Permanent police powers to randomly “wand” people for weapons and tighter protocols around weaning schizophrenia patients off antipsychotic medication are among 22 draft recommendations that will be considered by the New South Wales state coroner after the Bondi Junction mass stabbing in Sydney.
The list of proposals was released by the NSW coroner’s court on Wednesday as the coronial inquest into the deaths of Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Pikria Darchia, 55, Dawn Singleton, 25, Faraz Tahir, 30, and Joel Cauchi, 40, at Westfield Bondi Junction on 13 April 2024 draws to a close.
Senior counsel assisting the coroner Dr Peggy Dwyer SC’s proposals will be considered by the state coroner, Teresa O’Sullivan. Among them is the call to “establish a real time, 24/7 mental health information sharing and advice service that is not geographically bound” in NSW.
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The service would support police responses and decisions about care, provide real-time mental health support to police during a crisis response and assist in coordinating follow-up. Dwyer also proposed making Pacer, the multi-agency mental health crisis response model which is used in parts of NSW, statewide.
Recommendation 17, titled “The Knife”, suggests a NSW trial of warrantless “wanding” – police using a handheld metal detector to scan people for weapons – should be assessed with a view to extending to some “crowded places” or possibly being made permanent. Cauchi carried the attack out with a hunting knife and was ultimately shot and killed by police inspector Amy Scott.
A “prompt” amendment to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ guidelines on the management of schizophrenia and related disorders includes the suggestion of a new protocol for “deprescribing” antipsychotic medication.
During May’s five-week inquest hearing and Tuesday’s oral submissions, the court heard Joel Cauchi’s former psychiatrist, Dr Andrea Boros-Lavack, had weaned him off his schizophrenia medication in her Toowoomba private practice in 2019.
A key part of the inquest examined Cauchi’s risk of relapse into psychosis and how he was discharged into the care of his GP.
Recommendations to the NSW government include a direction to the housing and mental health minister to model the need for short-term accommodation in Sydney for people with mental health challenges and homelessness.
A single proposal aimed at the Australian Press Council calls for balancing the need for accurate reporting of mass casualty incidents against the distress caused by that reporting to victims, grieving families and friends and the broader public.
Final submissions will conclude on Friday.
