Matt Doocey: Mental Health Minister: On police stepping back from mental-health callouts

The Mental Health Minister is confident about moving emergency responses to people in acute mental distress to health experts, rather than Police.

Police say they'll be phasing rollout - of stepping back from mental-health callouts, over a year, starting in November.

They'll lift the risk threshold for turning up - and start reducing how long officers stay with a patient they've transported to hospital.

Matt Doocey told Heather du Plessis Allan mechanisms are being worked through for managing the transition.

He says it's clear someone having a mental health crisis should get a health response, not a criminal one.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The police have confirmed that they will start reducing the
number of mental health callouts that they attend, and it's
going to start happening from November. They're still going to
go to call outs that have an immediate threatening element
to life and safety, but everything else has now got
to be dealt with by more appropriate services. The Minister
for Mental Health Mat Doosie is with us.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hey, Matt, morning, oh afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yes, a long day, obviously long day, Matt.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Who are these more appropriate services?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah? I just want to correct here bit the Heather.
The change from a police lead triple one mental health
crisis call out response to a multi agency response is
a larger program of work, a three to five year
program between police and health. What we've announced today is
a change in mental health response change program that kicks

(00:50):
off on the first of November, and there's some specific
changes or rebalancing. So, for instance, the first thing to
be focused on is when police bring in are people
in mental health crisis for voluntary assessment. So the first
piece of work is just streamlining that process with a
ned that through the streamlining will prioritize those patients, which

(01:12):
will allow police to go back out onto the beat
a lot quicker. So what we've done is set out
some key tasks over about an eight month period where
we'll change the thresholds on some very specific activities. But
just be very clear police will be responding. I want
to thank them for the great work. But the wider
view is clearly, when you have a mental health crisis

(01:34):
calling up one one one, you should get a mental
health response, not a criminal justice response.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
No totally. But who does this mental health response?

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Well, what we're moving towards is what called a multi
agency response. And the reason we call it that is
primarily when you are in a mental health distress crisis.
If there is a risk to the individual or safety
of others, clearly police will respond, but in a mental
health crisis, it could be better for what we're calling
a co response team, which is pairing up mental health

(02:05):
professionals and police. But what's interesting in the data matching
that we're doing in the first year, when police are
coding what's called one M calls for mental health, that's
become a catch all. So what's happening now is some
people are calling up Triple one because of loneliness, relationship breakdown,
financial pressures, and clearly that could be a specific social

(02:29):
response in itself. So that's why we're building up the
picture to ultimately move to a multi agency response.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Okay, So am I right in thinking that from what
you're telling me, we are still years away from when
you see somebody walking down the road causing trouble and
you're worried about them and it's obviously a mental health crisis.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
We are still years away from not calling the cops.
At the moment, we still continue to call the cops.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, So myself and Mark Mitchell took a paper on
this to Pabnet in about May. Will be reporting back
at the end of the year, and because of issues
like mental health workforce development, that will be a significant
piece of work from three to five years. But if
you look at what's been announced today for the first
of November, there'll be streamlining of processes in the ED

(03:13):
for voluntary mental health assessments. There'll be a higher threshold
forward transportation of mental health patients, specifically within mental health facility.
So these are some of the smaller areas that we
can assist police to get back on the beat. But
the wider issue you talk about is a three to
five year plan.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
Good stuff, Matt, thank you very much. Really appreciate this.
Matt Doocy O the Minister for Mental Health.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
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