Prison authorities in the Australian state of South Australia are harming people with disabilities by using solitary confinement, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 50-page report, "'They Just Locked Me Away': Solitary Confinement and Abuse of People with Disabilities in Prisons in the State of South Australia," documents the use of solitary confinement on people with psychosocial disabilities, mental health conditions. It details broader problems facing people with disabilities in South Australian prisons, including inadequate access to individualized mental health care and lack of prison oversight.
The United Nations Committee Against Torture, an international expert body that, in November 2026, is reviewing Australia's compliance with international legal obligations to prevent torture and ill-treatment, has asked the federal government to provide information on its efforts to ensure that solitary confinement is prohibited for people with disabilities when it would exacerbate their mental health conditions.
"Prison authorities in South Australia need to recognize and stop the use of solitary confinement of prisoners with mental health conditions," said Daniela Gavshon, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. "Solitary confinement has a disproportionate harmful impact on people with certain types of disabilities and can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and even torture."
In 2025 and 2026, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 40 people, including 17 people with disabilities-14 of them with psychosocial disabilities-who had previously been incarcerated in South Australia. Interviewees also included family members and friends of people with disabilities who had been incarcerated, lawyers, staff of nongovernmental organizations, advocates, mental health and medical professionals, and academics.
Twelve of the people with psychosocial disabilities interviewed said South Australian authorities had subjected them to solitary confinement, referred to as "separation orders" under South Australian policy, in some cases repeatedly. All said it was distressing and damaged their mental health.
South Australian laws provide few limitations on the circumstances under which correctional authorities can impose solitary confinement. Reasons prison authorities can send people to solitary confinement can include when they are deemed to be at a real or perceived risk of self-harm.
Human Rights Watch found that fear of being sent to solitary confinement deterred people from disclosing mental health conditions. One woman with a psychosocial disability said that she had tried to hide her self-harm scars to prevent prison officers from sending her to solitary confinement. International research has consistently found that solitary confinement can increase the risk of self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
People with physical disabilities also described a lack of physical accessibility in South Australian prisons. One man who uses a wheelchair said he had spent eight days in Adelaide Remand Centre without access to a bathroom.
Solitary confinement for people with disabilities is a nationwide problem. Human Rights Watch has also documented the use of solitary confinement for prisoners with psychosocial disabilities in prisons in Western Australia and Queensland in 2018 and 2020.
The use of solitary confinement on people with disabilities is contrary to international human rights standards. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Mandela Rules) prohibit the solitary confinement of people with psychosocial or physical disabilities "when their conditions would be exacerbated by such measures." The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has called for prohibiting "solitary confinement for … persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities in prison."
In 2022, the UN Committee Against Torture, in its sixth periodic review of Australia, said that the government should "ensure that persons with disabilities cannot be held in solitary confinement." However, the government has yet to act. Not a single state or territory law prohibits solitary confinement for people with disabilities.
Human Rights Watch also found a lack of data on the number of people with disabilities incarcerated in South Australia and nationally, although it is widely accepted that they are overrepresented in Australian prisons. One reason is that the Australian Bureau of Statistics does not allow incarcerated people to fill out their own census forms. Any data collection should follow human rights principles, including the right to privacy and consent.
The final report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, a national inquiry that concluded in 2023, found that data gaps "present challenges for governments when designing and delivering supports and services for people with cognitive disabilities involved in the criminal justice system." The South Australian government should enact laws banning the use of solitary confinement on people with disabilities, increase independent oversight of prisons, and ensure incarcerated people have proper access to disability-related requirements including mental health care and support, Human Rights Watch said. The government should also invest in alternatives to custody for people with disabilities.
"Prison authorities across Australia are violating the rights of imprisoned people with disabilities," Gavshon said. "The federal and state governments should take urgent action to ensure proper independent oversight of prisons and invest in alternatives to incarceration."
Selected Accounts
"My mental health was bad enough, but [solitary] just made it worse…. They put me in there because of self-harming, not taking medication…. I thought I had to punish myself for the things I'd done, I wanted to punish myself. They never asked [why], they just put me in D-Wing."
- A woman with a psychosocial disability repeatedly held in solitary confinement in Adelaide Women's Prison, South Australia.
"If you go there for suicidal thoughts or whatever, it makes you [even more suicidal] from going there. I had a really rough time down there.… I felt isolated from the whole world."
- A man with a schizoaffective condition, with respect to being held in G Division, the solitary wing of Yatala Labour Prison, South Australia.
"No shower, no toilet…. Eight days.… They had nothing - no toilets which were accessible, no shower. I didn't even get to see the toilet or the shower.… They need to facilitate for people in wheelchairs. They can't just put them in there and say, deal with what you've got."
- Man held in Adeliade Remand Centre in 2020 without access to a wheelchair-accessible bathroom.
