People who speak English as a second language and the unemployed face a greater chance of being legally detained and given medication without their consent.
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00:00 Amongst Nature is where Marcus Tanlo feels free, but his life has been anything but a
00:07 walk in the park.
00:13 I will always be happier being independent and living my own life, which is something
00:19 that I've been denied, just being in the system for so long.
00:24 It's been almost 20 years since police attended his home and involuntarily admitted him to
00:29 hospital.
00:30 This was his first experience with the mental health system.
00:34 It's something that I'll never forget and unfortunately I've been hospitalised on 17
00:38 occasions since then, so it's been a very, very long journey for me.
00:43 The 40-year-old lives with schizophrenia. In NSW hospitals he's been restrained, kept
00:49 secluded and had forced injections.
00:53 Marcus Tanlo is unemployed and culturally diverse. New research suggests that increases
01:00 his risk of being treated against his will.
01:04 Dr Amy Corduroy's team analysed every psychiatric admission in the state over five years.
01:11 They found more than half experienced involuntary treatment and that it was being disproportionately
01:17 imposed on people born overseas, those who speak a language other than English and the
01:23 unemployed.
01:24 If you were born in Asia, you're about 40% more likely to receive involuntary treatment,
01:30 about 30% in Africa or the Middle East and about 20% in New Zealand and the Pacific.
01:41 Involuntary admission is only allowed if there is no other less restrictive way of preventing
01:47 harm.
01:48 Involuntary treatment can trigger a cycle of coercion and we know there are all sorts
01:52 of coercive practices in hospitals.
01:55 Experts say by the time a mental health patient ends up here at an emergency department, the
02:00 system failed to intervene early enough. NSW Health agrees it should be a last resort option
02:07 but advocates believe the state isn't doing enough to reduce involuntary treatment.
02:13 It is completely underfunded in NSW and in fact it's the worst funded mental health system
02:19 in Australia.
02:20 Priscilla Bryce says the state should focus on proven solutions like employing more workers
02:26 with lived experience.
02:28 The health department says it's currently reviewing its mental health resources.
02:34 For more UN videos visit: www.un.org/webcast
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