University of St. Francis

HSAD 623

MENTAL HELATH POLICY 2
The adoption of the National Mental Health Policy (1992) by all the States and Territories has
given much more cohesiveness to the provision of uniform services throughout the nation. The
Policy emphasizes the need to develop nationally consistent mental health legislation and was
developed in response to concern about the human rights of people with mental illness, and
widespread dissatisfaction with inadequate, under-funded and often non-existent services. Other
influences were the international trends in deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and the
introduction of various community mental health care models. In 1992 the first National Mental
Health Plan was developed to provide specific strategies to assist in the implementation of the
Policy. The Plan needs to be