Submission to Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment – inquiry into the mental health of first responders
Other
Title | Submission to Senate Standing Committee on Education and |
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Report Type | Other |
Authors | Crowley-Cyr, Lynda (Author) and Hevers, James (Author) |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
Number of Pages | 30 |
Series | The role of Commonwealth, state and territory Governments in addressing the high rates of mental health conditions experienced by first responders, emergency service workers and volunteers |
Year | 2018 |
Publisher | Parliament of Australia |
Place of Publication | Canberra, Australia |
Web Address (URL) | https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/Mentalhealth |
Abstract | 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. |
Keywords | mental health; law enforcement officers; Australia |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 480499. Law in context not elsewhere classified |
520104. Industrial and organisational psychology (incl. human factors) | |
489999. Other law and legal studies not elsewhere classified | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | School of Law and Justice |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q50yz/submission-to-senate-standing-committee-on-education-and-employment-inquiry-into-the-mental-health-of-first-responders
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