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Ouliaris C, Gill N, Castan M, Sundram S. OPCAT: How an international treaty regarding torture is relevant to the Australian mental health system. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2024; 58:387-392. [PMID: 38217424 PMCID: PMC11055407 DOI: 10.1177/00048674231221419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2024]
Abstract
The United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture visits signatory nations to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). Its role is to monitor and support signatory nations in implementing and complying with the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). In October 2022, the United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture visited Australia but was barred from visiting mental health wards in Queensland and all detention facilities in New South Wales leading to the termination of its visit. This breach of Australia's obligations under the OPCAT presents a significant setback for the rights of people with mental illness and other involuntarily detained populations. This piece sets out to demonstrate the relevance of OPCAT to the mental health system in Australia. Individuals who are detained for compulsory treatment in locked facilities such as acute psychiatric inpatient wards and forensic mental health facilities are deprived of their liberty, often out of public view. Thus, it highlights the ethical and professional obligations of all mental health professionals, especially psychiatrists, to safeguard the human rights of individuals being detained in mental health facilities as enshrined in Australia's international legal obligations under the OPCAT. Adhering to these obligations diminishes the risk of future human rights violations of people with mental illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Calina Ouliaris
- Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Training Program, The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Neeraj Gill
- Mental Health Policy Unit, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Mental Health and Specialist Services, Gold Coast Health, Southport, QLD, Australia
| | - Melissa Castan
- Faculty of Law, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
- Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
- Australian Academy of Law, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Suresh Sundram
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
- Mental Health Program, Monash Health, Clayton, VIC, Australia
- Cabrini Outreach, Malvern, VIC, Australia
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Castan M, Debeljak J. Indigenous peoples’ human rights and the Victorian Charter: a framework for reorienting recordkeeping and archival practice. Arch Sci 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s10502-011-9164-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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Johnson SJ, Castan M, Proudfoot L, Barry DA, Christofi N. Acute toxicity of linear alkylbenzene to Caenorhabditis elegans Maupas, 1900 in soil. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 2007; 79:41-4. [PMID: 17599232 DOI: 10.1007/s00128-007-9195-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2007] [Accepted: 04/04/2007] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- S J Johnson
- Contaminated Land Assessment and Remediation Research Centre, Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, School of Engineering and Electronics, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
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