Mr. Gary Kiernan:

I will come in regarding the piece of work we are doing. We have established an expert advisory group and have completed an evidence review in this area. As Mental Health Reform has pointed out, some jurisdictions are trialling restraint-free environments. For example, health trusts and health organisations in parts of Australia and New Zealand have tried to bring this in and are on the journey to bringing in restraint-free environments. There is very much a move towards reduction and elimination. At present, we are promoting use of the least restrictive interventions and that these are only used in the most exceptional circumstances. The provisions in the new part of the Act that relate to restrictive practices, which the commission advocated for, are now much stronger in the sense of how they allow us to make rules to govern these areas to ensure there is constant scrutiny of them, in addition to a constant effort and focus on reducing and eliminating them. The commission intends to publish its evidence review highlighting international best practice in this area.