Yvette Maker

This book brings together contributions from twenty-three world-leading scholars and commentators that address a range of contemporary and pressing international themes in mental health, disability and criminal law. The authors use the work of internationally renowned academic, Emeritus Professor Bernadette McSherry, as a springboard to reflect on recent developments in these areas of law and to anticipate the future directions they may take.

This book offers principles for designing care and support policy to address two persistent sources of tension in the field. The first is the tension between supporting women's unpaid caring and supporting their paid work participation. The second is the tension between carers' claims for support based on the 'burden' of caring and disability rights claims for support for choice and independence for people with disabilities. Policies tend to favor one activity and one constituency over the other.

By Dr Yvette Maker Senior Research Associate, Melbourne Social Equity Institute Since mid-March, I have been working from home on, among other things, a book about care and support policy. I'm interested in how we can promote the rights of all parties to care and support relationships – especially people with disability and carers – in a manner that prioritises dignity and recognises our shared interdependence.