TY - JOUR
T1 - OPCAT
T2 - How an international treaty regarding torture is relevant to the Australian mental health system
AU - Ouliaris, Calina
AU - Gill, Neeraj
AU - Castan, Melissa
AU - Sundram, Suresh
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: N.G. is supported by funding from the Queensland Mental Health Commission and the Mental Health Review Tribunal, Queensland.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/1/13
Y1 - 2024/1/13
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - human rights law
KW - mental health services
KW - mental illness
KW - OPCAT
KW - restrictive practices
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182480522&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/00048674231221419
DO - 10.1177/00048674231221419
M3 - Article
C2 - 38217424
AN - SCOPUS:85182480522
SN - 0004-8674
SP - 1
EP - 6
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
ER -