Dr Andrew Wilson is a RANZCP trainee and psychiatric registrar at Gold Coast Mental Health and Specialist service and one of the recipients of the 2023 Beverly Raphael New Investigator Grant recipients for his project: Exploring the reasons behind increasing involuntary psychiatric treatment in Queensland: exploring the perspectives of the legal profession through focus groups.

About the Project

In 2006, Queensland revised its mental health legislation to align with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and implemented the Human Rights Act in 2019. However, it has been found that despite reforms intended to minimise coercion and enhance patient autonomy, the prevalence of compulsory treatment orders has increased. 

This project will identify the reasons behind this unintended consequence and recommend strategies to implement evidence-informed alternatives to coercion in Queensland mental health services. Furthermore, this project will aim to explore the opinions and attitudes of the legal profession through two separate focus groups including Tribunal legal members and Legal representatives (Legal Aid QLD and independent lawyers) for their opinion on the reasons for high rates of compulsory treatment, impediments to the use of voluntary treatment and their recommendations to align Queensland mental health services with human rights-based practice in mental health services. 

Grant

The Beverly Raphael New Investigator Grant is designed to encourage those who are new to research and require a small amount of funding to conduct a small-scale study.

Value

The program provides a number of small grants of between A$500 and A$6000 annually.