Pursuant to section 10 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967 (NSW), the then Attorney General, the Hon Peter Collins QC MP, referred, by letter received on 30 September 1991, the following matter to the Law Reform Commission for report:

To inquire into and review the law and practice relating to the treatment of the intellectually disabled in the criminal justice system and matters incidental thereto; and in particular, without affecting the generality of the foregoing, to consider -

(a) whether there should be a new uniform statutory definition of "intellectual disability";

(b) whether, and to what extent, the intellectually disabled should be diverted from the criminal justice system, including consideration of the custodial and non-custodial alternatives to the sentencing and detention of the intellectually disabled;

(c) the treatment of intellectually disabled persons in police custody and in prison;

(d) the release from custody into the community of intellectually disabled persons considered dangerous;

(e) whether specialist units should be established within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Legal Aid Commission, the Corrective Services Commission, the Police Service and other related bodies, to deal with the intellectually disabled; and

(f) in so far as the law and practice relating to the treatment of the intellectually disabled is relevant to the treatment of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system, whether any recommendations should also be made in relation to the mentally ill.

The Law Reform Commission is constituted by the Law Reform Commission Act 1967. For the purpose of this reference, the Chairman, in accordance with the Act, created a Division comprising the following members of the Commission:

The Hon R M Hope AC CMG QC (until 2 April 1993)
The Hon G J Samuels AC QC (from 3 April 1993)
Professor David Weisbrot
Professor Brent Fisse
Ms Clare Petre (until 23 October 1992)
Ms Jane Stackpool

Executive Director

Mr Peter Hennessy

Ms Leonie Armstrong

Mr Bruce Fischer
Mr Jarrod White
Mr Horace Lam

Ms Beverley Caska

Ms Julie Freeman
Ms Suzanna Mishhawi

Ms Zoya Howes
Ms Suzanna Mishhawi

Associate Professor Susan Hayes
Mr Mark Ierace

The Commission invites submissions on the issues raised in this Discussion Paper.

How to make a submission

Anyone may make a submission or comment, including people with an intellectual disability, relatives or service providers, participants in the criminal justice system, such as police or lawyers, or members of the public. You can do so in any of the following ways:

• Make a written submission by writing to:

  Mr Peter Hennessy
  Executive Director
  New South Wales Law Reform Commission
  GPO Box 5199
  SYDNEY NSW 2001

  [DX 1227 SYDNEY]

  Fax: (02) 9228 8225

• Telephone the Commission on (02) 9228 8230 and ask to speak to a Legal Officer to make your comments by telephone.
• Telephone or write to the Commission to arrange to make a submission in person.

What should a submission contain?

There is no special form for a submission or restriction on what can be said: we are interested to hear any comments, from any source, about the position of people with an intellectual disability and their interaction with the police, whether as suspects, victims or witnesses. The Commission invites submissions on issues relevant to the review, including but not limited to the issues raised in this Discussion Paper.

Closing date for submissions

The closing date for submissions is 13 December 1993. No final decisions will be made by the Commission until after the deadline for submissions is past. If you require an extension of time, please telephone the Commission by that date.

Confidentiality

Submissions made to the Commission may be used in two ways:

• Since the Commission's process of law reform is essentially public, copies of submissions made to the Commission will normally be made available on request to any person or organisation. However, if you would like all, or part of your submission or comment to be treated as confidential, please indicate this in your submission or comments. Any request for a copy of a submission marked "confidential" will be determined in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1989 (NSW).
• In preparing the next Discussion Paper and the final Report, the Commission may find it useful to refer to and make mention of comments submitted in response to this and other Papers issued by the Commission. However, if a request for confidentiality is made, it will be respected by the Commission in relation to the publication of such submissions in the Discussion Paper or Report.