ABSTRACT
In 1993 the findings of the National Inquiry into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness (the Burdekin Commissioners’ Report 1993) were released in Australia. This detailed exposé of the denial of human rights to mentally ill people recommended sweeping changes. This chapter examines recent reforms to mental health services, concentrating on Australia but with reference to international trends. Particular attention is directed to deinstitutionalisation (and community-based care) and mainstreaming (the treatment of psychiatric patients within the general hospital system) as key trends in mental health policy. The ‘Rights Analysis Instrument’ represents one attempt to monitor states’ compliance with legislative protections in the problematic area of attempts to advance the rights of people with mental illness. The policy initiatives of deinstitutionalisation and mainstreaming have the best of intentions—to provide better services and to reduce the stigma and isolation that the mentally ill have endured.
