Bernadette McSherry
Bernadette McSherry | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Australian |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne, Monash University, York University |
Occupation(s) | Lawyer, academic |
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[1][2] 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,[3] Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law[4] and President of the Transnational Committee of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7]
McSherry is an 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 work
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[8] 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.[9]
Since February 2019, Professor McSherry has also been a Commissioner for the Victorian Government's Royal Commission into Mental Health.[10]
Personal life
McSherry lives in Victoria with her partner. She is an avid Collingwood Football Club supporter and Twitter user.
Select publications
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.
References
- ^ "Directorate, Melbourne Social Equity Institute". 22 August 2018.
- ^ Dukes, Kate (10 June 2014). "No longer justifiable: seclusion and restraint practices". The Age. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ^ "Academy Fellow: Professor Bernadette McSherry FASSA, FAAL". Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Australian Academy of Law Fellows". Australian Academy of Law. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ^ "The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law - Overview".
- ^ "Professor Bernadette McSherry, Staff Profile, University of Melbourne".
- ^ "Review of post-sentence supervision scheme for serious sex offenders". Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
- ^ "National Seclusion and Restraint Project". National Mental Health Commission. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ^ "National Seclusion and Restraint Project". 30 April 2018.
- ^ "Professor Bernadette McSherry | Victorian Law Reform Commission". www.lawreform.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
External links
- Living people
- 1961 births
- Australian legal scholars
- Australian women academics
- York University alumni
- University of Melbourne alumni
- University of Melbourne faculty
- Monash University alumni
- Recipients of grants or fellowships from the Australian Research Council
- University of Melbourne women
- Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
- Women legal scholars