In February and March 2023, Kate Bjur travelled to six countries and visited over 20 secure settings for young people as part of a Churchill Fellowship. In this presentation, Kate describes the common elements of the most successful youth detention centres she visited. Success is defined in many ways, including reduced offending after release, safer environments for young people and staff, higher staff retention and young people's increased connection to their families and the broader community. Examples of best contemporary practice include New York City's Close to Home Initiative, Spain's Diagrama Re-education Centres, Denmark's Youth Detention Centres and the State of Missouri's Division of Youth Services' Missouri Model. Based on the common features of these models, Kate will present a vision for therapeutic youth detention that includes elements such as change-oriented programming, engaging young people in meaningful activity, family therapy and leaves of absence for the purpose of reintegration. This model is most effective in smaller, home-like settings that are close to young people's families and communities. Kate Bjur is the General Manager, Policy, Research & Advocacy PeakCare Queensland. She has over 25 years’ experience working with and on behalf of children and young people in Japan, Canada, England and Australia. Her experience includes youth detention senior leadership, restorative practice, child safety policy, early childhood education, youth advocacy and family work. In 2023, Kate travelled around the world as part of a Churchill Fellowship project investigating best practice in youth crime prevention, gang exit strategies and therapeutic models of youth detention. Using this broad experience and international research, Kate is dedicated to advocating for children’s rights; hearing and amplifying the voices of children, young people and their families; and connecting government and non-government partners to increase the responsiveness and flexibility of the child and family service system. Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese language and literature from the University of Queensland as well as post-graduate qualifications in the fields of Organisational Change Management, Community Services Work, Business, Early Childhood Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. This seminar is free for ANZAPPL members. Please click here to register.

Elle de Koning, Senior Policy Lawyer from the Mental Health Law Centre will discuss the long-awaited legislative reform of the Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Accused) Act 1996. The new Criminal Law (Mental Impairment) Act 2023 is scheduled for commencement on 1 September 2024. The new Act changes the approach to dealing with mentally impaired accused across the forensic health and criminal justice systems. With reform on the horizon, this presentation will discuss the new law and what is means for current and future forensic patients. This even is free to attend but registration is essential. Click here to register.

Forensic evaluators have an ethical imperative to conduct culturally-informed assessments. Evaluators frequently express interest in learning more about how to effectively conduct culturally competent forensic mental health assessment (FMHA), but routinely note access to training and the lack of evidence-based guidelines as major challenges (Fanniff et al., 2022; Kois & Chauhan, 2016). A recent poll of experts in forensic psychology established 28 widely agreed upon practices for effectively incorporating cultural considerations in FMHA across seven phases of FMHA: (1) developing competence and ongoing tasks, (2) preparation from referral to initiation of evaluation, (3) practices for evaluations of examinees who have limited English proficiency, (4) rapport and communication, (5) data collection and assessment, (6) formulation, and (7) report writing (Fanniff et al., 2023). This seminar will discuss methods used to identify these practices, make concrete recommendations for how to incorporate these practices into forensic mental health assessments, and discuss how legal practitioners can determine whether an evaluation was conducted in a culturally-informed manner. Amanda Fanniff, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor at Palo Alto University. She completed her doctorate in clinical psychology with a specialization in psychology, policy, and law at the University of Arizona and her post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, a division of the University of South Florida. Her teaching since arriving at PAU in 2011 has primarily been in the forensic emphasis of PAU’s clinical psychology PhD program. Her research currently focuses on developmentally and culturally informed forensic mental health assessment; justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in forensic psychology research and training; and the ways in which individuals with different sociocultural identities have different experiences in the criminal and juvenile legal systems. This event is free to attend for ANZAPPL members. Non-members may attend for $15. Please click here to register.

