Judge Warns Mentally Unwell Australian Woman in Solitary Confinement is An Emergency

[Ladybbird]

Mentally Unwell Woman in Australian Solitary Confinement For Almost a Decade -An Emergency Situation Judge Warns

Psychiatrist describes the detained woman at Thomas Embling hospital as one of the most unwell patients in the state

The Guardian Australia 16 MAR 2025










The court has heard the woman, who is being held at the Thomas Embling psychiatric hospital, had lashed out at other patients and staff during periods of release from seclusion

One of the most mentally unwell patients in Victoria will deteriorate further if she continues to be held in solitary confinement, where she has been detained for almost a decade


Victorian county court judge Nola Karapanagiotidis heard a major review on Wednesday of the detention of the woman under the Crimes Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried Act.

Guardian Australia revealed last year that the woman, whose identity is suppressed, has been held at the Thomas Embling hospital, a secure forensic mental health facility, since 2015. Earlier that year, she was found not guilty because of mental impairment on two assault charges, which each had a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Last October, Karapanagiotidis told lawyers from the state?s health and attorney generals departments they must act urgently in the case, which she described as an emergency situation.

But the court heard on Wednesday there had been little change in how the woman was being treated.

Dr Calum Smith, a psychiatrist who has independently assessed the woman and provided several reports on her condition to the court, described her as one of the most unwell patients in the state.

He told the court it was concerning recommendations for her deseclusion were not being implemented and that instead issues were being raised when parts of this process did not go as planned.




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The court heard the woman had lashed out at other patients and staff during periods of being released from seclusion, including when she was placed in restraints known as soft cuffs, which restrict arm movement. On one occasion the court was told that she had punched another patient in the head.

Smith said that in part these assaults would be unavoidable, but that the hospital also had been provided plans since 2017 that clearly outlined the steps it should take towards reintegrating her. Instead, they were hustling to deal with problems retrospectively

She is not going to get better while she is in long-term seclusion, he told the court. As long as she remains in seclusion, you're not going to get a significant improvement in her mental state, in her behaviour, in her treatment of other people.


Smith said Forensicare, which manages the hospital, needed to stop the waiting for Godot approach to the woman.

He had been asked to assess the womans case because of his previous experience with long-term secluded patients in New South Wales who were reintegrated, the court heard.




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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2iqB6Nz7-Y