Crimes Mental Impairment consultation paper.pdf - Victorian Law ...

Victorian Law Reform Commission
Review of the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997: Consultation Paper
7.37 In February 2013, Forensicare announced that it would be required to close 16 hospital
beds in the Jardine unit due to ‘the Commonwealth’s $107 million cuts to Victoria’s health
system’. 22 The chief executive officer of Forensicare said:
Forensicare is the sole provider of these services in Victoria and these are not decisions
that our Council has taken lightly. At the forefront of Forensicare’s function is that of
community safety. It is critical that Forensicare continues to provide specialist forensic
mental health services to ensure that people with a mental illness in the criminal justice
system receive appropriate levels of care and treatment. 23
7.38 There are 19 places in residential treatment institutions and treatment facilities. These
places are available for persons who meet the criteria for admission under the Disability
Act. This may include persons who are subject to a custodial supervision order. 24 There
are five beds at the Long Term Rehabilitation Program (LTRP) at Plenty Residential Services
in Bundoora managed within the North Division, North Eastern Melbourne Area of
the Department of Human Services and 14 beds at the Intensive Residential Treatment
Program (IRTP) of the Disability Forensic Assessment and Treatment Service. People
subject to custodial supervision orders must also meet criteria under the Disability Act in
order to be admitted to a residential institution or residential treatment facility. 25
7.39 In other cases, the particular mental condition or the type of offending behaviour
presents difficulties in finding appropriate facilities or services. For example, personality
disorders can be challenging to treat effectively and people with an intellectual disability
with a history of sexual offending can also present challenges in supervision.
7.40 It is inappropriate for a person who has been found unfit or not guilty because of mental
impairment to be in a prison. As discussed at [3.8]–[3.42], people with a mental illness,
intellectual disability or cognitive impairment are particularly vulnerable in the criminal
justice system. Prisons lack the specialised services required for managing and treating
people subject to the CMIA and expose already vulnerable people to conditions that can
be detrimental to their mental state and cause further harm.
7.41 The Community Development Committee’s review of the Governor’s pleasure regime
found that many people subject to the regime were detained in prisons rather than
mental health or disability services. Submissions to the Community Development
Committee raised a range of issues regarding this. The Community Development
Committee also referred to the problematic experiences described in a group submission
by 13 Governor’s pleasure detainees. For example, one detainee said:
To be honest, Pentridge is rather frightening. I had never been in prison or in trouble
before … I was mixing with people I had never mixed with before and it was really
frightening to say the least. 26
7.42 The Community Development Committee also heard evidence that a number of people
ultimately subject to the Governor’s pleasure regime were also initially remanded in
prison. 27 The Community Development Committee’s recommendation was that ‘no
person who is found not guilty of a crime on the ground of metal impairment or unfit to
plead on the ground of mental impairment should be detained in a prison’. 28
142
22 Henrietta Cook, ‘No Help for the Mentally Ill Facing Court Charges ‘, The Age (online), 8 February 2013 . Forensicare also announced it would be
required to suspend assessments as part of the Mental Health Court Liaison Service in the Magistrates’ Court. These announcements have
since been reversed due to funding being secured.
23 Tom Dalton, Chief Executive Officer, ‘Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health: Forensicare’ (Media Release, 5 February 2013) 1.
24 Data provided to the Commission by the Department of Human Services.
25 Persons must meet the criteria under section 87 for admission to a residential institution and section 152 of the Disability Act 2006 (Vic) for
admission to a residential treatment facility.
26 Community Development Committee, above n 2, 47.
27 Ibid 48.
28 Ibid xv.