Joanne Darcy has a mild intellectual disability. She was 19-years-old when she was sent to the Kanangra Centre, an isolated institution at Morriset in NSW. She was held there for six years without a court order.

In 2007, Ms Darcy sued the State of NSW for damages for unlawful detention. To win, she had to prove that she was detained at Kanangra against her will. If she could prove that, the State of NSW had to demonstrate that her detention was lawfully justified.

PIAC represented Ms Darcy’s because her case represented a fundamental injustice and raised the significant public interest question of the extent to which the common law of NSW protected the rights of people with disabilities to freedom of movement and freedom from arbitrary detention and, ultimately, the power of the State over personal liberty.

On 21 September 2010, Judge Johnstone  of the District Court ruled that during her time at Morisset, Ms Darcy was not subjected to a “complete deprivation of her liberty” and therefore had not made out her claim for unlawful imprisonment.

On 17 November 2010,  Ms Darcy appealed from the decision of the Judge Johnstone to the Court of Appeal.

Ms Darcy was represented in the Disctrict Court and is represented in the Court of Appeal by PIAC and Dr Chris Birch SC of Garfield Barwick Chambers and Kellie Edwards of Denman Chambers.