Melbourne Protest Demands RANZCP Ends Torturous Coercive Psychiatric Practices
Citizens Commission on Human Rights
Key Facts:CCHR’s FREE Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Exhibition is open in Fitzroy until Sunday 10th May.
• Where: 306-380 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.
• When: Daily from Monday 4th May until Sunday 10th May 2026
Attend the exhibit to learn more.
Melbourne, May 2026: Exposing psychiatric abuse and demanding an end to electroshock and coercive practices such as psychiatric restraint and involuntary detainment and treatment, scores of protesters marched on the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Annual Congress in Melbourne.
This protest was organised by the Victorian chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. The protest included a banner stating, “Stop psychiatric torture, ban electroshock, stop coercion.”
There have been multiple warnings and recommendations issued by international health and human rights bodies about coercive practices. Both the WHO and UN said together that, “Coercive practices in mental health care violate the right to be protected from torture, or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.” They also advised that electroshock is an “irreversible intervention” and it can cause “memory loss and brain damage.” Together they called for the use of ECT on children to be prohibited through legislation. Despite a direct UN recommendation in 2019 for Australia to ban forced electroshock, no such action has been taken.
- In Victoria alone, there were 501 adults who were forcibly given electroshock and 3 children aged 15 years also electroshocked in 2024/25. Medicare reports that Victoria had the highest amount of Medicare funded electroshock in the country at 8,399 “treatments” in 2025.
- There were 15,139 instances of physical restraint, 783 instances of mechanical restraint and 9,424 seclusions in acute public psychiatric facilities Australia wide in 2023/24.
RANZCP have a long history of pharmaceutical support. In 2024 and 2025 they reported the following drug companies as supporting their activities: Eli Lilly, Servier, Aspen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Viatris, Southern XP, Juno Pharmaceuticals and Eisai.
The RANZCP Congress website does not disclose potential conflicts of interest between participating psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry. A cursory review of Congress speakers identified histories with ties that the public should be aware of including the following with pharmaceutical companies and psychiatric medical device manufacturers:
Professor Norman Sartorius (USA): Has acted as consultant and/or received honoraria for presentations at meetings and symposia organized by Eli Lilly, Janssen, Lundbeck, Pfizer, Servier and Wyeth.
Prof. Sarah Hollingsworth Lisanby (USA): Unrestricted grant from APA/SmithKline Beecham; with others, a research grant from Pfizer; research grants from Magstim, Neuronetics, Cyberonics and money for trials/studies from Magstim and Advanced Neuromodulation Systems, all manufacturers of psychiatric devices.
A/Prof. Hiroshi Takeuchi (Japan): Received grants from Novartis Pharma, and Otsuka; speaker fees from EA Pharma, Eisai, Janssen, Kyowa, Lundbeck, Meiji SeikaPharma, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, MSD, Otsuka, Sumitomo Pharma, Takeda, and Yoshitomiyakuhin; and consulting fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Ono, and Sumitomo Pharma.
Prof. Michael Berk (Vic): Received funding for research from Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, Glaxo Smith K-line, Organon, Novartis, Mayne Pharma, Servier, AstraZeneca; honoraria for speaking engagements from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Organon, Pfizer, Sanofi Synthelabo, Solvay, Wyeth and served as a consultant to AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck and Pfizer.
Prof. Dan Lubman (Vic): Speaking honoraria from: Astra Zeneca, Indivior, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Servier and Shire, and has participated on Advisory Boards for Indivior and Lundbeck.
Prof. David Coghill (Vic): Research support from Shire and Vifor Pharma. Honoraria for advisory boards/speaking from Shire, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Medice, Novartis.
Prof. David Castle (Vic): Received grant monies for research from Eli Lilly, Janssen Cilag, Roche, Allergen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Lundbeck, Astra Zeneca, Hospira; Travel Support and Honoraria for Talks and Consultancy from Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Astra Zeneca, Lundbeck, Janssen Cilag, Pfizer, Organon, Sanofi-Aventis, Wyeth, Hospira, Servier, Seqirus; and is a past or current Advisory Board Member for Lundbeck, Pfizer, Shire, Servier and LivaNova a psychiatric medical device manufacturer.
Prof. Gin Mahli (NSW): Grant or research support from Elsevier, AstraZeneca, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka and Servier, and has been a consultant for these same 6 pharmaceutical companies.
CCHR’s FREE Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Exhibition is open in Fitzroy until Sunday 10th May.
• Where: 306-380 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.
• When: Daily from Monday 4th May until Sunday 10th May 2026
Attend the exhibit to learn more.
Contact: 1300 085 955 or [email protected]
CCHR was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Professor of Psychiatry, the late Dr Thomas Szasz to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights.
Contact details:
Contact: Mark 1300 085 955 or [email protected]