Community treatment orders in Victoria: Emergent issues and anomalies

Abstract

The current paper highlights contemporary trends in the use of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) in Victoria, Australia. CTOs were designed as a legislative operationalisation of the theoretical notion of the least restrictive alternative, providing recipients with the opportunity to receive treatment for mental illness in the community rather than in an institutional setting. Data collected from 130 cases over three months (representing approximately 10% of the total number of cases heard by the Mental Health Review Board over the period of one year), and interviews with past and present recipients of CTOs, are drawn upon to highlight a number of important concerns, findings indicate that current implementation practices in regards to CTOs in many instances are not consistent with the theoretical rationales deployed by practitioners and legislators to justify them. The features and limitations of recent moves to improve and/or guide legislation in this growing area are also discussed and a number of recommendations made regarding how future research and service delivery could be better focused.