Mr. Alan Tennyson:

I am happy to start and then my colleagues will join in. That was a comprehensive question from the Deputy, and there was a great deal of knowledge about the restrictions people are facing. The ultimate principle is that all people should be equal before the law. This is something our community absolutely accepts and wants to see implemented. The question is how we do that when people do things that are unsafe, either to themselves or to others. Ultimately, we need processes to be put in place in this regard. Where people have mental health diagnoses, processes are in place that will keep them safe in instances where they are a risk to themselves or others. These processes are often not available to people without such mental health diagnoses. I refer to processes that can allow communities to support those engaging in behaviours that are posing a risk to themselves or others. This is what is needed on that front.

On the other point then, behaviour analysis has always adopted a contextual or ecological view of what is impacting people's behaviour. They are responding in a particular environment. Early in the history of behaviour analysis, we can go back to Jack Tizard, who was working in the 1950s. He was able to demonstrate that implementing deinstitutionalisation and moving people out of institutions and into less institutionalised community settings would show a corresponding reduction in some of these concerning behaviours and risky things. This was very early in the history of behaviour analysis. It is at our core to be focused on the environment surrounding people. Often, institutionalised environments feed into some of those concerning responses we see.