Protecting the Human Rights of the Mentally Ill: Contemporary Challenges for the Australian Criminal Justice System

In 1993 the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) published a landmark report on the findings of a notable inquiry into the human rights of people with a mental illness. The inquiry included a review of issues affecting mentally ill people who committed criminal offences, and those brought into the custody of police or correctional services. The HREOC report concluded that mentally ill people detained by the criminal justice system were frequently denied the health care and human rights protections to which they were entitled. In this article an appraisal is made of the progress made since the release of the HREOC report to redress this situation, principally within New South Wales, and focusing in particular upon policing issues, and the rights of persons found unfit to be tried or not guilty on the grounds of mental illness.