The Mental Health Act 1959 (No. 6605) brought into being the Mental Health Authority (the successor to the Mental Hygiene Authority). It consolidated and amended the law relating to the treatment and care of people described in the legislation as ‘the mentally ill and the intellectually defective’.
The Mental Health Act 1959 was passed on 15 December 1959 and commenced on 1 November 1962. It was repealed by the Mental Health Act 1986 (No.59/1986) on 1 October 1987.