Rehabilitation for cognitively impaired offenders - global approaches

The Australasian Association of Forensic Disability are delighted to host Dr Laura Anderson to share the outcomes of her recent Churchill Scholarship!

In May 2023, Dr Anderson travelled to Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden to learn about progressive offender rehabilitation approaches used in these countries to respond to the over-representation of people demonstrating cognitive impairments in the criminal justice system. The objective was to identify current operational and clinical approaches to offender rehabilitation internationally, and to critically appraise how those practices may be implemented in Australia.

Surprisingly, Dr Anderson found that the systems in northern Europe did not have more developed clinical approaches to identifying or responding to cognitive impairments demonstrated in people engaged with the criminal justice system. Whilst these findings were unexpected and left many questions unanswered, this Fellowship clearly demonstrated that over-representation of people who demonstrate cognitive impairment within the criminal justice system is a common and significant global issue that requires significant investment within the context of effective offender rehabilitation.

Join Dr Anderson for a discussion of her findings, and what these mean for Australian practices, in the context of the Disability Royal Commission and a recent VAGO audit of Corrections Victoria’s response to disability.

Dr Laura Anderson is a clinical neuropsychologist with over ten years’ experience working in rehabilitation and the criminal justice system. Initially trained in clinical neuropsychology, early in her career Laura discovered her passion for working within the forensic system and went on to complete a PhD in Forensic Medicine. Laura has since dedicated her career to highlighting the interplay between mental health, cognitive functioning and offending behaviour. She strives to improve rehabilitation and reintegration services for vulnerable people involved in the criminal justice system. The complex and dynamic nature of this clinical work, as well as the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to individual and community outcomes, is what motivates Laura to contribute to ongoing innovation. Laura has worked across all sectors of the criminal justice, including conducting pre-sentence neuropsychological assessments for court, running therapeutic units in custody, working in inpatient forensic mental health settings, supporting post-release case management for individuals with cognitive impairment, and conducting research on understanding factors that contribute to offending behaviour. More recently, Laura joined Corrections Victoria to develop and implement the Prison Disability Support Initiative – a statewide program designed to identify and support people with cognitive impairments within the Victorian prison system. Thus far, this role is the pinnacle of Laura’s career, as it provides her with the opportunity to develop a responsive service that addresses the complex therapeutic needs of people involved in the criminal justice system whilst also improving community outcomes.