The Wire

A rally calling for an end to the jailing of people with mental illness has been held outside Long Bay Prison in Sydney today. The Greens and others have joined forces with the lobby group Friends of Callan Park – to put mental health high on the agenda before the upcoming state election. Organisers say hundreds of people find themselves in jail every year, because there’s no mental health care available. The protestors also called for the re-opening of Callan Park psychiatric hospital, which was closed by the State government a few years ago.