Human Rights Survey 2025 – NSW Results
In 2025, the National Mental Health Consumer Alliance, with the assistance of State and Territory bodies like BEING – Mental Health Consumers, conducted a survey with people self-identifying as having mental health challenges.
This Human Rights Survey was the first of its kind and focuses on the intersection of clinical practice, consumer autonomy, and socio-economic participation for individuals with mental health challenges.
Of all respondents, 23% were from NSW. This was the greatest number of respondents from any state or territory. Thank you to those who completed the survey! National results from the survey were published in November, but an analysis of state-based data has not been available until now.
The following findings provide a snapshot of the lived experience of NSW mental health consumers, in isolation and when compared with the national data.
- Clinical Autonomy and Coercive Practices
The survey highlights a tension between formal patient rights and clinical reality. A significant portion of the population operates under a “shadow of coercion,” where compliance is driven by the threat of legal compulsion rather than therapeutic alliance.
- Coerced Compliance: Nationally 1 in 3 (27.9%) respondents agreed to treatment purely out of fear of involuntary commitment. In NSW, this figure was lower but still substantial at 21.7%.
- Physical Restraint: NSW reported a higher incidence of non-consensual physical restraint (11.7%) compared to the national average (9.1%). Qualitative data indicates these incidents are concentrated in acute inpatient units and emergency departments.
- Chemical Restraint: Rates were consistent across both cohorts at approximately 1 in 10 (12%), with qualitative accounts detailing “forced injections” and medication changes made without consultation.
- The Human Rights Disconnect
A central finding is the discrepancy between the respect and promotion of human rights and the lived sense of dignity.
- Rights Transparency: NSW shows a slight lead in transparency; 1 in 2 (47.1%) NSW respondents received a formal statement of rights during treatment, compared to 44.2% nationally.
- Subjective Dignity: Despite legal disclosures, nearly 2 out of 5 (38.3%) NSW respondents (and 38.9% nationally) reported being subjected to “cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment.” This highlights that the violation of rights often occurs through the manner of care rather than just the legality of it.
- Treatment Parity: 1 in 2 (53%) of respondents in both cohorts felt health professionals treated them worse than the general population, underscoring a persistent “stigma in scrubs.”
- Socio-Economic Participation
The data reveals that lived experience remains a significant barrier to economic security and social belonging.
- The Employment Barrier: Nationally, 38.7% were unable to secure work due to their lived experience. NSW performed better in this regard (30.0%), though workplace bullying remains high for those who are employed.
- Economic Vulnerability: Only 5.4% of national respondents report being free of money worries. In NSW, severe poverty (“nowhere near enough to live on”) affected nearly 1 out of 5 (16.7%) of the cohort, compared to 1 in 4 ( 23.3%) nationally.
In addition, 2 out of 5 NSW consumers reported lower satisfaction with how their “unique identities” (cultural, gender, disability) taken into consideration than the national average (43.3% satisfaction vs 49.1% National).
2025 was the inaugural year for the collection of this data and was a key first initiative of the newly-created National Mental Health Consumer Alliance. While comparisons between NSW and the national average provide an interesting comparison, its important value is this year’s results provides a starting benchmark against which government action and progress on protecting the human rights of mental health consumers can be better evaluated.