76038 Law and Mental Health
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 70311 Torts
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 78149 Law and Mental Health AND 78150 Law and Mental Health
Description
This subject provides students with an introduction to law and mental health. Students explore legal frameworks for coercive mental health interventions encountered by people with psychosocial and cognitive disability and critically reflect on these in the context of broader consideration of law’s role in enabling and responding to violence and inequality. The application of current legal doctrine and practices are examined as well as alternatives offered by international human rights norms and domestic law reform proposals. The subject takes an interdisciplinary approach to analysing and evaluating law, which centres narratives and perspectives of the disability community and also draws on legal doctrine, law reform reports, international human rights commentary, empirical research and critical scholarship. Students learn directly from members of the disability community, including through guest lectures. Taking an intersectional approach, the subject interrogates the relationships between law, mental health, ableism, settler colonialism and heteropatriarchy. As a result of successfully completing this subject, students have a deepened appreciation for the importance in law and policy work of directly engaging with the disability community. They also have increased skills in advocating for and working alongside people with psychosocial and cognitive disability, identifying systemic legal issues relating to coercive mental health interventions and evaluating the efficacy of different analytical perspectives and legal reform options in relation to contemporary debates about law and mental health.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Critically engage with a range of primary and secondary sources in relation to law and mental health, including narratives and perspectives of the disability community; |
|---|---|
| 2. | Explain and critically reflect upon contemporary legal approaches to mental health, particularly in relation to coercive mental health interventions; |
| 3. | Critically assess and evaluate law’s role in enabling and responding to violence and inequality, in relation to people with psychosocial and cognitive disability; |
| 4. | Evaluate contemporary debates on domestic law reform and international human rights developments in relation to law and mental health; |
| 5. | Formulate well-researched and persuasive law reform proposals related to contentious issues in law and mental health. |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes which reflect the course intended learning outcomes:
- Critical Analysis and Evaluation
A capacity to think critically, strategically and creatively, including the ability to:
a. Identify and articulate legal issues in context, including the skill of critical reading and writing;
b. Apply reasoning and research to generate appropriate responses;
c. Engage in critical analysis and make a reasoned choice amongst alternatives; and
d. Think creatively in approaching legal issues and generating appropriate responses. (LAW.3.1) - Communication
Effective and appropriate communication skills including:
a. Highly effective use of the English language to convey legal ideas and views to different and diverse audiences and environments;
b. An ability to communicate to inform, analyse, report and persuade;
c. An ability to strategically select an appropriate medium and message;
d. An ability to assess how messages are received and alter communication strategies accordingly; and
e. An ability to be responsive and adaptive to the perspectives of collaborators, clients, counter parties and others. (LAW.5.1) - Collaboration
Effective and appropriate collaboration skills in working together to achieve a common goal in a group learning environment or the workplace including:
a. An ability to give and receive feedback;
b. Appropriate professional and interpersonal skills in working collaboratively;
c. A capacity to develop strategies to successfully negotiate group challenges; and
d. An ability to be responsive and adaptive to the perspectives of collaborators, clients, counter parties and others. (LAW.6.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
Strategy 1: Learning through people and place
Drawing on place-based and experiential pedagogies, students learn directly from and through the lived experiences of the disability community through guest lectures and subject materials. Some of the guest lectures will focus specifically on development of professional skills in communication, representation and advocacy. Through this strategy, students gain new insights into law and mental health which they can draw on in understanding current legal frameworks and in developing evidence-based arguments for redress, law reform and socio-legal transformation. They also develop skills to enhance their capacity to work with the disability community. Moreover, students have opportunities to challenge and transform their understandings of the role of law and lawyers in achieving social justice for people with psychosocial and cognitive disability through unseating the privileged position of academic and professional expertise on law and mental health, and inviting re-evaluation of lawyers’ ethical and professional roles and responsibilities in relation to the disability community.
Strategy 2: Collaborative and interactive learning
Each week, students engage in collaborate group discussion in online and face-to-face classroom settings. Through this engagement, students evaluate primary and secondary sources on current legal frameworks, develop new perspectives on law and mental health, and share ideas, thoughts and concerns about redress, law reform and socio-legal transformation. In this way, students engage in deeper consideration of legal, social, political and ethical issues relevant to law and mental health, and to explore these in the context of their future professional roles as lawyers and policymakers. Participating actively in informed and meaningful discussion hones individual understanding and development of analytical skills. Students have the opportunity to seek immediate feedback from the seminar leader and peers, particularly to clarify contentious issues in the subject. Students work collaboratively during classes on legal problem scenario, law reform scenario, and critical discussion seminar activities.
Strategy 3: Early and consistent feedback
The collaborative learning approach utilised will enable ongoing feedback to be provided as class discussions unfold and areas of learning need are identified. The use of guest lectures and legal problem scenario and law reform scenario activities provide opportunities for feedback on skills. In-class discussion of research essays provides an opportunity for self-assessment.
Subject Delivery:
12 x 3 hour face-to-face seminar classes.
Content (topics)
- Introduction to disability: lived experiences, First Nations approaches, and different cultural approaches
- Critical approaches to disability, law and justice
- Disability international human rights and Disability Justice
- Settler colonial relations, law and mental health
- Representing clients with psychosocial and cognitive disability
- Civil mental health law
- Criminal justice and forensic mental health law
- Guardianship and financial management law
- Legal regulation of sexuality and reproduction
- Legal responses to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
- Ways forward: redress, reform, transform?
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Seminar Participation
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 2, 3 and 4 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: LAW.3.1, LAW.5.1 and LAW.6.1 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | 1000 words equivalent |
| Criteria: |
|
Assessment task 2: Reflective Statement
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2 and 3 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: LAW.3.1, LAW.5.1 and LAW.6.1 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | 1000 words (excluding references in footnotes and bibliography) - no extra 10% words leeway. |
| Criteria: |
|
Assessment task 3: Research Essay
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: LAW.3.1, LAW.5.1 and LAW.6.1 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 50% |
| Length: | 1950 words (excluding references in footnotes and bibliography) - no extra 10% words leeway. |
| Criteria: |
|
Required texts
Please refer to Canvas modules.
Recommended texts
Please refer to Canvas modules.
References
Please refer to Canvas modules.
Other resources
Please refer to Canvas modules.