As a result of our work supporting clients in closed environments, QAI holds grave concerns regarding some of the physical and psychological conditions that people deprived of their liberty can endure when detained in certain Queensland-government funded institutions.
The upcoming visit by the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) to Australia in late 2022 represents an opportunity to highlight these conditions on the international stage. QAI has written to the SPT and recommended they visit the following three sites of detention during their visit:
- The Central Queensland Hospital Health Service (CQHHS) Rockhampton Mental Health Inpatient Unit (MHIPU);
- Queensland’s Forensic Disability Service (FDS); and
- West Moreton High Security Inpatient Service (HSIS) at The Park.
Conditions observed directly by QAI staff, along with anecdotal reports from our clients, raise concerns of potential torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment of people with disability deprived of their liberty in these institutions. They provide further evidence of the systemic abuse, neglect, and exploitation of people with disability in Australian society.
QAI has written a submission to the Disability Royal Commission, urging them to specifically examine the experiences of people with disability in disability-specific sites of detention, such as mental health wards and forensic disability services. We urge the Disability Royal Commission to consider Australia’s implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OCPAT) and to make recommendations that will ensure OPCAT has a disability-aware approach and includes monitoring mechanisms for disability-specific places of detention.
Read our submission to the Disability Royal Commission here: