Blogs

Imprisoning the mentally ill is just plain crazy - August 23rd, 2010 - By Paul Papalia, WA Labor MP

Ask yourself a question: Is the rate of mental illness in Western Australian prisons higher than the rate in the wider community?

It’s not a trick question. You don’t need to be an expert. Gut feel – yes or no?

I’m guessing most people would say yes. I did.

Yasmine Phillips, From: PerthNow, July 29, 2010

THE family of an Aboriginal elder who died of heat-stroke in a prison transfer van have been awarded a $3.2 million ex-gratia payment by the State Government.

Mr Ward, an elder whose full name cannot be used for cultural reasons, died in the back of the van on the way from Laverton to Kalgoorlie in WA's Goldfields region in January 2008.