This project explored people’s experiences with Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) in New South Wales. The purpose was to identify the key themes and issues that arise for people affected by CTOs. (A CTO authorises compulsory care for a person living in the community.)
This project sought to hear about the experiences of people who are subject to CTOs, their families, carers, friends and kinship groups, and service providers. Four co-design sessions were held in August/September 2023 to determine how best to gather people’s experiences of CTOs. This group co-designed the interview questions, interview processes and the supports that would be available.
The project interviewed 16 people with experience of CTOs:
While each group brought different experiences and concerns, there was also sufficient common ground that responses from each participant group were reflected in each of the five major themes – Hopes, High stakes, Harms, How it’s done, and Health services and systems.
Overall, participants’ experiences and perceptions of CTOs were negative, and this is reflected in these findings. It is possible this could reflect a limitation of this project, where people with negative experiences were more likely to be motivated to participate. However, these findings were recurring, both within this project and in the Australian and international research more broadly, suggesting that they are representative of the broader experience.
The views expressed in this report are those of the people who shared their lived experiences for this project and the authors of this report, and should not be taken to reflect the views or any official stance of the funding organisation.