Bernadette McSherry

Updated on Oct 09, 2024

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Nationality Australian		Name Bernadette McSherry

Institution University of Melbourne Field Mental health law, criminal law Alma mater University of Melbourne, Monash University, York University Education University of Melbourne, York University, Monash University Books Principles of Criminal Law, Managing Fear: The Law and, Sex Offenders and Prev, Confidentiality for Mental Health Pr, Insanity - Automatism and Crimi

Recent trends in mental health laws prof bernadette mcsherry

Bernadette McSherry is a professor of law, specialising in mental health law and criminal law, at the University of Melbourne. She is currently the Foundation Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute and an Adjunct Professor of law at Monash University and the Melbourne Law School. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and President of the Transnational Committee of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.

Law Futures Centre Public Lecture: Professor Bernadette McSherry

Life and career

In 1984 McSherry received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree and a Bachelor of Law (Honours) degree from the University of Melbourne, followed by a Masters of Law degree in 1990. She was awarded a PhD from York University (Canada) in 1996. Her doctoral thesis was on Insanity, Automatism and Criminal Responsibility. She then completed a Graduate Diploma in Psychology at Monash University in 2001.

After working as a solicitor at Coltmans and as an Associate for the then Justice James Gobbo at the Supreme Court of Victoria, McSherry commenced her academic career in the Monash Law School in 1991. She was appointed in 2005 to the position of Louis Waller Chair of Law and Associate Dean (Research). She became the Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Law and Mental Health in June 2011 and in that year she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. During her time at Monash University, McSherry was awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Teaching and a Vice-Chancellor's Special Commendation for Postgraduate Supervision. She has been the recipient of six Australian Research Council grants, two Criminology Research Council grants and numerous consultancies. She became an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in December 2007.

McSherry has co-authored Issues Papers for the Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council and the Law Reform Commission of Victoria and has acted as a consultant on enquiries by other state governments. From 2001, she has served as a Legal Member of the Mental Health Review Board of Victoria (now the Mental Health Tribunal) and was a Legal Member of the Psychosurgery Review Board of Victoria from 2005 – 2010. In 2015, she was a member of the panel reviewing post-sentence detention and supervision of sex offenders in Victoria.

McSherry is a Associate Editor of the International Journal of Law and Mental Health, a member of the editorial committee of member Psychiatry, Psychology and Law and is the co-editor of the Legal Issues Column for the Journal of Law and Medicine.

Current research

McSherry's current research examines laws relating to the compulsory detention and treatment of those with severe mental health problems, preventive detention of those considered at high risk of offending and the use of seclusion, physical restraint and chemical restraint in mental healthcare. She led a National Mental Health Commission project looking at best practice in reducing or eliminating seclusion and restraint in mental health facilities and is currently the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant researching how best to regulate the use of restraint in health care settings.

Personal life

McSherry lives in Victoria with her partner. She is an avid Collingwood Football Club supporter and Twitter user.

Books

2017, Principles of Criminal Law, Bronitt, S., McSherry, B., LBC, ISBN 978-0455237909

2014, Managing Fear: The Law and Ethics of Preventive Detention and Risk Assessment, McSherry, B., Routledge, ISBN 978-0415632393

2013, Coercive Care: Rights, Law and Policy, McSherry, B., Freckelton, I., (eds), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415628198

2011, 'Dangerous' People: Policy, Prediction and Practice, McSherry, B., Keyzer, P., (eds), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415884952

2010, Rethinking Rights-Based Mental Health Laws, McSherry B., Weller P., (eds), Hart Publishing, ISBN 978-1849460835

2009, Confidentiality for Mental Health Professionals: A Guide to Ethical and Legal Principles, Kämpf, A., McSherry, B., Ogloff, J., Rothschild, A., Australian Academic Press, ISBN 978-1921513428

2009, Sex Offenders and Preventive Detention, McSherry, B., Keyzer, P., Federation Press, ISBN 978-1862877634

2009, Regulating Deviance: The Redirection of Criminalisations and Futures of Criminal Law, McSherry, B., Norrie, A., Bronnitt, S., (eds), Hart Publishing, ISBN 978-1841138909

2008, International Trends in Mental Health Laws, McSherry, B., (ed), Federation Press, ISBN 978-1862877214

Open access articles

2014, Throwing Away the Key: The Ethics of Risk Assessment for Preventive Detention Schemes, McSherry B., Routledge, Paper presented at the R. G. Myers Memorial Lecture, Monash University, Melbourne, November 2013.

2013, The Preventive Detention of “Dangerous” Sex Offenders in Australia: Perspectives at the Coalface, Keyzer P., McSherry B., International Journal of Criminlogy and Sociology, Vol. 2, pp. 296–305

References

Bernadette McSherry Wikipedia

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