NSW police to avoid mental health incidents under UK model after spate of fatal shootings | Australian police and policing

New South Wales police and the health department are expected to sign a new agreement on how to deal with mental health incidents, as the police union demands officers are no longer the “default response to every crisis”.

“There is a Memorandum of Understanding that is very close to being signed,” police minister Yasmin Catley told police union members on Tuesday, discussing mental health appeals.

“The commissioner and I work very closely. [NSW] Well done to finish this job. I know the workload placed on you as a result of being everything to everyone.

Catley was speaking alongside premier Chris Minns and police commissioner Mal Lanyon at the NSW Police Association conference on Tuesday.

The government is considering an approach similar to the UK’s “right person, right care” model, which sees healthcare workers, rather than police, attend mental health calls unless a crime has been committed and life is at risk.

An internal review by NSW police published in September 2024 recommended following the UK approach. Police admitted at the review that when they attended mental health incidents it was often an “amplifying factor” and that it would have been better to have specialists deployed instead.

In June 2024, a parliamentary inquiry into the state’s mental health system encouraged police to improve mandatory mental health training for officers and “explore” becoming second responders. It has been suggested that healthcare professionals should be the first people called for mental health problems.

Police and the government have been under pressure to enact reforms following the deaths of Clare Nowland, Steve Pampalian, Jesse Deacon and Krista Kach in 2023 while suffering from mental health problems. The pressure increased again last year when public housing resident Collin Burling died after begging for help while being restrained by police.

Minns suggested in his speech Tuesday that there may soon be announcements regarding mental health appeals as well as prisoner transportation.

“I am aware of the challenges you face every day, with a large remit, greater responsibility and the desperate need for more officers in the field,” the Premier said in Wollongong.

“We hear it loud and clear, and we must say more, and we will say more in the near future.”

Speaking at the conference, NSW opposition leader Kellie Sloane said it was “beyond time to get a concrete response from the government on this issue”.

“Officers are filling too many gaps in the mental health system in crisis, and that is not your job,” he told the force.

Kevin Morton, the union’s president, said on Tuesday: “We need mental health reforms that prevent police from becoming the default response in every crisis.”

He harshly criticized Correctional Services, saying police had become “Uber drivers for detainees”. “Corrections NSW are experts in prisoner transport and it is time for them to take on that role once and for all,” Morton said.

“We need reform in the courts,” he said. “When dispensing justice, it is wrong to expect those accused to languish in cells because of available trial times. It is wrong, then, to expect our members to take responsibility and consequences for prisoners held in complexes that are not fit for purpose.”

NSW is jailing a record number of people under the Minns government, which has implemented major bail reforms in response to domestic violence. More than 14,000 people were in prison in March.

According to Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data released last week, the prison population increased by 1,200 people in the four months through March; this was more than in the previous four years.

The spike in the prison population began in November, a month after Lanyon became commissioner.

Bocsar data shows the increase is due to an increase in enforcement activity by NSW police, mostly related to domestic violence offences, rather than any increase in crime.

During his speech, Catley told officers: “To be fair, you might say that the corrections minister might actually think you’re doing a very good job because their prisons are full, and that’s entirely attributable to your efforts.”

Lanyon said Tuesday that crime has decreased or remained stable in most major crime areas. But he said “perceptions of crime” are just as important as statistics.

“The results show that our police have a significant impact despite the challenges they face, but the perception of crime is as important as the statistics. People not only deserve to be safe, they also need to feel safe,” the Commissioner said.

“Over the next two years, our focus on crime prevention and public safety will continue, particularly on organized crime, youth and regional crime, domestic violence and road trauma.”

Lanyon said he was “very aware of staffing shortages” but that “for the first time in many years, more officers have joined than have left.”

Minns announced at the conference that the fourth annual course will be run at the police academy in Goulburn to increase police recruitment by 30% to fill vacancies.