The Office of the Chief Psychiatrist is part of a governance architecture that provides oversight and support to improve the quality and safety of mental health care and treatment in Victoria.
It monitors services to ensure they are complying with the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022. It also assists services to meet best practice standards outlined in the Chief Psychiatrist’s clinical guidelines.
Key instruments for these governance activities include:
- Investigations when the safety of a person was endangered while receiving treatment and care.
- Clinical reviews, practice audits and site visits to identify issues in their early stages and assist services to rectify them.
The Chief Psychiatrist convenes several expert committees to support these governance activities. The committees are made up of clinical professionals and consumer and carer representatives. They provide advice in core areas of oversight that include:
- restrictive practices
- electroconvulsive treatment
- deaths of people in the care of a mental health service
- sexual safety in mental health and wellbeing services.
The Office of the Chief Psychiatrist works closely with Safer Care Victoria, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, and other key governance bodies to make sure our actions are coordinated and promote improvements in clinical care across Victoria.
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The Chief Psychiatrist's Restrictive Interventions Committee reviews data on the use of restrictive interventions. It provides expert advice to the Chief Psychiatrist to improve quality and safety in relation to restrictive interventions.
The committee's guiding objective is to reduce, and where possible, eliminate restrictive interventions in mental health and wellbeing services.
The committee is made up of representatives from:- the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist
- the clinical workforce and its leadership
- consumers and carers
- peak bodies and unions
- academics.
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The Morbidity and Mortality Committee supports the Chief Psychiatrist with monitoring and reviewing the deaths of people in the care of mental health services. It also supports the Chief Psychiatrist with monitoring and reviewing other serious adverse events in mental health services.
The advice of the committee contributes to improvements in clinical practice by addressing issues that can lead to the death or serious harm of a patient.
The committee is chaired by the Chief Psychiatrist or delegate who appoints suitably qualified experts to serve as members.
Membership includes representatives from the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist, Safer Care Victoria, the clinical leadership workforce, consumer and carer peak bodies, and the lived and living experience workforce.
Chief Psychiatrist's Sentinel Events Review Committee
The Chief Psychiatrist's Sentinel Events Review Committee is established as a sub-committee to the Chief Psychiatrist's Morbidity and Mortality Committee.
Its role is to support the Chief Psychiatrist with reviewing sentinel events information referred by Safer Care Victoria and making recommendations on the prevention of sentinel events.
Sentinel events are adverse patient safety incidents that result in the serious harm or death of a patient while in the care of a health service.
Serious harm is considered to have occurred when the patient has:- required life-saving surgical or medical intervention
- received a shortened life expectancy
- experienced permanent or long-term physical injury, or permanent or long-term loss of function.
The Sentinel Events Review Committee draws its membership from the Morbidity and Mortality Committee.
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The Chief Psychiatrist's Neurostimulation Therapies Committee reviews data on the use of electroconvulsive treatment (ECT). It provides expert advice to the Chief Psychiatrist to improve quality and safety in relation to ECT.
The committee is made up of representatives from:- the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist
- clinical workforce, such as ECT Directors and ECT Coordinators
- the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
- consumers and carers.
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The Chief Psychiatrist’ Sexual Safety Committee was established in 2019 to promote sexual safety in designated mental health services.
The committee reviews sexual safety data and provides expert advice to the Chief Psychiatrist on how to improve sexual safety.
The committee is made up of representatives from:- Office of the Chief Psychiatrist
- Victorian Mental Illness Council
- Tandem
- Lived experience advisors in a variety of roles and services
- Safer Care Victoria
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission
- Health service leaders and staff.
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Under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (the Act), designated mental health services must appoint an Authorised Psychiatrist.
These psychiatrists hold a range of statutory responsibilities that guide the application of the Act. They also provide important leadership that strengthens the quality of clinical practice.
The Chief Psychiatrist chairs an Authorised Psychiatrists' Meeting on a quarterly basis. All Authorised Psychiatrists in Victoria are members of the group. They are encouraged to invite emerging leaders to attend the meeting as well.
