Abstract
The growing presence of people with mental health disorders and cognitive disability in criminal justice systems (CJS) is of serious concern. This paper discusses an Australian study linking data from CJS and human service agencies to provide a systemic, institutional analysis of the pathways these persons take into and through the CJS. Early insights indicate the importance of an integrated and critical conceptualisation of justice, social and health involvements that moves beyond compartmentalised approaches. It recognizes the CJS and the community as part of a fluid continuum for these persons and suggests how these persons are rendered invisible in the broader social and body politic.