Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act Review
CLANT has made this submission to the Review of the Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act. The submission focusses on the following five issues:
- The AMT Act review process, being conducted by the Department of Health, is not independent and lacks transparency.
- Persons being brought into the rehabilitation scheme are subject to powers which can be exercised arbitrarily and effectively in an unfettered and regulated fashion.
- The assessment process is a vehicle for injustice and can result in a person being deprived of their liberty with no effective judicial oversight.
- Persons are appearing before the Tribunal without representation and are being denied natural justice and therefore unable to participate fully in the decision making process which can deprive them of their liberty.
- Criminal sanctions attaching to the program operate counter-therapeutically and serve to undermine the purposes of the AMT Act.