This report explores how legal services can better protect the human rights and dignity of people with mental illness and cognitive disabilities who have been detained for compulsory treatment.

The report’s author, Eleanore Fritze, a senior lawyer in Victoria Legal Aid’s Mental Health and Disability Law program, was awarded a Churchill Fellowship sponsored by the Jack Brockhoff Foundation to travel to the United States, England and Hungary. She explored issues of access to legal assistance, advocacy on behalf of individuals and the use of strategic advocacy, as well as factors which support high-quality and effective legal services.

Her report is a significant legal and policy resource about the treatment of people with mental illness and cognitive disabilities across comparative legal systems. This will hopefully stimulate debate about new possibilities for better access to legal advice and representation by vulnerable people detained across Australia.