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Queensland - Legislation

Mental Hygiene Act of 1938 (1938 - c. 1962)

From
1938
To
c. 1962
Categories
Principal Act
Website
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/hist_act/mhao19382gvn21245/

The Mental Hygiene Act of 1938 required active treatment for the mentally ill. It also attempted to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness by changing words such as "lunatic", "imbelcile", "insane" and "asylum", to "mentally sick", "mental illness" and "mental hospital". The Act allowed for voluntary admission to mental hospitals and set out the powers of the Public Curator in modern language. The full title for this act was "An Act to consolidate and Amend the Law relating to the Care, Treatment, and Control of Mentally Sick Persons" (Act no. 2 Geo VI, No.21). The next major piece of legislation relating to Mental health in Queensland was the Mental Health Act 1962 (Act no.46/1962).

Details

The Mental Hygiene Act of 1938 attempted to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness by changing words such as "lunatic", "imbelcile", "insane" and "asylum", to "mentally sick", "mental illness" and "mental hospital". However, the term continued to be used in the Annual Reports of the Department of Health and Home Affairs and the Department of Health up until the late 1960s.

Timeline

 1938 - c. 1962 Mental Hygiene Act of 1938
       1962 - 1974 Mental Health Act 1962
             1974 - 2000 Mental Health Act 1974
                   2000 - Mental Health Act 2000

Related Concepts

Related Glossary Terms

  • Imbecile (c. 1860 - c. 1960)

    The Mental Hygiene Act of 1938 attempted to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness by changing words such as "lunatic", "imbelcile", "insane" and "asylum", to "mentally sick", "mental illness" and "mental hospital". However, the term continued to be used in the Annual Reports of the Department of Health and Home Affairs and the Department of Health up until the late 1960s.

  • Lunacy (c. 1860 - c. 1930)

Related Organisations

Publications

Online Resources

Sources used to compile this entry: Queensland Health, The road to recovery - a history of mental health services in Queensland 1859-2009, Queensland Government, 2013, https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/444583/qld-mh-history.pdf; Law Research Service, Melbourne Law School, Law Library, The University of Melbourne. 'Find and Connect Project - Queensland Legislation', 4 April 2013, held in the project files at the University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre.

Prepared by: Lee Butterworth