REPORT
SAFELY
UN & Independent Channels
A practical, survivor-led guide for when Australian systems silence you.
Who to contact, how to stay safe, and copy-paste templates you can send today.
Quick help (TL;DR)
- Start here: Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — guardianship, legal capacity, supported decision-making.
- Forced treatment / degrading conditions: add SR on Torture and Right to Health.
- Confinement / restrictions: add the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
- Safety: if monitored, ask a trusted ally to submit on your behalf.
Tip: You can copy multiple mandates on the same email when several rights are affected.
Before you send
- Use a private email not controlled by a guardian/service.
- Remove metadata; password-protect attachments, share the password separately.
- Ask for confidential handling of your identity.
Who to contact
- PrimarySR: Rights of Persons with Disabilities — legal capacity, guardianship.
- HealthSR: Right to Health — consent, adjustments, coerced treatment.
- Ill-treatmentSR: Torture / CIDT — restraints, degrading treatment.
- LibertyWG on Arbitrary Detention — confinement without due process.
Contact multiple mandates if it reflects your situation.
Contact details
- SR: Torture — sr-torture@ohchr.org · Urgent: urgent-action@ohchr.org
- WG on Arbitrary Detention — wgad@ohchr.org
- SR: Disability — via OHCHR Special Procedures form/channel
- SR: Right to Health — via OHCHR Special Procedures form/channel
Copy-paste email templates
Model email
Subject: Urgent: Violations under mental health guardianship – request for intervention (Australia)
To: sr-torture@ohchr.org; wgad@ohchr.org; (plus OHCHR channels for SR-Disability & SR-Health)
Dear Special Rapporteur / Working Group,
I am reporting serious human rights violations occurring under a mental health guardianship order in Australia.
• Background: I am a person with a psychosocial disability. In [year], I was placed under a guardianship order that removed my legal capacity. The order continues despite my objections and without meaningful review.
• Violations:
– Denial of legal capacity / no supported decision-making – CRPD art. 12.
– Forced/coercive treatment without free and informed consent – CRPD arts. 12, 17; Right to Health.
– Degrading conditions and restrictions – Torture/CIDT mandate.
– Arbitrary deprivation of liberty / institutional confinement – WGAD.
• Evidence attached: [orders, notes, incident reports, correspondence]
• Relief sought:
– Urgent communication to Australia about my case.
– Recommendation to replace guardianship with supported decision-making consistent with the CRPD.
– Protection from retaliation; independent advocacy; restoration of legal capacity.
Please treat this submission as confidential.
Sincerely,
[Full name or “Name withheld for safety”]
[Country]
[Safe contact: independent email/ally contact]
Ally / third-party submission note
I am submitting this report on behalf of [Name], with their consent. Direct submission would expose them to retaliation because the guardian/service controls communications. I can facilitate confidential follow-up.
What to attach (if safe)
- Guardianship/administration orders and reviews
- Clinical correspondence (consent, restraints, seclusion)
- Incident reports; dated timeline
- Evidence of refusals of adjustments / supported decision-making
Attach only what is safe. Password-protect files; share the password separately.
After you send
- Save copies and dates sent
- Tell a trusted person (safety check)
- Expect delays; keep parallel advocacy where safe
Information, not legal advice.