent or other officers of the hospital in cases of misconduct. Deaths, discharges, and escapes of patients were also reported to the Commissioners. Day-to-day running of the hospital was to remain in the hands of the hospital Superintendent.
The Commissioners were consistently critical of the State Government for providing inadequate funding for the proper management of the New Norfolk Hospital. In 1883 a Royal Commission was established to investigate the management of the Hospital. The Royal Commissions findings were consistent with the complaints made by the Hospital Commissioners, and recommended increased funding to the hospital. The Government’s response to these findings was to enact new legislation in 1885 to abolish the Commissioners of the Hospital for the Insane as a body, and instead move oversight of the hospital under the State Charitable Grants Department.