About

The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL) is an interdisciplinary organisation that was established in Melbourne in 1978 by the late forensic psychiatrist, Dr Robert (Bob) Myers, who identified deficits in the level of understanding of relevant issues amongst all three professional groups.

ANZAPPL now has branches in New Zealand and every state and territory in Australia.

If you have questions about ANZAPPL memberships, please contact the secretary: secretary@anzappl.org.

Committee

ANZAPPL is run by an executive committee and independent local branches in all states and Territories of Australia and New Zealand. The Executive Committee is made of the Presidents of the branches along with the positions below.

Objectives

ANZAPPL’s constitution commits it to exploring the relationship between psychiatry, psychology and the law. ANZAPPL has as its objectives to:

• Promote co-operation and communication between the disciplines of psychiatry, psychology and law related fields;
• Promote research into issues and problems in forensic psychiatry, forensic psychology, and areas of law and other disciplines in which psychiatry and psychology have a relevance;
• Promote informed public and professional discussion about contemporary issues in forensic psychiatry, forensic psychology and areas of law and other disciplines in which psychiatry and psychology have a relevance; and
• Disseminate information regarding research and developments in forensic psychiatry, forensic psychology and areas of law and other disciplines in which psychiatry and psychology have a relevance.

Constitution

Click here to view the ANZAPPL Constitution.

Patrons

ANZAPPL’s first patron was Sir George Lush, a highly regarded judge of the Victorian Supreme Court. Sir George had a committed involvement in fostering and encouraging ANZAPPL from its earliest days. After Sir George’s death, the Honourable Justice Michael Kirby CMG AC of the Australian High Court and Judge Ken Mason of the New Zealand District Court consented to being ANZAPPL’s patrons. Both have a long history of interest and involvement in issues related to mental health and the law.

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law

The ANZAPPL journal is Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. It was published twice a year between 1993 and 2007 by Australian Academic Press and from 2008 is published five times per year by Taylor and Francis.

Members can access further information about the journal, as well as current and past issues, by clicking here.

Dr Robert G. Myers

ANZAPPL’s founder, Dr Robert Myers, was a psychiatrist with ubiquitous interests (including sex offending, plethysmography, ethical issues, sexual abuse, report writing and expert evidence) and a commitment to improving dialogue amongst the professions and interdisciplinary co-operation.

A long-term attender at American Academy of Psychiatry and Law (AAPL) conferences, he was determined to weld a body that gave equal respect and attention to forensic psychiatry and psychology. He was a charismatic speaker, a respected expert witness and report-writer, a great traveller and raconteur, and a gourmand. In the best of senses he was a bon vivant.

Under his reins (1978-1988) ANZAPPL became a genial, tolerant and innovative scholarly organisation with a sharp focus upon mental health practice and the law. Dr Myers had a great knack of drawing in contributions from an extraordinary diversity of sources and then of making contributors feel valued and heard.

The Myers Lecture

Between 1990 and 2008, ANZAPPL hosted the Myers Lecture, the first of which was given by Dr Myers when he was terminally ill. Most of the lectures have been published in Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. From their outset they were co-hosted by Monash University. The lectures have been given on a wide variety of lively and controversial subjects:

