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West Australian
11-05-2025
- West Australian
Bondi attack inquest told police ‘not helpful' in responding to mental health despite increased calls for service
A top cop has acknowledged police involvement is generally 'not helpful' in mental health incidents despite one state battling more than 60,000 call outs, with an inquest into the fatal Bondi attack expected to make 'serious' recommendations amid the increasing burden. Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six and stabbed another 10 during a stabbing rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13, 2024. Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia died in the incident. Just over a year prior, Cauchi had accused his father of stealing his knives, assaulted him, and then called the police to his parents home in Toowoomba in an attempt to get them back. His father had taken them and given them to a friend in January 2023 over concerns for his mental health, with Cauchi described as being in a 'rage' afterwards. Cauchi was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17 and was medicated for more than a decade to treat the condition until he stopped taking all psychotropic medication in 2019. The treatment of his mental health is being probed over the five-week coronial inquest, and counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer SC earlier noted most people with schizophrenia 'will never commit an act of violence'. CCTV has captured the moment police spoke with Bondi killer Joel Cauchi after he accused his father of stealing his knives in the year before the fatal Westfield Bondi Junction attack. Body worn footage of the attending police officers — Senior Constables Matthew McDonnell and Hope Porter — during the January 2023 call-out was played in court this week. Cauchi appeared calm in the video, telling officers his father had taken his property and he'd 'tried to resolve it'. However, the court heard an expert psychiatrist deemed Cauchi psychotic upon watching the footage. 'She says, 'He's certainly psychotic', and in her view, he qualifies for compulsory admission,' Ms Dwyer said. The attending officers said they had no powers to take Cauchi for an emergency assessment as he was not deemed a risk to himself. They did send an email to an officer acting as one of the force's mental health intervention co-ordinators (MHIC) requesting a follow-up on the Cauchi family: this email was missed. The incident was described as a 'missed opportunity' to reintegrate Cauchi into the mental health system. What could have been done differently was probed at length this week, with evidence given in court suggesting the need for change in how police are able to respond to increasing mental health call outs. NSW cops respond to 61,000 mental health call outs Police across NSW are called out to mental health incidents every nine minutes, with more than 61,000 mental health emergencies or incidents where a criminal offence wasn't associated recorded by police in 2022. This is an increase of about 41.6 per cent compared to 2018, or about 10 per cent per year, the Summary Internal Review of the NSW Police Force response to mental health incidents in the community, released in April 2024, found. Mental health related calls for service increased by 58 per cent between 2016 and 2021 in Queensland, according to 2022 submissions to the state's Parliament Mental Health Select Committee Inquiry into the opportunities to improve mental health outcomes for Queenslanders. A senior NSW police officer who attended the Westfield shopping centre following the attack, Police Chief Inspector Christopher Whalley, told the inquest officers in Sydney's Eastern Beaches command respond to up to 130 mental health related incidents per month. However, police involvement 'generally is not helpful' in this space, he said. 'I think I still see a growth in police being called to that type of incident, which seems contrary to what the academic writings would suggest is the most appropriate way to provide help to those who are experiencing a mental health crisis,' Inspector Whalley told the court. He thought there may be an opportunity to improve outcomes for people with mental health conditions, but 'those outcomes might not involve police'. Police responses can be 'deeply distressing' Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) president Dr Astha Tomar said police-only responses to mental health incidents can be 'deeply distressing', particularly for those with acute and complex illnesses or past trauma with police. 'We know these encounters can escalate situations, increase fear and stigma and ultimately lead to poorer outcomes for the person in crisis,' Dr Tomar said, speaking generally. Though she couldn't comment on the ongoing inquest or Cauchi, she said mental health systems across the country were under 'enormous strain and pressure' amid resource and staffing shortages, but that a health-led response was 'critical' for mental health incidents. However, Dr Tomar noted police play an 'essential role'. 'In high-risk or unpredictable situations, they are often the only ones with the training, tools and powers to manage immediate dangers, including threats to the safety of health workers, loved ones and bystanders,' she said. 