Mental Health Tribunal secrecy slammed by victims’ families

Secretive decisions that see killers and other offenders released from mental health facilities in times that dwarf traditional jail terms slammed, as victims’ families are gagged and kept in the dark.

Cold-blooded killers and other heinous offenders are being given soft-touch justice with quick release back into the community by the state’s secretive Mental Health Review Tribunal.

The Sunday Telegraph has spoken to the families of five victims who say killers were being released from forensic mental health facilities within windows that dwarf traditional jail terms, and the decisions are shrouded in secrecy under bizarre laws that ban their publication.

It can also be revealed the NSW government has failed to fix the problem after its own 2017 review found the tribunal prioritised the rights of perpetrators deemed mentally ill over the safety of victims.

The horror stories alleged by the families include:

• A deranged killer given day release less than four years after the murder

• Multiple cases of killers absconding from facilities

• Killers being placed at facilities near terrified victims

• Killers released back into normal life with no criminal conviction.

Bridgette ‘Biddy’ Porter was just 10 when she was brutally killed.

Biddy’s mum Rebekah Porter is pushing for change. Picture: Dean Marzolla

In every case, the killers or offenders are spared criminal convictions and diverted into a separate justice system.

At that moment, families are then subject to legal restrictions which limit their ability to speak out unless they jump through legal hoops and ask the court to grant them permission.

The families – “bonded by the stuff of nightmares” – have come forward, calling on the government to make changes to the cloak-and-dagger tribunal that “operates in a cloud of secrecy” and puts families of victims a distant second.

The harrowing case of Bridgette “Biddy” Porter — the 10-year-old girl stabbed to death in 2020 — has become a public face of the push, thanks to a widely circulated petition housed on the NSW parliament website with 17,000 signatures and a public campaign for change.

Biddy’s mum Rebekah chose to speak out after learning the person who brutally stabbed her daughter to death had been out on supervised day release less than four years after the killing. Ms Porter believes the killer’s day release was revoked after they tried to strangle someone, but has concerns the tribunal has held discussions about preparing the killer for their future.

Asked a series of questions about the tribunal and the perceived lack of justice, NSW Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said she was open to reform.

“We understand there is always more work to be done,” Ms Jackson said.

“In general, we are open to reforms that enhance transparency and provide a better understanding of judicial and clinical decision-making.

“Continuous quality improvement is a critical component of good governance.

“Our priority is to learn from the past to strengthen our systems, ensuring that victims, families, and affected individuals feel heard and understood throughout this process.”

Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Independent MP Phil Donato. Picture: Graham Schumann

Asked about the government’s 2017 report which found the tribunal leant too far towards patients, Ms Jackson said: “I am aware of this report and have requested an update on the implementation of the recommendations.

“I acknowledge that far too often vulnerable people seeking assistance struggle to navigate bureaucratic systems.

“We remain committed to creating transparent and robust systems that provide essential support to victims during these deeply vulnerable times.”

Independent NSW MP and former police officer Phil Donato — who has taken up the campaign for Biddy Porter — told The Sunday Telegraph the balance had swung too far away from victims and needed to be “brought back to ensure the protection of the community”.

“Under the legislation as it currently stands, a lot of responsibility for the tribunal is focused on the perpetrator in terms of rehabilitation, but there has got to be significant focus on the offending conduct that brought the person under attention and into the institution,” Mr Donato said. “We don’t want to see them being released prematurely to go and put the community at risk and do further serious offences.

“We also want to have more focus on the victims and their right to have input, to be able to participate in the MHRT process and to be treated with respect and for their views to be taken into account.”

Mr Donato has met with Biddy’s mother and is deeply affected by Biddy’s parents’ horrible ordeal.

“When you look at the horrific nature of what (the killer) did and within three years they were allowed supervised day release out into the public, in my view that is inappropriate.”

Mr Donato said there appeared to be “no line of sight on the matter, no transparency and no possibility of reporting on it”.

“It’s all done very discreetly, in private and it just seems to be completely skewed towards everything being in favour of the offender,” he said.

The 2017 review by former Supreme Court Judge Anthony Whealy made a series of recommendations, including improving transparency and decision making, including better reflecting the victim experience and allowing victim impact statements at tribunal or court hearings.

Advocacy Australia chair Claire Collins said that through supporting Biddy’s parents and hearing the experiences of victims, she was “horrified”.

“While we appreciate the MHRT’s role is to provide mental healthcare for perpetrators, it’s abhorrent to me that victims who suffer mental health conditions as a direct result of the perpetrator’s heinous acts, are treated with less respect, compassion or consideration for their ongoing grief and trauma than perpetrators, and are often berated by the tribunal,” she said.

Attorney-General Michael Daley was approached for comment.

COMMENT: DELICATE BALANCE OF JUSTICE UPENDED

They described themselves as strangers bonded by the stuff of nightmares.

Men and women brutally robbed of loved ones by people society has deemed unable to comprehend the gravity of what they have done.

They are also bonded by an inability to properly grieve and heal because the perpetrators have never been tried, convicted and punished.

Instead they are thrown into a system where they feel gagged and powerless.

The best course of action, they were all told, was to have the killer found not guilty due to mental illness and to be placed under the Mental Health Review Tribunal.

That way they will spend more time “locked up” than if they were to go through the court system.

But in all cases what’s followed has been a roller coaster of angst and anger through their dealings with the Mental Health Review Tribunal.

At that moment they agreed to the proposed course of action, they gave up their right to complain.

They gave up their right to speak publicly about their loved one and the justice meted out to the killer.

They all describe the review process as “horrendous”.

They all have stories of having to listen to how well the patient is progressing, the level of emotional support they are receiving, the push to get them an education, to one day live a free and fulfilling life – then get a “kick in the face” each time they listen in on the six-monthly zoom conferences where the patients’ progress is discussed, unable to speak.

Another kick when they are refused transcripts of the hearings and another kick when they feel their written submissions are not properly considered.

Each hearing fans the flames of the deep-seated anger over their loss and erodes the memory of the one they are mourning.

Of course every single victim understands and approves of mentally unwell killers getting the appropriate treatment for their conditions.

But taking away their voice under the guise of protecting the privacy of these killers seems to go way beyond the delicate balance of justice.

Sign the Justice for Biddy Porter petition at Justice4BiddyPorter.com