Mental Health & Disability Law Forum: Reflecting on Practice, Reframing for the Future (2026) (On Demand)

This On Demand was recorded on 13 August 2026.

Being held in memory of the late Judge Recordon

Restocking Your Kete: Practising Well in the Mental Health Court

A practical discussion about the methodology, resources, techniques, and training available to assist lawyers in best representing their clients.

Supported Decision-Making in Practice

The committee of the Convention of the Rights of People with Disability (CRPD) guidance on Article 12 of the Convention requires the abolishment of substitute decision-making (where others make decisions on behalf of people with experience of disability as is made possible by mental health legislation, for example). A major criticism of this significant change is that mental health professionals would no longer have the means to prevent people with psychosocial disabilities from progressing to harm themselves or others. What needs to be firmly understood is that the abolishment of substitute decision-making does not equate to the abandonment of support. It just requires a different type of support being provided. Sarah Gordon will speak to the most recent developments where substitute decision-making has been abolished, the practice approaches that are being used in its place, and the resulting outcomes.

Mental Health Law and Strategic Litigation

Just as existing mental health legislation (covering detention, welfare and criminal matters) interfaces with the human rights framework, so will any new legislation. In this context, it is worth noting that strategic litigation to secure a more rights-compliant approach is an established part of the constitutional framework in Aotearoa New Zealand (recent examples being J v Attorney General and Gordon v Attorney General). Kris Gledhill will outline some of the main recent developments in understanding what a rights-compliant mental health law should look like so as to provide a framework to assess the expected changes to mental health legislation and ideas as to strategic litigation challenges that might be considered.

Getting Future-Ready: Panel Discussion

A forward-focused discussion on preparing for change in mental health law and practice.

This session is offered at 50% off, recognising the value this work brings to society.

Click here to download the flyer.

Learning Outcomes

In respect of mental health and disability law:

Refresh and update your knowledge of the methodology, resources, techniques, and training available to assist lawyers in best representing their clients.
Become apprised of recent developments where substitute decision-making has been abolished, the practice approaches that are being used in its place, and the resulting outcomes.
Garner a better understanding of some key recent developments in respect of what a rights-compliant mental health law should look like, so as to provide a framework to assess the expected changes to legislation and ideas as to strategic litigation challenges that might be considered.
Benefit from a panel discussion on getting future-ready.

Who Should Watch?

Anyone involved, or wanting to become involved, in mental health and disability law.

Presenters

Her Honour Judge Morrison
Dr Kris Gledhill | Professor, AUT Law School
Associate Professor Sarah Gordon | Lived Experience Academic, Te Huataki Waiora - School of Health, University of Waikato | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
Rosaline Fuata'i | Barrister/Mediator and District Inspector for Auckland and Northland (panellist)
Rosemary Thomson | Barrister, Arney Chambers and District Inspector for Auckland (panellist)

Chair

Andrew Molloy | Senior Advisory District Inspector for Mental Health and for Intellectual Disability

Her Honour Judge Morrison

Judge Morrison sits in the North Shore Family Court. Prior to her appointment in May 2022, she was a family law barrister, Lawyer for Child, Lawyer for Subject Person and Lawyer to Assist practising in the Wellington region, where she had spent most of her career, which also included time as an instructor and Programme Manager at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. Her iwi affiliations include Ngāti Porou and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui.

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Rosemary Thomson

Rosemary is a barrister with over 30 years’ experience in Criminal and Mental Health law. She has extensive experience in forensic criminal matters including fitness to plead and insanity. She was appointed a District Inspector for Mental Health, a watchdog role, in 2003. Rosemary is a former convenor of the (then) ADLS Mental Health & Disability Committee. She has presented seminars on mental health and made submissions to the Ministry of Health.

Rosemary published an article outlining the history of the Child & Adolescent Unit at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital: as a comprehensive factual and legal analysis in the lead-up to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, in the Australian Journal of Law & Medicine (JLM) in 2020. Rosemary subsequently presented a paper at the 2021 Australia New Zealand Association of Psychiatrists Psychologists and Lawyers (ANZAPPL) Congress following the Royal Commission’s Case Study into the Child & Adolescent Unit at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital in the 1970s.

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Dr Kris Gledhill

Kris has been a legal academic in Auckland for close on two decades; prior to that he spent two decades in legal practice, mainly at the London bar. Mental health law, in both its civil and criminal aspects, has been a significant aspect of his work. He appeared in various precedent-setting cases in mental health law in England, edits the Mental Health Law Reports there and the International Journal of Mental Health and Capacity Law, was co-editor of New Zealand's Mental Health Act in Practice, and has written various articles and book chapters on mental health matters.

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Andrew Molloy

Andrew is a District Inspector for Mental Health and for Intellectual Disability and sits as a member of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. In 2019 he was appointed as Counsel-Assist to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care and Faith-Based Institutions. In that capacity he contributed to the case study into the Lake Alice child and adolescent Unit and the subsequent report Beautiful Children, delivered to the Governor-General in December 2022.

Andrew has contributed to training and presented at seminars, asylum fora and conferences in New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere.

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Rosaline Fuata'i

Rosaline is a barrister in chambers with seven others.

She holds three warrants as a District Inspector pursuant to the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 (MHA); Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003; and Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 2017. As a District Inspector under the MHA, Rosaline works in the Counties District and occasionally provides cover in the Auckland region. She has been a District Inspector for eighteen years. The statutory role is for a term of three years subject to extension and reapplications.

Rosaline is a mediator accredited to convene mediations under the Family Dispute Resolution scheme. She also receives referrals for private mediations.

Her court work includes matters under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act, Care of Children Act, and Family Violence Act.

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Associate Professor Sarah Gordon

At the core of Sarah Gordon’s research is the integration of lived experience as a legitimate and vital form of knowledge in mental health systems. She was among the first in Aotearoa New Zealand to hold a formal academic role based on lived experience of mental distress and recovery.

Her work challenges traditional psychiatric paradigms that prioritise clinician-led narratives and biomedical models. Instead, she advocates for epistemic justice: recognising that people who have experienced mental distress must shape the systems that affect them.

She continues to focus her work on human rights, supported decision-making, and service-user leadership as an Associate Professor – lived experience academic with the University of Waikato.

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Details

CPD Hours: 2.00hr

Pricing Details

Ticket Price

Member: $100 plus GST
Non-Member: $140 plus GST