The Wire

Today the Mental Health Council of Australia is calling for an independant judicial inquiry into the NSW jail system and its treatment of mentally ill people. Mohamad Ayoubis a 23-year-old man with schizophrenia and depresion who has been incarcerated in NSW for 14 months, against the advice of courts and psychiatrists. Despite being ruled unfit to be tried on a series of break and enter offences in August last year, Mr Ayoub remained in prison waiting for the Mental Health Review Tribunal to examine his case. Due to his illness, much of Mr Ayoub’s time has been spent sedated in solitary confinement at maximum security Parklea Jail. Mr Ayoub’s case only received attention when it sparked the ire of NSW Surpreme Court Justice John Dunford, who described the case ‘appalling’. Justice Dunford sent copies of his judgement to NSW Ministers in early April this year , and an internal inquiry has now been set up. In recent decades, long-term psychiatric institutions have been closed due to advancing medical treatments and negative public attitudes towards them. But critics say the prison system is now being used to deal with mentally ill people. Professor Alan Fells from SANE Australia says that mentally ill people are being “re-institutionalised” in prisons. SANE Australia estimates that in NSW prisons, the prvelance of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia is 30 times greater than the norm. Keith Wilson is a former Western Australian Health Minister and the chair of the Mental Health Council of Australia. While the public may be shocked at the prospect of mentally ill people languishing in prisons across the country, he told Alma Mistry it’s just the tip of the iceberg.