About the absent without approval (AWA) pathway
The absent without approval (AWA) pathway is designed to help AMHS staff safely identify and return patients who become absent without approval. It aligns with:
The AWA pathway is a tool to help AMHS staff best respond to patient absences. However, it recognises:
- when patient absences occur, each scenario is unique
- local services may have agreed approaches with local police and ambulance services
- in some circumstances AMHS staff may not be involved in the return of a patient if the Queensland Police Service returns the patient alone.
If you're unsure how best to support the return of a patient, contact your authorised mental health service (AMHS) administrator for advice.
Who should use the pathway
The pathway is for staff at AMHSs including:
- administrators
- authorised doctors
- authorised mental health practitioners.
How it works
The AWA pathway is a 6 step process that may occur when a person becomes absent without approval. Not all stages will occur in all patient absences.
The following flowchart sets out how AMHS staff should identify and respond when patients are absent without approval.
Absent without approval (AWA) pathway flowchart (PDF 299 kB)
The Chief Psychiatrist has also developed the following interactive online flowcharts for some steps of the pathway.
Interactive flowcharts
Chief Psychiatrist policies
The following main policies apply to the AWA pathway.
In addition, the following policies are related to the pathway.
- Classified patients
- Examination and assessment
- Judicial orders - examination orders, court examination orders and other judicial orders
- Mechanical restraint
Guidelines and fact sheets
There are also guidelines on Transport powers for ambulance and police officers.
Forms
Authorised mental health service staff can access a range of forms to complete the AWA pathway from the Consumer Integrated Mental Health and Addiction (CIMHA) application or the Mental Health Review Tribunal website.
You can also use the following statewide forms.
Some of these forms won't open in your browser. If you experience an error, right-click on the hyperlink instead and select 'save link as.' Otherwise, you can change your browser settings to automatically open PDF documents using Adobe Reader.
| Name | Where to access | |
Authority to transport absent person | Print form (PDF 212 kB) | |
| Online form (PDF 1456 kB) | ||
Request for police assistance | ||
Revocation of authority to transport absent person | Print form (PDF 212 kB) | |
| Online form (PDF 608 kB) | ||
Application for warrant for apprehension of person | Print form (PDF 196 kB) | |
| Online form (PDF 647 kB) | ||
Application for approval to use mechanical restraint | Print form (PDF 220 kB) | |
| Online form (PDF 1592 kB) | ||
Authorisation of mechanical restraint | Print form (PDF 54 kB) | |
| Online form (PDF 1592 kB) | ||
Form of warrant | Print form (PDF 192 kB) | |
| Online form (PDF 645 kB) | ||
Warrant for apprehension of person | Print form (PDF 155 kB) | |
| Online form (PDF 609 kB) | ||
Written notice of relevant patient's absence | Find the form on the Mental Health Review Tribunal website | |
Written notice of relevant patient's return | Find the form on the Mental Health Review Tribunal website | |
Help and support
For help or advice for returning patients who are absent without approval, contact the Mental Health Act liaison service.