ID :
46821
Sat, 02/21/2009 - 19:42
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http://m.oananews.org//node/46821
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Rau's sister calls for health overhaul
The family of Cornelia Rau has called for an overhaul of the mental health system, after the South Australian resident was imprisoned in a Jordanian jail for behaving erratically in public.
Ms Rau, who suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, is in an Amman jail
after being arrested in Jordan by authorities on February 18.
She has reportedly been wandering the Middle East for months without taking her
anti-psychosis medication, and was arrested on Wednesday while behaving erratically
in the city of Tafila.
Ms Rau received $2.6 million compensation in March 2008 after she was mistaken for
an illegal immigrant and wrongfully detained in Australia over a period of 10 months
in 2004-05.
The arrest in Jordan is the latest incident to befall the German-born woman since
South Australian guardianship authorities gave her permission to travel overseas
last June.
After winning the compensation case, Cornelia was allowed to travel to Bali, before
travelling to Bangkok and then to Germany.
There the 43-year-old South Australian resident's condition deteriorated, and in
September she was committed to a psychiatric ward in Hamburg.
Her sister Chris Rau has called for an overhaul of Australia's mental health system,
and questioned why the South Australian authorities let Cornelia out of the country.
"The key question is, if somebody is really ill, and they've got a guardian, how can
they have a passport and travel documents to let them out of their jurisdiction?"
she told AAP.
"In our experience, if she goes overseas, she refuses to take her medication and
starts to develop signs of psychosis. So any absence would have to be supervised."
The Jordanians are not pressing charges against Ms Rau, and say they only want her
out of the country, but she is refusing to deal with authorities trying to return
her to Australia.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has told Cornelia's family there
is nothing it can do if she refuses to come home, but Chris Rau disagrees.
"Get her back to where she has social networks, her family, her guardian, her
financial administrators, where she is in a much safer environment," she said.
"Rather than Germany where people with her condition are forced into prolonged
involuntary incarceration in hospital."
The case showed that the jurisdiction of mental health guardians should be
increased, Chris Rau said.
"Now that Cornelia is in Jordan her South Australian guardian, who is a
psychiatrist, he can't ask for her to come back because he has no jurisdiction
outside South Australia.
"Even if she were in Melbourne, he'd have no jurisdiction.
"We have only one objective and that is to cut through the red tape and for Cornelia
to return to Australia where she belongs."
The Mental Health Council of Australia on Saturday said Australian authorities had
failed Cornelia Rau.
"Certainly it is a failure if someone is allowed to travel without the proper
medication they need," the council's Simon Tatz told ABC Radio.
"There is concern that Ms Rau was able to travel without some form of help or
someone there or some support system to ensure she was taking the medication she
needs to keep her well."
For legal reasons the South Australian government could not comment on individual
guardianship cases, a spokeswoman for the state's Attorney-General Michael Atkinson
said.
Ms Rau, who suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, is in an Amman jail
after being arrested in Jordan by authorities on February 18.
She has reportedly been wandering the Middle East for months without taking her
anti-psychosis medication, and was arrested on Wednesday while behaving erratically
in the city of Tafila.
Ms Rau received $2.6 million compensation in March 2008 after she was mistaken for
an illegal immigrant and wrongfully detained in Australia over a period of 10 months
in 2004-05.
The arrest in Jordan is the latest incident to befall the German-born woman since
South Australian guardianship authorities gave her permission to travel overseas
last June.
After winning the compensation case, Cornelia was allowed to travel to Bali, before
travelling to Bangkok and then to Germany.
There the 43-year-old South Australian resident's condition deteriorated, and in
September she was committed to a psychiatric ward in Hamburg.
Her sister Chris Rau has called for an overhaul of Australia's mental health system,
and questioned why the South Australian authorities let Cornelia out of the country.
"The key question is, if somebody is really ill, and they've got a guardian, how can
they have a passport and travel documents to let them out of their jurisdiction?"
she told AAP.
"In our experience, if she goes overseas, she refuses to take her medication and
starts to develop signs of psychosis. So any absence would have to be supervised."
The Jordanians are not pressing charges against Ms Rau, and say they only want her
out of the country, but she is refusing to deal with authorities trying to return
her to Australia.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has told Cornelia's family there
is nothing it can do if she refuses to come home, but Chris Rau disagrees.
"Get her back to where she has social networks, her family, her guardian, her
financial administrators, where she is in a much safer environment," she said.
"Rather than Germany where people with her condition are forced into prolonged
involuntary incarceration in hospital."
The case showed that the jurisdiction of mental health guardians should be
increased, Chris Rau said.
"Now that Cornelia is in Jordan her South Australian guardian, who is a
psychiatrist, he can't ask for her to come back because he has no jurisdiction
outside South Australia.
"Even if she were in Melbourne, he'd have no jurisdiction.
"We have only one objective and that is to cut through the red tape and for Cornelia
to return to Australia where she belongs."
The Mental Health Council of Australia on Saturday said Australian authorities had
failed Cornelia Rau.
"Certainly it is a failure if someone is allowed to travel without the proper
medication they need," the council's Simon Tatz told ABC Radio.
"There is concern that Ms Rau was able to travel without some form of help or
someone there or some support system to ensure she was taking the medication she
needs to keep her well."
For legal reasons the South Australian government could not comment on individual
guardianship cases, a spokeswoman for the state's Attorney-General Michael Atkinson
said.
