State of Victoria
The Mental Health Authority came into being in 1962, under the terms of the Mental Health Act 1959. The Authority was responsible for policy relating to mental health and control of what was previously called the Mental Hygiene Branch. Between 1944 and 1978 the Mental Hygiene Branch/Mental Health Authority greatly increased its services to patients and the public with the establishment of several clinics and childrens' facilities. It adopted a policy of regionalisation of facilities for the retarded and mentally ill, providing local accommodation in a less institutionalised environment. In 1978, the Mental Health Authority was abolished and was succeeded by the new Health Commission.
1934 - 1944 Department of Mental Hygiene
1944 - 1959 Mental Hygiene Branch
1962 - 1978 Mental Health Authority
Sources used to compile this entry: Victorian Year Book, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victorian Office, 1873 - 2002. 1967.; Robson, Belinda, From mental hygiene to community mental health: psychiatrists and Victorian public administration from the 1940s to 1990s, Provenance, 2008, https://www.prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/provenance-journal/provenance-2008/mental-hygiene-community-mental-health.
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 27 July 2010, Last modified: 2 July 2014
Last updated: 7 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/vic/biogs/E000624b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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