In Australia, legislation does not permit people with disability to be deprived of their liberty without lawful and proper reason. However, people with disability face higher rates of deprivation of their liberty than the general population. There are significant issues with the legislative, policy and practice framework, in particular the guardianship and mental health frameworks that result in the arbitrary detention of people with disability. (See also Articles 12 and 17)
In addition, many forms of deprivation of liberty and security of people with disability are performed without lawful authority. This includes confinement to residential and other facilities (see also Article 19), restriction on movement within residential and other facilities (see also Article 19), as well as practices such as seclusion and exclusionary timeout within these facilities.161 (See also Article 15)