No one size fits all (Part 1)

Too many people with disability come into contact with the criminal justice system in Australia. How do we protect their rights?

In this episode, we hear how people with disability interact with the law and how the justice system can improve their responses to people with disability.  We hear about unfitness to stand trial laws, and the Unfitness to Plead research project (when courts determine an individual’s incapacity to participate in the legal process), where people with intellectual, cognitive and psycho-social disability can be subjected to unfair treatment when charged with a crime.

Legal researchers tell us how people with intellectual disability or severe mental health conditions, have not been expected to have legal capacity to make their own decisions until quite recently. We hear about how supported decision making works in terms of medical treatment and in a court of law. And we also consider consumer law and everyday contexts such as choosing providers for your internet or gas, and how these processes could be a lot more inclusive and accessible.

Guests include: Dr Anna Arstein-Kerslake, Melbourne Law School, Dr Piers Gooding and Dr Yvette Maker from the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, Dr Ilan Wiesel, School of Geography, University of Melbourne. Part two features Cath Roper from the Centre for Psychiatric Nursing, Hamish McLachlan, Managing Lawyer of Victoria Legal Aid's Mental Health and Disability Law Program and Elissa Scott from Independent Mental Health Advocacy.

Download the Transcript

Listen to Part Two

Producer: Joel Supple | Host: Tessa de Vries | Co-production: Mellissa Kavenagh and Sara Donaldson

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Further links

Melbourne Social Equity Institute

Mental Health Advocacy

Supported Decision Making

More Information

md-i@unimelb.edu.au

  • Episode 4