• 1990: Dr Robert G Myers, Forensic Psychiatrist, Melbourne;
• 1991: Professor John Monahan, Professor of Law and of Psychology, University of Virginia;
• 1992: Dr Steve Hucker, University of Toronto and Forensic Division, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry;
• 1993: Professor Paul Mullen, Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash University;
• 1994: Professor Neil Jacobson, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle;
• 1995:Professor Marcia Neave, Faculty of Law, Monash University (“The Gender of Judging” (1995) 2(1) PPL 3) ;
• 1996: Professor Theodore Blau, Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, Tampa (“Addiction and the Law” (1996) 3(2) PPL 87);
• 1997: Professor Nathaniel McConaghy, School of Psychiatry, University of NSW (“Science and the Mismanagement of Rapists and Paedophiles” (1997) 4(2) PPL 109);
• 1998: Dr Sandra Hacker, Liaison Psychiatrist, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne; Vice-President, Australian Medical Association(“Prescription vs Litigation: Doctors and Lawyers – Pervasive Paradigms and Clashing Cultures” (1999) 6(1) PPL 5);
• 1999: Professor Thomas Grisso, University of Massachusetts (“Juvenile Offenders and Mental Illness” (1999) 6(2) PPL 143);
• 2000: The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, High Court of Australia (“Psychiatry, Psychology, Law and Homosexuality – Uncomfortable Bedfellows” (2000) 7(1) PPL 139);
• 2001: Professor James Ogloff, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, and Forensicare (“Identifying and Accommodating the Needs of Mentally Ill People in Gaols and Prisons” (2002) 9(1) PPL 1);
• 2002: Professor Jennifer Raden, Department of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts (“Forced Medication, Patients’ Rights and Values Conflicts” (2003) 10(1) PPL 1);
• 2003: Professor Kevin Howells, School of Psychology, University of South Australia (“Anger and its Links to Violent Offending”(2004) 11(2) PPL 189);
• 2004: Professor Robert Hare, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada;
• 2005, Professor Ian Freckelton, Barrister, Melbourne, Law Faculty, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University (“Untimely Death, Law and Suicide” (2005) 12(2) PPL 265);
• 2006: Professor Bruce Winick, University of Miami (“A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Approach to Dealing with Coercion in the Mental Health System” (2008) 15(1) PPL);
• 2007: Professor Bill Lindsay, University of Abertay, Dundee, Scotland ( (2008) PPL);
• 2008: Professor Terry Carney, Law Faculty, University of Sydney ((2009) PPL).
• 2009: Professor Gill Hague, University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
• 2010: Professor Arie Frieberg, Monash University, Melbourne. "Psychiatry, Psychology and Non-Adversarial Justice: From Integration to Transformation"
• 2011: Professor Louise Newman, Monash University, Melbourne. 'Seeking Asylum in Australia - Mental Health, Human Rights and Immigration Law'"
• 2012: Professor Devon Polaschek, Victoria University, Wellington. "(Mis)understanding psychopathy: Consequences for policy and practice with offenders"
• 2013: Professor Bernadette McSherry, Monash University, Melbourne. "Throwing Away the Key: The Ethics of Risk Assessment for Preventive Detention Schemes"
• 2014: Professor Paul Mullen, Monash University, Melbourne. "The science and nonsense in the struggle to prevent sexual abuse of children"

From 2015, at the request of Dr Myers' family, the Myers Lecture was re-named the 'ANZAPPL Victoria Public Lecture'. Since that time ANZAPPL Victoria has continued the tradition of the Myers Lecture and invited a range of speakers on topics of relevance to psychiatry, psychology and law:

• 2015: Professor Michael Daffern, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. “Improving outcomes for violent offences and reducing violent behaviour: Where to next?”
• 2016: Professor Jenny Shaw, University of Manchester, United Kingdom. “Suicide prevention in the criminal justice system: Where do we go from here?”
• 2017: Her Honour Justice Coate, Family Court of Australia and Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. “Psychological impact of legal & forensic work: Managing exposure to vicarious trauma”
• 2018: Adjunct Professor Stephen Wong, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. “Effective treatment of psychopathy: Reality or oxymoron”
• 2019: Professor Michele Pathé, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. “The role of mental health services in our changing security environment”
• 2020: Jess Hill "Why does he do it? Understanding coercive control"
• 2021: Professor Ian Freckelton, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. "Iteration, incrementalism and the use of coercion in mental health treatment: priorities for effective mental health service reform"
• 2022: Professor James Ogloff, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. "Two steps forward, one step back. The evolution of forensic mental health practice"
• 2023: Professor Charles Scott, University of California, United States of America. "The Parkland School Shooter: Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder or Feigning?"