Today, on International Human Rights Day, Aspire Recovery Connection (ARC) stands in solidarity with those whose rights are too often overlooked or denied. We join the Rights Resource Network in advocating for a Human Rights Act for South Australia, an essential step toward ensuring dignity, equity, and justice for all.
Upholding Human Rights in Mental Health
Human rights abuses persist for many people in South Australia who experience significant mental and emotional distress. Our community members, and countless others, face discrimination, loss of freedom, exclusion, and isolation. They have less access to essential opportunities like employment, education, and housing. Worse, coercive practices in mental health care such as involuntary treatment, detention in locked wards, and forced medication strip people of their autonomy and perpetuate cycles of trauma and exclusion.
Australia ranks among the highest globally for the use of involuntary treatment. In South Australia alone, 12,174 treatment orders were issued to 5,851 individuals in 2021-22, marking a 20% rise in community treatment orders over five years. These figures reflect a concerning over-reliance on coercive and restrictive practices, practices that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations have long condemned.
A Paradigm Shift in Mental Health Care
The WHO has made clear that our reliance on the medical model in mental health care is a key driver of human rights violations. Social determinants such as housing, employment, and connection are critical to mental well-being, yet these are often overshadowed by a narrow focus on diagnosis and medication.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, highlights the reality:
“Even today, people are locked in institutions, where they are isolated from society and marginalised from communities. Many are subjected to abuse and neglect, deprived of their right to make decisions, and denied access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities. As a result, people with mental health conditions die 10 to 20 years younger than the general population.”
This International Human Rights Day, ARC echoes the WHO’s call for a shift in how we understand and respond to mental health. We need approaches that honour lived experience, uphold human rights, and dismantle stigma and exclusion.
Our Vision for Change
At ARC, we envision a South Australia where coercive and restrictive practices are abolished, where people experiencing distress are met with compassion and respect, and where human rights are at the forefront of mental health care. We call for the establishment of a Human Rights Act to ensure these protections are enshrined in law.
Change begins with awareness and advocacy. Let’s use this Human Rights Day as an opportunity to commit to a future where every person’s rights, dignity, and humanity are honoured. Together, we can create a society that recognises the experience of distress in response to traumatic and unjust circumstances is a normal human reaction. We can uphold autonomy, choice and control in all situations. We can offer compassion and inclusion, for everyone, no matter what.
ARC’s Submission for a Human Rights Act
As a 100% Lived Experience organisation, Aspire Recovery Connection has long advocated for human rights protections for people living with mental and emotional distress. A little while ago, we made a formal submission supporting the establishment of a Human Rights Act for South Australia.
Our submission reflects the voices of our community, a diverse group of over 200 people accessing our services and 50 Lived Experience practitioners, guided by a Community Advisory Board. The submission was informed by extensive consultation, including a focus group that delved into the breaches of human rights experienced within the mental health system.
We highlighted the systemic challenges faced by people subjected to forceful interventions, as well as the need for legislative protections to ensure dignity, inclusion, and respect for human rights. This Human Rights Act would be a vital step toward ending coercive practices and promoting humane, rights-based mental health care in South Australia.
To learn more, you can read our full submission here.
Join Us in Advocacy
On this International Human Rights Day, let’s amplify the call for change. Together, we can build a future where everyone’s human rights are protected, and where mental health care is compassionate, inclusive, and free of coercion.
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