In an email received today from the curator of information provided to members of the Australian Optional Protocol to the Convention against (OPCAT) Network, I was alerted to a recording of a session about how jails are failing us all, including the prisoners and their families, and the taxpayers.

My interest in the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT)is due to my belief that secure dementia units are the same as jail. They are places of detention, even though the residents have not been convicted of any crime. Locked institutions for anyone requiring assisted living can also be seen as places of detention. Hence, OPCAT is extremely relevant to peopel wih dementia, in Australia and globally.

From UTS: Our criminal justice system is not working. Since 1985, the Australian imprisonment rate has more than tripled. It is failing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is failing women and people with mental illness or disability. And it is failing Australian taxpayers, costing over $110,000 per prisoner each year. The evidence is clear, and change is needed now. In this session, Debbie Kilroy, Keenan Mundine, Mindy Sotiri and Verity Firth discuss decarceration, abolitionism, and what needs to happen to turn the tide of our criminal justice system. If you are interested in hearing about future events from this host, please contact events.socialjustice@uts.edu.au.

Note: The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) aims to improve how people’s human rights are protected when they are detained. It does this by providing for a rigorous process of independent inspections of all places of detention in a country’s jurisdiction. In so doing, OPCAT enables a light to be shone on the conditions experienced by people in detention.