This document is a submission made in 2017 by the APS to the Human Rights Commission Consulation on the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).
The APS welcomed the Australian Government’s decision to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), an international human rights treaty that aims to prevent ill treatment in places of detention through the establishment of a preventive-based inspection mechanism. The ratification of OPCAT is consistent with the Society’s support for strong safeguards against maltreatment and torture. The APS believes that ratification will strengthen Australia’s domestic monitoring of places of detention, enhance the prevention of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and avoid or remediate working environments that undermine the capacity of health professionals to provide ethical and quality care.
Mental health professionals can play an important role in inspections of detention facilities and the APS strongly believes that there is a need for such professionals to be included in visiting teams that form part of the OPCAT. The APS submission singled out current detention practices concerning asylum seekers, children, Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system, residents in aged care facilities, and people with cognitive disabilities as in need of focus. We expressed our disappointment that offshore immigration detention centres were excluded from this discussion. Our submission drew attention to the evidence-based Restrictive Practices Guidelines for Psychologists developed by the APS in 2011, and highlighted the need to reduce restrictive practices, particularly in the disability sector, by increasing the use of positive behaviour support programs.
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