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    Part 1

  1. Overview
    1. Section 32 MHFPA
    2. Charges - Local and Children's Court matters
    3. Charges - Commonwealth matters
    4. No requirement to enter a plea
    5. Decisions for the Magistrate

    3. Part 2

  3. Eligibility
    1. Cognitive Impairment
      1. Intellectual disability
      2. Autism
      3. Asperger's disorder
      4. ADD & ADHD
    3. Mental illness
    4. Mental condition

    5. Part 3

  5. Clients with acquired brain injury (ABI) – legal issues
    1. What is ABI
    2. Effects and what to do

    7. Part 4

  7. Clients with intellectual disability
    1. What is intellectual disability?
    2. Diagnosis and Classification
    3. Common Effects of Intellectual Disability
    4. Identifying intellectual disability
    5. Challenging behaviour
    6. Intellectual disability and mental illness
    7. Working with clients with Intellectual disability
    8. JS support persons at court
    9. JS support persons at police stations
    10. Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC)

    9. Part 5

  9. Initial Considerations
    1. Defended Matter?
    2. Fitness?
    3. Negotiations with Police?
    4. Keeping Charges in the Local Court

    11. Part 6

  11. Getting evidence, services, support plan
    1. Level of evidence required
    2. Obtaining evidence of intellectual disability
    3. Arranging and funding an assessment
    4. Selecting a psychologist
    5. Getting disability services
    6. About support plans
    7. Types of plans
    8. Examples - DIY plans
    9. Does your client have an appointed guardian?

    13. Part 7

  13. General legal principles
    1. Principles relevant to discretion

    15. Part 8

  15. Instructions and making the application
    1. Possible submissions
    2. The support plan and proposed order
    3. Case study: multiple s32s and increasing services

    17. Part 9

  17. Submissions on links to disability
    1. Possible Links between disability and charges
    2. Casestudy

    19. Part 10

  19. Possible outcomes

    20. Part 11

  20. After an application
    1. If unsuccessful...
    2. Breaches

S32 Step By Step Guide

JS support persons at court

Justice Support(JS)

JS is a service of IDRS providing support for people with intellectual disability when they are involved in the criminal justice system as a witness, victim or defendant.

JS support persons are trained volunteers who provide practical support. They are used to working with people with intellectual disability.

JS support person at court

    The JS court support person will
  • attend court and legal appointments with your client
  • remind your client to attend court and appointments
  • work with the lawyer to facillitate effective communication
  • assist your client to understand what's happening at court
  • look after your client's needs and anxieties at court
  • attend hearings via audio-visual link with your client at a correctional centre

JS makes every effort to provide the same support person throughout a matter. This provides consistency for your client if the lawyer changes from one hearing to the next.

Having a support person assists the lawyer as well as your client.

A recent thank-you letter to JS from a Legal Aid lawyer said:

[The JS support person] provided invaluable support to my client and assisted her in understanding the court proceedings which were complicated and traumatic for her. I really appreciated the assistance given as in the past I have been N's support person in court, which has made the dual roles - assisting her as well as looking after her legal problems - extremely difficult. I was freed up on this occasion to be her legal representative only, which was of great benefit to me.

JS Contact details:

(02) 9318 0144

1300 665 908 (9:00am - 10:00pm, 7 days a week service for persons with intellectual disability under arrest)

Fax- (02) 9318 2887

Email-

PO Box 3347, Redfern NSW 2016, Australia

Working with clients with Intellectual disabilityJS support persons at police stations

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