Roundtable tackling WA’s gridlocked forensic mental healthcare system

Dozens of mental health and justice leaders have gathered to discuss urgently needed reforms within Western Australia’s forensic mental healthcare system.

The roundtable, led by RANZCP’s Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry WA subcommittee, advocated for higher quality care for people with mental ill-health before, during and after their contact with the justice system.

Psychiatrists, legal experts and youth justice advocates discussed unique challenges faced by those living in detention settings, with WA’s incarceration rates the second highest in Australia.

The cost of incarceration

Detaining one adult prisoner in WA costs approximately $368 per day, or about $135,000 each year, before accounting for wider court, policing, health and social costs. While the financial case for reform was powerful, the cost of a broken system for to those in detention (and their communities) was even more powerful.  

Participants identified urgent priority areas, including Aboriginal incarceration rates and the need to use specific policy levers to reduce imprisonment. 

They also discussed the WA Government’s progress in the redesign of Banksia Hill, including cultural change processes, but identified where change lagged behind, including meeting obligations under Closing the Gap Agreement or implementing recommendations from the Disability Royal Commission.

The group approached multi-layered challenges at the intersections of justice and mental health sectors and advocated for 22 industry-wide changes, detailed in the communique linked below.

Download: Discussion paper that informed the roundtable agenda [PDF; 281KB]

Download: Communique issued by the Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry WA subcommittee [PDF; 273KB]

Next steps

The roundtable agreed to proceed with the campaigning priorities discussed at the meeting as a broad and informal coalition of organisations working at the intersection of mental health and justice in WA. 

This report will be considered by the Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry WA Sub-committee and the Branch Committee who will develop a plan of action with clear priorities for advocacy.