Abstract:

The release of the Report of the National Inquiry into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness (the Burdekin Report) provides the Australian Capital Territory with a valuable opportunity to assess the current state of affairs affecting people with mental illness and psychiatric disabilities in the Territory and to implement an innovative range of programs aimed specifically at answering the concerns raised in the Report. The impetus for re-assessment, review and reform in the area of service provision for people with psychiatric disabilities, which has come about as a result of this Inquiry, places the ACT in an enviable position compared with the other States and Territories. The ACT administration enjoys an accessibility to needs and population information that other larger jurisdictions do not have. This ACTCOSS paper reviews some of the contents of the Burdekin Report and seeks to look at it in an ACT context. It has been prepared through a process of consultation with a range of service providers who each have a particular or general interest in the issues raised in the Report and who have a strong interest in seeing effective and responsible reform being initiated in the community. Appendices present suggestions for appropriate housing for people with disabilities and the terms of reference of the Housing for People with Psychiatric Disabilities Working Group.