Submission to Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment – inquiry into the mental health of first responders

Submission to Senate Standing Committee on Education and
Employment – inquiry into the mental health of first responders

The mental health of employees within Australia’s law enforcement agencies has proven to be challenging a challenging problem for organisational leaders to tackle. With one in four officers found to be experiencing moderate to high psychological distress at any one time, and the death of four Australian Federal Police officers by suicide with their firearms inside their workplaces in two years, this submission argues that the workplace health and safety regulatory schemes are failing to protect the health and safety of federal and state police as first responders. In doing so, it refers to two major reports in 2017-2018 (a report from post-traumatic mental health support group Phoenix Australia and an ANAO report on how the AFP is managing the mental health of its employees) that found problems like poor understanding of mental health issues in management, and officers reluctant to self-report struggles for fear of being bullied and other repercussions for speaking up. In addition, concerns about confidentiality, the impact on their pay and career prospects and the aggravated harm caused by applying for workers compensation, have all been disclosed repeatedly in police reports and in news reports. The submission concludes with a range of recommendations to mainly the workplace health and safety laws but also it calls for the reporting of suicides, and the rates of bullying in compensation claims by police and other first responders, to be made publicly available.

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