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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Jordyn Beazley

Australia needs a national approach to dealing with mental health incidents, ACT police chief says

Neil Gaughan
Neil Gaughan, an AFP deputy commisioner, says police attending low-risk mental health call-outs is not ‘in the best interests of anyone’. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

One of Australia’s most senior police officers has called for a national overhaul to the way mental health episodes are dealt with, arguing clinicians, not cops, should attend cases if lives are not at risk.

The Australian Capital Territory’s chief police officer, Neil Gaughan, told Guardian Australia: “I don’t think police attending those particular incidents is in the best interest of anyone.”

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