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This presentation extrapolates the findings of the award winning evidence-based research of Queensland's Disability Law Project; the first specialist legal service of its kind in Australia. The presentation identifies the efficiencies and deficiencies of the Queensland criminal justice system, particularly the legal face of that system in its treatment of people that suffer from an intellectual disability, an acquired brain injury and/or mental illness. The presentation relies upon quantitative and qualitative data gathered over the past three and half years by The Advocacy and Support Centre's lawyers, and the several hundred disabled and or mentally ill clients whom they defended.

The presentation reviews the Queensland experience and reflects on potential directions for reform of mental health law, arguing that Local and Magistrates Courts require restructuring to enable them to enhance access to justice for disabled and mentally ill defendants. It also argues that Brisbane's experimental ‘Special Circumstances Court' represents a significant step in the right direction towards a more therapeutically effective jurisprudential forum in this context.

Click here to view the complete conference presentation. Visit our research section for further publications.