The Law Reform Commission’s recent reference, Project 113, examined issues and made recommendations to modernise and improve Western Australia’s sexual offence laws. Project 113 reviews matters such as the definition of consent, the circumstances in which there is no consent, the defence of mistaken belief in consent, the directions given by judges to juries in sexual offence trials, Western Australia’s substantive sexual offences and the maximum penalties for sexual offences. The Final Report for Project 113 was tabled in Parliament on 15 May 2024 and is available online at https://justice.wa.gov.au/lrcwa-project113 About the presenter The Hon Jenkins joined the Commission on 9 September 2020. She is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The Hon Jenkins has practiced law in multiple Australian jurisdictions since her admission to practice in 1982. From 1989-2001 she worked at the Western Australian Crown Solicitors office, holding several legal officer positions including Deputy Crown Counsel. She has appeared as counsel in all courts in WA, the Federal Court and the High Court of Australia. She was a member of the Model Criminal Code Committee from 1999-2001, with the Committee’s work forming the basis for what is now the Commonwealth Criminal Code. The Hon Jenkins served as a judge of the District Court of WA from 2001-2004 and judge of the Supreme Court of WA from 2004 to January 2020. She retired as the then longest serving judge in WA after presiding over civil and criminal matters in the jurisdiction for more than fifteen years. Click here to book tickets.

This presentation will cover: General overview of DSV-V eating disorder diagnoses including ARFID, OSFED, bigorexia/muscle dysmorphia, and custody-specific considerations How to identify and support your patients who have eating disorders symptoms (and how/why you might not have noticed until now) A novel way to understand ED presentations, development and treatments – examples from custody that just make sense. Overview of eating disorder treatment guidelines as per evidence-based practice, what these treatments have in common, and adaptation for use in custodial setting. How to use these learnings to incorporate common features of effective treatment into your practice to overcome common treatment obstacles   Presenter: Laurie Hopkins, born on Dharawal Country, has a background in acute care nursing, homeless health, alcohol & other drugs, sexual health, LGBTIQ health, immunology, mental health, and a previous career in botany and bush regeneration. They currently work for Justice Health NSW as Eating Disorder Coordinator and clinical nurse consultant, providing consultation-liaison services and leading the Justice Health NSW response to the NSW Service Plan for People with Eating Disorders. They are passionate about providing care to under-serviced populations and marginalised communities, and looking ‘outside the box’ to find simple solutions to what many view as complex problems. This seminar is free for ANZAPPL members. Please click here to register.

In this talk, Dr Takagi will discuss the complexities involved in the assessment and diagnosis of intellectual disability and acquired brain injury among forensic populations. He will illustrate these challenges using clinical case studies and discuss their implications for forensic practice. About the presenter Dr Michael Takagi is a senior clinical neuropsychologist at the Children’s Court Clinic (Children's Court of Victoria) and a Senior Lecturer at Monash University (School of Psychological Sciences). He completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2008, investigating the neuropsychological and neurobiological impact of inhalant abuse during adolescence. He has worked with forensic populations since completing his clinical training in neuropsychology at the University of Melbourne in 2014, and has worked at the Children's Court Clinic for the past six years. Time and location This event will be held at Graduate House, 216-220 Leicester Street, Carlton VIC 3053. We warmly invite you to join us for canapés and drinks from 5:30 pm. The presentation will follow at 6:30 pm. Registration for this event is essential. Please click here to register.

Wrongfully convicted prisoners face what is known as “the innocent prisoner’s dilemma” when they become eligible for parole. A prisoner’s willingness to take responsibility for their crime and express remorse is a vital part of parole decision-making process. But if they maintain they are innocent and do not admit responsibility or express remorse, they may be denied parole. On the other hand, if they do accept responsibility for a crime they did not commit, they may limit any options for post-conviction review. As recently highlighted in the case of Keli Lane, this dilemma is compounded by no body, no parole laws requiring prisoners to disclose the location of victims’ remains. This webinar will provide an overview of: The politicisation of no body no parole regimes in Australia and the impact on victims’ families The effectiveness of no body no parole legislation Challenges in evaluating the effectiveness of the legislation The impact of no body no parole laws on the wrongfully convicted Options for reform. Michele Ruyters, is Associate Dean, Criminology and Justice Studies with RMIT's School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University. Michele is the founder and director of the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative and the Criminal Case Review Project at RMIT University. Michele's practice and research interests are in wrongful convictions and lived experiences of miscarriages of justice. This event is free for ANZAPPL members. It is $20 for non-members and $5 for full-time students. Please click here to register. This event will be live-streamed and recorded. Recordings will be available for ANZAPPL members only via the website.

