- Published:
- Thursday 5 September 2024 at 11:29 pm
The Assessment and Referral Court (ARC) on Dja Dja Wurrung Country has seen real successes a year on from its implementation, says Senior ARC Lawyer Paul Kidd, from our Bendigo office.
‘ARC depends on a collaborative approach given all the different players involved – from the magistrate through to the case management team, prosecutor and defence lawyer, with the participant at the centre,’ he said.
‘We all share the same goal of supporting ARC participants to address the causes behind their offending while still being mindful of our legal responsibilities and obligations to the law.
‘It’s a complex environment but we are doing our best to work through that as we go along and we’ve had some real successes.’
The first mental health court established in Australia by legislation, ARC was expanded to Bendigo last year.
In just over 12 months, it has recently celebrated its first ‘graduations’, with around 25 participants currently progressing through the program.
It is one of seven ARCs operating in Victoria now, with Dandenong slated to open in October and Shepparton scheduled for early 2025.
The statewide expansion of ARC was a commitment made by the Victorian Government in response to a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
A day in the life of ARC
While every Assessment and Referral Court operates independently, ARC sitting days in Bendigo generally start with a morning debrief where the magistrate, case manager, legal practitioner and others will highlight any behavioural issues that participants might be experiencing.
It might also include good news, giving the multidisciplinary team an understanding of what’s ahead and how they can better prepare.
To ‘graduate’ from ARC, participants need to engage with their case manager over a 12-month period, attending monthly hearings and working towards achieving a set of individually tailored goals that are designed to assist them address the social and personal problems that led to their offending.
It is by no means a ‘soft option’. As a pre-sentence court, ARC has the same sentencing options as a mainstream court, including the power to send someone to jail but also to grant a discharge.
ARC is a specialist, therapeutic court, eligible to people who have been diagnosed with one or more of the following:
- a mental illness
- an intellectual disability
- an acquired brain injury
- an autism spectrum disorder
- a neurological impairment, including but not limited to dementia.
It must cause a substantially reduced capacity in their self-care, self-management, social interaction or communication.
They must also benefit from receiving services such as:
- psychological services
- welfare services
- health services
- mental health services
- disability services
- drug or alcohol treatment
- housing services.
Victoria Legal Aid has specialist ARC lawyers in Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo, Frankston, Morwell, Moorabbin, Heidelberg and Dandenong.
We also fund private practitioners to represent participants in ARC.
Our role is to advocate for the participant, protect their legal rights and ensure they have their say in the ARC process.
‘Criminal lawyers would agree that a huge number of the people they see have therapeutic needs of one sort or another,’ Paul said.
‘What is special about ARC and other specialist courts is that they address those needs in a holistic way and provide people with an opportunity to engage with their own recovery in a way they perhaps never have been able to do before.
‘Getting that support has changed lives and it has been incredible for ARC lawyers to be part of that daily journey.
'It has been inspirational to see some of the recent ARC finalisation hearings and to see the changes people have been able to achieve in their lives. Bendigo participants receive a framed certificate of achievement, and a huge round of applause breaks out in the courtroom when their matters finalise.’
A case manager works with the participant to link them with necessary services, like drug treatment or housing support.
Participants commonly get help with getting on the NDIS, or making changes to NDIS plans so they are more appropriate to the client’s needs. Even with support, some applications can take months.
‘Quite a few ARC clients are waiting to be accepted on the NDIS,’ Paul said.
The future of ARC
Acting Director, Summary Crime and Therapeutic Justice, Elanor Peattie said the expansion of ARC across Victoria will deliver many positives.
‘The data shows that there are significant benefits to therapeutic courts like ARC in addressing the issues underlying offending, supporting people to achieve their goals and reducing re-offending,’ Elanor said.
‘It is an incredibly rewarding experience to see people progress over time and achieve better social, health and wellbeing outcomes.
‘Therapeutic approaches work – we are proud to play an important role in ARC and look forward to continued success at Dandenong and other locations as it continues to roll out.’
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