Member

Pertinent to our discussions of this Bill, IPP prisoners are often very frightened to disclose their mental health problems or ask for help from prison staff, because poor mental health is regularly cited as a reason to knock back their parole. This can lead to untreated illnesses becoming more acute and in need of the provisions of this legislation. It also suggests that some of these IPP prisoners are, in effect, being detained by the state because of their mental health challenges, without that being acknowledged, and this could be seen as a sort of section by the back door.