This full day workshop will explore "strength-based approaches” (SBAs) which are those that are directed at the treatment of adults and juveniles who have engaged in sexually abusive behaviours. SBAs aim to build upon strengths in areas where there are current problems to effectively offset the deficits (i.e., the so-called “criminogenic” factors) that have been shown to lead to a propensity to reoffend. SBAs include treatment presented to the clients as aimed at instilling the capacities for them to have a better, more fulfilling, prosocial future; treatment that assists clients to identify their current strengths to instil optimism and begin the processes of growing a sense of self-efficacy; the focus on strengths to offset the relevant criminogenic issues; help clients consolidate strengths. Click here to book for this event.

A/Prof. Shuichi Suetani is a community psychiatrist in Brisbane. He works as Senior Psychiatrist at the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health. Alongside his psychiatry training (which included two years at the Park), Shuichi completed a PhD exploring the epidemiological relationships between physical activity and mental disorders. Shuichi has published several peer reviewed publications and sits on a few journal editorial committees. Shuichi will speak present about his experience working as a psychiatrist in the largest Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation in Australia. One of his supervisors at the Park often emphasised the importance of Primum non nocere (first do no harm). He often thinks about who does the most harm and who is harmed the most, especially in the context of mental health in general, and psychiatry in particular. This event is free to attend, but please email Mark Kebbell (m.kebbell@griffith.edu.au) to indicate your attendance so that we can manage numbers. Please click here for a flyer.

The 2024 Annual General Meeting of ANZAPPL New South Wales will take place at 7.00pm on Wednesday 6 March, via Zoom. For further information or to register, please click here. This link will only work for active members.

In this full-day workshop, designed for psychologists, psychiatrists, and legal practitioners, Prof. Scott will provide attendees with the knowledge and skills to confidently evaluate claims of dissociation in forensic contexts. This paid event will be held on Thursday 30 November 2023 at Cliftons Freshwater Place, Southbank VIC 3006. The workshop will be livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person. All attendees will have access to a recording of the workshop after the event. Registration for this event is essential. Click here to register. Charles Scott, MD, is Chief, Division of Psychiatry and the Law, Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Training Director, and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California. He is Board Certified in General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and has Added Qualifications in Forensic Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. Dr. Scott is a Past-President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) and is also Past-President of the Association of Directors of Forensic Psychiatry Fellowships. He has served as a member of the AAPL national task force to develop guidelines for the evaluation of criminal responsibility and competency to stand trial. Dr. Scott is one of four national AAPL Forensic Psychiatry Review Course Faculty instructors and in 2008 received the AAPL award as the most outstanding forensic psychiatry fellowship program instructor in the United States. Dr. Scott has served as a forensic psychiatric consultant to jails, prisons, maximum security forensic inpatient units, California Department of State Hospitals, and as a consultant to the National Football League (NFL) providing training on violence risk assessment for NFL counselors. He has performed suitability evaluations for NASA’s Astronaut Selection Board. His academic subspecialty is child and adolescent forensic psychiatry. Dr. Scott has authored book chapters on juvenile violence, mental health law, and co-authored chapters on child psychiatry and the assessment of dangerousness. He has served as editor or co-editor for numerous books and is co-editor of the Third Edition of Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry. His research interests include the relationship of substance use to aggression among criminal defendants, on the quality of forensic evaluations of criminal responsibility, child witness testimony, malingering, and assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder. He lectures nationally on the topics of malingering, violence risk assessment, juvenile violence, substance use and violence, the assessment of sex offenders, correctional psychiatry, DSM-5 and the law, and malpractice issues in mental health.

ANZAPPL Victoria’s Annual General Meeting will be held at 6 pm (AEDT) on Wednesday 29 November 2023 at Zinc (Federation Square), Cnr Princes Walk and Russel St Ext, Melbourne VIC 3000. All active members of ANZAPPL Victoria are welcome to attend. Registration to attend is essential. Click here to register for this event at the Annual Lecture. You may attend the AGM online if you cannot do so in person. A Zoom link will be circulated to all members on the day of the meeting. Alternatively, you may appoint another member as a proxy if you are unable to attend. Please access all relevant forms here. The meeting will be followed by the branch’s Annual Lecture, which will be delivered by Professor Charles Scott. Additional information about the Annual Lecture and registration can be found here.