Today, we released a landmark report covering the findings from a new survey capturing the experience of mental health consumers in NSW during 2023 and how the experience of living with a psychosocial disability as impacted on people’s human rights.
Entitled the “BEING Social Justice Report 2023 – Human Rights of Mental Health Consumers in NSW”, the report shows that the media, employers, and governments are failing in their obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) infringing on the human rights of people with psychosocial disabilities, resulting in poorer economic outcomes and directly impacting quality of life.
Some of the key findings for mental health consumers in NSW are that:
- 97% have observed discrimination in everyday life,
- 49% still don’t feel comfortable talking about their issues for fear of discrimination,
- 33% were unable to find work due to their psychosocial disability,
- 36% felt that they had been bullied, harassed or discriminated against in the workplace,
- 84% agreed that they had to compromise on employment because of their disability.
- 41% were not provided with information about negative side effects of medication,
- 18% saying they were physically restrained and 17% chemically restrained in an inpatient unit
BEING is calling for the introduction of a NSW Human Rights Act, as well as a comprehensive review of the NSW Mental Health Act using a human rights lens, which would bring NSW into better alignment with its obligations under the CRPD.
Click here to read the report.