The Canberra Liberals want the ACT government to consider following NSW and impose tougher penalties on people that assault frontline health and emergency workers.
Occupational violence in Canberra's public hospitals gained public attention when a patient with a knife held eight staff hostage in the emergency department on April 22. A year earlier a nurse was strangled by a patient.
Health and Mental Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said 1550 verbal and 1000 physical occupational violence incidents were recorded across the ACT public health system in 2025-26.
