PARENTAL CONSENT FOR ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

NOTICE PAPER NO. 32

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 26 SEPTEMBER 2025

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Ng Shi Xuan

MP for Sembawang GRC

Question No. 233

To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry will consider allowing children under the age of 18 to access Tier 2 low-intensity services such as counselling or screening by licensed practitioners, without parental consent, while retaining the requirement for parental consent for higher-risk interventions such as medication or hospitalisation.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 44

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 26 SEPTEMBER 2025

Question No. 374

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry can provide an update regarding the study of the requirement for parental consent for children and young people below 18 or 21 to access mental health support; (b) which stakeholders have been engaged; (c) when is the study expected to be completed; and (d) whether the findings will be made public.

Answer

1. Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to answer questions number 1 and 2 today on the Order Paper?

2. Our laws do not prescribe the permissible legal age for a young individual to seek mental health services or other medical services without parental consent. However, it is generally good practice for parents to be involved when mental health services are provided to young people.

3. Part of the reason is that parents play a vital role in supporting their children’s well-being, and their involvement to their children’s recovery journey is critical.

4. There have been feedback that the requirement of parental consent is one of the reasons why young people with mental health challenges hesitate to seek help. And indeed, the issue of requiring parental consent before seeking help, and involving parents as part of the recovery journey, need not be conflated. MOH has convened an expert group to study this issue and develop guidelines on the subject. Key stakeholders including parents, youths and service providers were engaged, and their views will contribute towards shaping the guidelines.

5. One of the key issues we need to examine is whether for lower-level intervention that involves mostly befriending and emotional support, no parental consent may be required. However, if the objective is to encourage youths to step forward to seek help with their mental health challenges, this will need to be coupled with more proactive engagement and outreach to those who may need help.

6. We will provide more details when the guidelines are ready early next year.