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Western Australia - Legislation

Lunacy Act 1871 (1871 - 1903)

  • Lunacy Act 1871

    Lunacy Act 1871, 2 January 1871, courtesy of State Law Publisher of Western Australia.
    Details

From
1871
To
1903
Categories
Principal Act
Website
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/wa/num_act/la187134vn9168/la187134vn9168.pdf

The Lunacy Act 1871 (No. 9 of 1871) did not distinguish between mental illness and intellectual or physical disability. This meant that children with intellectual disabilities, or physical disabilities such as epilepsy could be, and often were, sent to Fremantle Asylum. This act was repealed by the Lunacy Act 1903 (015 of 1903 (3 Edw. VII No. 15)).

Details

Before the Lunacy Act 1871, the primitive mental health system in Western Australia had been governed by the English Lunacy Act 1845. Reflecting a general social apathy, the Lunacy Bill was not even debated before it passed into law.

The Lunacy Act 1871 defined a 'lunatic' as 'every person of unsound mind, and every person being an idiot' (s.2). Commitals could be ordered (Schedule A) or voluntary, at the request of a 'private person' (Schedule B). Epilepsy was one of the conditions explicitly referred to in the Act (committal Schedules). The Schedules also give examples of the information that was to be collected prior to admission, and the forms to be used at admission and for medical reports.

Publications

Books

  • Ellis, A.S., Eloquent Testimony : the Story of the Mental Health Services in Western Australia, 1830-1975, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1984. p.27. Details

Book Sections

  • Megahey, Norman, 'Living in Fremantle Asylum: The Colonial Experience of Disability 1829-1900', in Errol Cocks (ed.), Under blue skies : the social construction of intellectual disability in Western Australia, Centre for Disability Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, 1996, pp. 13-52. pp.26, 45. Details

Online Resources

Photos

Lunacy Act 1871
Title
Lunacy Act 1871
Type
Document
Date
2 January 1871
Source
State Law Publisher of Western Australia

Details

Medical Certificate Child, 1900
Title
Medical Certificate Child, 1900
Type
Document
Date
1900
Source
Collection of Historical Images, Mental Health Museum WA Inc

Details

Understanding and interpreting mental health legislation and certification documents, 1871-1962
Title
Understanding and interpreting mental health legislation and certification documents, 1871-1962
Type
Document
Date
2012
Source
Dr Philippa Martyr, Department of Health, Western Australia

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Ellis, A.S., Eloquent Testimony : the Story of the Mental Health Services in Western Australia, 1830-1975, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1984. p.27.; Megahey, Norman, 'Living in Fremantle Asylum: The Colonial Experience of Disability 1829-1900', in Errol Cocks (ed.), Under blue skies : the social construction of intellectual disability in Western Australia, Centre for Disability Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, 1996, pp. 13-52. pp.26, 45..

Prepared by: Debra Rosser