The Authorised Psychiatrists' Meeting reviews matters of common interest to designated mental health services.
In addition, the Chief Psychiatrist identifies current issues across the system and updates the group on emerging reforms and compliance requirements. -
The Older Adult Mental Health and Wellbeing Clinical Directors and Managers’ Meeting is held quarterly. It is chaired by a Deputy Chief Psychiatrist who has expertise in older adult clinical practice.
The meetings are a platform for fostering collaboration and communication with clinical leaders and management teams who administer mental health and wellbeing services for older adults.
The information exchanged at meetings leads to improvements in the treatment and care of older adults in Victoria's mental health and wellbeing system. -
The Infant, Child and Youth Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Service (ICYAMHWS) Clinical Directors and Managers Meeting brings together clinical leaders to address emerging issues in the field of infant, child and youth mental health.
The meeting is a forum for learning about the latest developments and initiatives within the sector and the Department of Health. This collaboration contributes to improvements in the treatment and care of infants, children and young people in Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing system.
The meeting has representation from:- The Office of the Chief Psychiatrist
- The clinical workforce, particularly clinical directors and program managers of ICYAMHWSs
- Internal and external optional invitees, such as:
- Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
- Safer Care Victoria
- Forensicare
- other teams within the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division, Department of Health.
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The Statewide Complex Needs Advisory Panel (SCNAP) is convened by the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist. It brings together experts from across departments and services to provide multidisciplinary, clinical, and lived experience advice about service delivery for individuals with highly complex needs who pose a serious risk to others and/or themselves.
These individuals are at risk of poor outcomes because:- their needs fall outside standard service responses
- the service system does not have appropriate options
- or existing pathways have been ineffective or are unsustainable.
As part of its role, the panel reviews service responses, service delivery issues and systemic barriers relating to individuals with complex needs. It provides recommendations to strengthen the coordination, flexibility and evidence-base of service responses, with the aim of creating pathways into services for individuals with complex needs.
The panel also has a system-wide focus. It identifies opportunities to improve policy and practice across Victoria and makes recommendations to senior departmental and service decision-makers on corresponding changes that can be implemented.Eligibility criteria
The panel is not intended as a crisis response service. It is an expert advisory body on service delivery for individuals with needs that fall outside a standard service response.
To be eligible for the panel, an individual must meet the following criteria, which are to be outlined in their referral:- They have complex needs linked to mental illness, psychological distress, cognitive impairment, neurodiversity, substance use or trauma.
- They pose a serious risk to the community or themself and have contact with the criminal justice system.
- Their needs fall outside standard service responses, with existing pathways being ineffective, exhausted or unsustainable.
- Their needs require the engagement of multiple sectors responding in a coordinated and joined-up fashion.
- The referring service or department has identified question/s, advice, requests and/or outcomes being sought at panel.
It remains at the discretion of the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist to determine a person's eligibility.
Referral process
A referring service or department can contact the Program Manager, Complex Needs OCP, to enquire about the panel via email at ocp@health.vic.gov.au.
Complex Needs Team – Office of the Chief Psychiatrist
The Complex Needs Team consists of a Deputy Chief Psychiatrist, Program Manager (Complex Needs) and a Senior Adviser (Complex Needs).
It performs the following functions:- Scheduling or attending clinical consults, case conferences and care-team meetings to:
- provide consultation and advice on complex cases, with a whole-of-system lens.
- provide advice on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act, access to mental health services, and the operations of the broader system.
- identify appropriate people to be presented at the Statewide Complex Needs Advisory Panel.
- Convening the monthly Statewide Complex Needs Advisory Panel.
- Assisting with the implementation of panel recommendations post-panel, and any issues or barriers affecting people previously presented to the panel.
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The Chief Psychiatrist or their delegate is a member of the Forensic Leave Panel under the Crimes (Mental Impairment & Unfitness to be Tried) Act
Reviewed 25 October 2023