‘Traumatic to Say the Least; It Still Affects Me’: Consumer Perspectives on Community Treatment Orders in Australia
Sharon Lawn, Tessa‐May Zirnsak, T J Spencer, Elaine Waddell, Jane Fischer, Tarmia Klass, Puneet Sansanwal, Edwina T Light, Vrinda Edan, Chris Maylea, Penelope Weller, Morgan Gould, Christopher J Ryan, Giles Newton‐Howes, Steve Kisely, Lisa Brophy · 2026
Read ‘Traumatic to Say the Least; It Still Affects Me’: Consumer Perspectives on Community Treatment Orders in Australia by Sharon Lawn, Tessa‐May Zirnsak, T J Spencer, Elaine Waddell, Jane Fischer, Tarmia Klass, Puneet Sansanwal, Edwina T Light, Vrinda Edan, Chris Maylea, Penelope Weller, Morgan Gould, Christopher J Ryan, Giles Newton‐Howes, Steve Kisely, Lisa Brophy (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13378099.txt.
Description
Sharon Lawn and co-authors report how Australians who have lived under community treatment orders describe the experience. These orders compel mental health treatment in the community; their effectiveness is contested and human rights concerns persist, yet Australia uses them at high rates internationally. Their 2026 mixed-methods study surveys consumers recruited across Australia in 2024.
Forty-three people completed the survey, most of them women, and nearly half had been placed on an order more than once. Automated bot responses contaminated further data collection. Answers covered life before, during, and after the orders, attitudes toward them, family involvement, and views of services. Some reported positive care, but many rejected the orders, describing coercion, exclusion from decisions and information, few alternative supports, and a lack of compassion. The authors conclude that reforms emphasising recovery and human rights have not yet improved lived experience, and urge work to close the policy-practice gap.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Sharon Lawn, Tessa‐May Zirnsak, T J Spencer, Elaine Waddell, Jane Fischer, Tarmia Klass, Puneet Sansanwal, Edwina T Light, Vrinda Edan, Chris Maylea, Penelope Weller, Morgan Gould, Christopher J Ryan, Giles Newton‐Howes, Steve Kisely, Lisa Brophy |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 64 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |