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Aust'n state in world-first trial to assist police deal with mental health sufferers

Xinhua, December 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

In a two-year world-first trial, Western Australian (WA) police and mental health workers will join forces to provide better help to mental health sufferers -- while reducing the time police spend on this growing problem.

The trial, announced in Perth on Friday, will result in mental health workers and officers working alongside each other from January next year, and identifying those cases which should be dealt with by mental health experts.

In 2014-15, WA police attended 17,500 mental health call-outs, more than three times the number recorded in 2007.

With the sheer volume of mental health matters in WA, officers currently take the patient to a hospital emergency department where they wait with them, which proves a huge drain on police time and resources.

The new plan will assist with diverting mental health sufferers away from the criminal justice system and into the health and support networks designed to help them, while also freeing up police resources.

WA Police Minister Liza Harvey and Mental Health Minister Helen Morton revealed details of the 4.7 million U.S-dollar trial on Friday.

"This collaboration is an important step towards reducing criminal recidivism for people with mental health issues through early intervention and enhanced assessment, treatment and support," Harvey told News Corp newspapers.

The minister said police will still be the first responders, though the matter would be deferred if a mental health concern was recognized.

"We are very excited about this trial, it is a world first, it is a different way to respond to mental health issues in our community and I have high hopes for this trial becoming part of police and mental health practice here in WA," Harvey said.

Morton said the plan to use two mobile co-response teams would better coordinate police responses to incidents where people were experiencing acute mental health or drug and alcohol related issues.

Opposition spokesman Stephen Dawson supported the trial, saying it could have some real benefits for mental health services in WA if it helped keep sufferers out of hospital emergency departments.

The announcement came as a 10-year blueprint on how to best overhaul the mental health system, including more beds and boosted support services, was revealed earlier this week. The trial was developed by the Mental Health Commission, WA Police and Department of Health. Endit