Recommendation 8.13 – Data about people detained in forensic systems

What has been achieved to date

The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department is supporting the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare to undertake an initial scoping exercise through existing data sharing forums. 

The initial scoping exercise will assess current data collection frameworks and system capability, and the potential impacts on personal privacy of developing a data collection framework and process.

What the Disability Royal Commission said in the final report

The Australian Government and state and territory governments should support legislation requiring the annual collection and publication of data relating to people found unfit to plead or not guilty by reason of cognitive or mental health impairment. The data collected should include:

• the number of people under forensic orders in their jurisdiction
• the number of people under orders for detention and the numbers subject to:
  • indefinite periods of detention
  • limiting terms (or equivalent)
  • orders extending their order for detention
• the number of people under orders for detention by sex, disability, disability type and First Nations status
• the number of such people detained in:
  • an adult correctional facility
  • a youth detention facility
  • a forensic mental health or forensic disability facility
  • general psychiatric unit.

Joint Government response July 2024

The Australian Government and state and territory governments support improving data collection relating to people found unfit to plead or not guilty by reason of cognitive or mental health impairment. Implementation is subject to relevant scoping work to assess existing frameworks and system capability, and personal privacy protections. This work will bolster the ability of governments to evaluate policy settings relating to people with cognitive or mental health impairments in the criminal justice system.

More recommendations

View progress on other recommendations made by the Royal Commission.