Mental Health Intensive Care Unit

An updated version of HPU 137 Mental Health Intensive Care Unit (Version 4, June 2026) has been published on the AusHFG website.

This version has been informed by an extensive consultation process undertaken through a co-design approach, involving clinical, operational and technical experts, as well as participants with lived experience of mental illness.

Key updates to the document include:

• Consideration of jurisdiction-wide Mental Health Intensive Care Unit (MHICU) admission eligibility criteria, along with project-specific criteria such as minimum age thresholds and provision of carer space within bedrooms.
• Recognition that, in some jurisdictions, MHICU facilities may operate flexibly between Mental Health High Dependency Unit and Intensive Care Unit functions.
• Expanded planning, design and risk assessment guidance to support safety and operational requirements, including considerations for secure entry zones, interlocked airlock doors, technology-enabled clinical observation and environmental surveillance, de-escalation rooms, seclusion rooms, and enhanced design guidance for consumer spaces.
• Enhanced infection prevention and control and pandemic preparedness guidance for consumer areas.
• Updated design guidance to support the flexible and multifunctional use of tribunal rooms.
• Revision to the Schedule of Accommodation (SOA), informed by benchmarking, evolving models of care, and jurisdictional requirements. These include updated circulation allowances aligned with AusHFG Part C, the inclusion of a beverage bay for tribunal meetings, and the removal of corridor-accessed consumer amenities.
• Updates to policy and reference materials to ensure alignment with current standards.

A thank you is extended to all contributors involved in the review and update of this document.