ANZAPPL End-of-year event

This end-of-year event by the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law will feature a talk by Dr Allan McCay, the Annual General Meeting of the Association and a panel discussion on continuing supervision and detention.

This event will be held online and in person in Sydney. It is free for members and $50 for non-members.

Registration is essential for both members and non-members. Please click here to register.

New South Wales-based members can attend this event in person! The Sydney live site will include free refreshments, opportunities to network with members and post-event drinks. The live site will be at:

Sydney Masonic Centre
66 Goulburn Street, Sydney
SMC | Sydney Masonic Centre

1.00pm
Presentation: Neurotechnology, mental health and criminal justice

Developments in neurotechnology make the time right to consider the possible criminal justice implications of devices that, in time, may start to have a role in responding to mental health conditions. Such devices will likely employ machine learning approaches thereby giving rise to a closer connection between humans and AI.

This talk will consider the way these devices might start to present questions for the courts in the context of criminal law. The talk is something of an anticipatory exploration which draws attention to the human rights and other legal issues that may emerge if a neurotech device was said to have a role in the commission of an offence or it was suggested that it have a role in a sentencing response to offending.

Dr Allan McCay is Deputy Director of The Sydney Institute of Criminology and an Academic Fellow at the University of Sydney Law School. He trained as a solicitor in Scotland, practised in Hong Kong, and has also been admitted to practice in two Australian jurisdictions. He was named by Australasian Lawyer as one of the most influential lawyers of 2021 and again in 2023 for his work on neurotechnology and the law.

1.45pm
Annual General Meeting

2.45pm
Panel discussion: Continuing supervision and detention for people who engage in high-risk offending

Paul Coady is a barrister who works at the Public Defender’s Chambers. He routinely appears in high-risk offender matters in New South Wales.

Dr David Curnow is a forensic psychologist and Board Member and Director of the Victorian Post Sentence Authority.

Dr Peter Wynn Owen is a consultant forensic psychiatrist who regularly undertakes assessments for high-risk offenders in Western Australia.