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Disability Services Act 1992, Western Australia

The Disability Services Act 1992 (Act No. 77 of 1992) was passed on 18 December 1992. Its long title was ‘An Act providing for the furtherance of principles applicable to people with disablities, for the funding of services to people with disabilities that further certain objectives, for the resolution of complaints by such people, for…

Acts Amendment (Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons) Act 1985, Western Australia

The Acts Amendment (Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons) Act 1985 (069 of 1985) amended the Mental Health Act 1962. The term ‘intellectually defective’ was removed and replaced with ‘intellectually handicapped person’. Other amendments made it clear that an intellectual disability was not a mental illness and removed references to training centres and other facilities for…

Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons Act 1985, Western Australia

The Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons Act 1985 (068 of 1985) established a government agency to ‘develop and carry out policies’ and provide for services to advance the welfare of people with intellectual disabilities. The Act defined an ‘intellectually handicapped person’, regulated the provision of services to those people and licensed the premises in which…

Royal Commission in Lunacy, State of Western Australia

A ‘Royal Commission in Lunacy’ ran from 28 September 1921 to 21 September 1922. Commissioners visited and made recommendations about all the mental health institutions, and looked into the administration of the mental health system. The Royal Commission recommended that the existing ‘isolation block’ at the Claremont Hospital for the Insane should be converted into…

Lunacy Act Amendment Act 1920, Western Australia

The Lunacy Act Amendment Act 1920 (11 Geo. V No. 42) set up the mechanisms for Boards of Visitors with broad powers of inspection and action in the interests of protecting and releasing patients in mental health institutions. The purpose of the Act was to ensure people weren’t locked up forever in a hospital for…

Select Committee to inquire into the management of the Claremont Hospital for the Insane, Western Australia

A ‘Select Committee to inquire into the management of the Claremont Hospital for the Insane’ was appointed by the Legislative Council in September 1919. It was wide-ranging. It heard evidence about the best treatment and accommodation for ‘mental defectives and epileptics’ in city and regional hospitals and recommended establishing a separate institution, which did not…

Board of Visitors, Heathcote

A Board of Visitors for the Heathcote Reception Centre was introduced in 1929 for the independent oversight and ‘protection’ of patients. [From the State Records Office of Western Australia] Following an amendment to the Lunacy Act 1903 in 1920, a Board of Visitors system was introduced in Western Australia for the protection of patients in…

Board of Visitors, Claremont Mental Hospital

A Board of Visitors for the Claremont Mental Hospital was introduced in 1920 for the independent oversight and ‘protection’ of patients. [From the State Records Office of Western Australia] Following an amendment to the Lunacy Act 1903 in 1920, a Board of Visitors system was introduced in Western Australia for the protection of patients in…

Heathcote

Heathcote began in 1929 on Point Heathcote at Applecross. It was first known as the Heathcote Reception Home, and was a government hospital for people with ‘recent and recoverable’ mental illness. Heathcote sometimes housed Children and adolescents. It closed in 1994. The Royal Commission into Lunacy recommended in 1922 that a new hospital be built…

Royal Commission appointed to inquire into alleged cases of brutality at the Claremont Mental Hospital, State of Western Australia

The ‘Royal Commission appointed to inquire into alleged cases of brutality at the Claremont Mental Hospital’ was appointed on 20 March 1950. It found children needed to be better segregated and recommended improvements to record-keeping, medical supervision and staffing. The Royal Commission was chaired by Mr Justice Adrian H. Curlewis of the Supreme Court of…