1. Acquired Brain Injury And The Criminal Justice System
Public Advocate (Victoria)
Colleen Pearce

2. About the Public Advocate
Safeguarding the rights and interests of people with disability
Advice
Education and publications
Guardianship, investigations and advocacy
Policy and research
Volunteer programs:
Community Visitors
Independent Third Persons
Correction Independent Support Officer
Community Guardians program

3. Acquired Brain Injury: Definition and Causes
A disability arising from any damage to the brain acquired after birth, regardless of cause
Centre for Innovative Justice & Jesuit Social Services. (2017). Recognition Respect and Support: Enabling Justice for people with an Acquired Brain Injury. Page 14.

4. Acquired Brain Injury: Symptoms
Physical
Cognitive
Emotional
Centre for Innovative Justice & Jesuit Social Services. (2017). Recognition Respect and Support: Enabling Justice for people with an Acquired Brain Injury. Page 10.

5. Acquired Brain Injury: An example
Alcohol related brain injury  Frontal lobe damage
Fontal lobe = Executive functioning capacity
Impact
Difficulties with:
tasks involving planning, organising and initiative
exercising consequential thinking
regulating emotional response
following conversation or directions
Affects memory, leading to:
disorientation or confusion
anxiety, depression, irritability

6. ABI in the criminal justice system
33% of women and 42% of men in Victorian prisons have been found to have an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), compared with 2% in the general Australian community.
Martin Jackson, Glen Hardy, Peter Persson and Shasta Holland, ‘Acquired Brain Injury in the Victorian Prison System’ Corrections Victoria Research Paper Series Paper No. 04 April 2011.

7. Cumulative disadvantages for people with an Acquired Brain Injury
More convictions
Longer incarcerations
Higher rates of self harm
More offences committed in prison
Higher rates of contact with police
More likely to be Indigenous
More likely to be homeless
More likely to be involved with legal aid
Little contact with community supports
High recidivism rates
Marginalisation
Disadvantage
Isolation

8. An inadequate system response
Assessment:
No consistent process to identify or assess for ABI
No systematic recording of a prisoner’s ABI status
Supports and services:
No consistent supports available in prison
Neat boundaries between sectors (mental health, disability, justice)
simplifies the reality of individuals
siloed services, at odds with a holistic approach
“Hey, I’ve got ABI and I’ve got mental illness, right?
I don’t know the difference between them”.
Centre for Innovative Justice & Jesuit Social Services. (2017). Recognition Respect and Support: Enabling Justice for people with an Acquired Brain Injury..

9. Enabling Justice for people with an Acquired Brain Injury

10. Drugs, alcohol abuse too.”
Case Study: Andy
“I’ve been banged on the head too many times. I’ve had a pretty hard knock life.
Drugs, alcohol abuse too.”
Centre for Innovative Justice & Jesuit Social Services. (2017). Recognition Respect and Support: Enabling Justice for people with an Acquired Brain Injury. Pages

11. The Justice User Experience
Participants reported feeling:
Unrecognised
the system did not identify or accommodate their needs
Confused and unsupported
in understanding the orders placed upon them
Fearful and anxious
about openly reporting their disability
Disrespected
repeating past trauma
Police
Courts
Prison
Community Corrections

12. The Justice User Experience
Two specific challenges:
Understanding complex culture, language, processes and procedures
systems that at no stage recognise or respond to cognitive difficulties
Accessing resources
Inadequate access to supports, advocacy, housing, etc.

13. A human rights approach
holds that all people with disabilities have the right to enjoy equality of opportunity and to effectively participate in, and be fully included in, society.
recognises that the challenges experienced by many people with disabilities are a result of disabling systems and environments, rather than being due to an inherent ‘lack’ in the individual.
does not deny the reality of impairment or its impact on the individual.
seeks to challenge physical and social environments to accommodate impairment as an expected dimension of human diversity

14. ABI in the criminal justice system: Opportunities for change
What are some factors that can increase the perceived fairness of the criminal justice system?
Voice
Respect
Trust
Understanding
Helpfulness

15. ABI in the criminal justice system: Opportunities for change
What features were identified by participants as necessary components of a criminal justice system that is fair and responsive to people with an ABI or with a disability?
Capacity to recognize disability and/or need for adjustments
Availability of supports/reasonable adjustments
Respectful language
Clear, understandable communication (in oral and written forms)
Willingness to provide assistance
Makes sure the person is safe and feels as safe as possible

16. Office of the Public Advocate
Thank you
Office of the Public Advocate
OPA Advice Service
Multilingual publications available