'The safest, most effective outcomes come from a co-ordinated response, where police and mental health professionals work together to respond to mental health call outs.' She said co-response models, such as those trialled in Queensland, have shown promise, and similar responses need to be backed by the government. 'This kind of partnership protects everyone involved and supports people's recovery with dignity and compassion,' she said. 'We need governments to help shape what these responses should look like across the country, and back them with the training, resourcing and support first responders need to do their jobs safely and effectively.' Program would've been 'perfect' for Cauchi call-out There are a number of resources currently in place across the country, though some are still being rolled out across police area commands (PACs) and districts. These include Police, Ambulance, Clinical, Early, Response (PACERs), who Inspector Whalley expressed his gratitude for in court. They are clinical nurse consultants who work shifts out of NSW police stations to attend jobs in the field when safe. They may be able to assess patients on scene, issue a schedule under the Mental Health Act, 'clear the way for admission' in local hospitals, and have helped young officers learn to respond to people in crisis appropriately and sensitively, Inspector Whalley said. However, the program was only available in 16 of the 57 PACs as of 2024, and Inspector Whalley noted they don't work 24/7, while police come into contact with people in crisis at all hours. Other resources for police include the Mental Health QPS and QAS Co-responder models in Queensland, which are able to pair mental health clinicians with both police and paramedics where appropriate for assessment and intervention. The court was told the mental health co-responders were not available in Toowoomba in January 2023, however officer Constable Porter said they have been 'invaluable' since coming into effect. She said they would have been 'perfect' in situations similar to Cauchi's January 2023 call out. 'To have someone who knows more than me, who lives and breathes this stuff every day, who understands things and sees things differently to me, would have been an invaluable resource at the time,' Constable Porter said.'Someone who just knows more would've been like, 'Hey, hang on a second'. 'Better yet, maybe they might have had access to more information on his files that I don't know about.' QPS Manager of the Vulnerable Persons Group Bernard Quinlan said he 'couldn't agree more' that it would be beneficial to have a specialist mental health expert with police to assess if someone is psychotic, following the findings of the expert psychiatrist who deemed Cauchi was psychotic during the 2023 incident. He said he'd advocate for a 'more holistic response across support service sectors' amid the increased need for police to respond to vulnerable in the community, including mental health. 'Serious' recommendations expected in inquest Ms Dwyer expected serious recommendations regarding the burden increasingly felt by police and the broader community by mental health incidents to be made following the inquest. 'It is not proposed or intended that this inquest will be a roving inquiry delving into the totality of issues facing the mental health system in this state of NSW or Queensland,' Ms Dwyer said. 'It may be accepted that the mental health system in both NSW and Queensland is under strain, and it's neither possible or appropriate for this inquest to seek to identify how to reform the entirety of the mental health system. 'But, through the lens of Mr Cauchi's lived experience, and in recognition of the devastating consequences caused by his actions, the inquest will seek to identify practical and realistic recommendations about what can be done to improve the treatment of those suffering from chronic and severe mental health conditions, with a particular focus on schizophrenia. 'It is hoped that this inquest and your Honour's findings will offer a meaningful and informed contribution to an area that is in need of urgent reform and resourcing.' Ms Dwyer said she expected evidence to find co-responder models should be considered so police can be accompanied by trained mental health workers. Other recommendations could include changes to the 'confusing' criteria that grant police the power to take people for emergency mental health assessments. The inquest is set to hear from nurses, psychiatrists and GPs involved in the treatment of Cauchi during the third week of the inquest. mental health support
7NEWS
07-05-2025
- 7NEWS
Bondi attacker Joel Cauchi heard for first time in police bodycam footage before deadly stabbing rampage
The Bondi attacker, Joel Cauchi, has been heard for the first time in newly released police body-cam footage showing a troubling interaction with officers before the deadly rampage. The 40-year-old armed himself with a 30cm knife and carried out an unprovoked attack at Sydney's Bondi Junction Westfield on April 13, 2024, killing six people and injuring 10 others. The footage, released by Queensland Police on Wednesday, shows Cauchi demanding the return of his knife collection on January 8, 2023, more than a year before his move to Sydney. At the time, he was living with his parents at their family home in Toowoomba, near Brisbane, and had called police after his father confiscated the knives. 'My dad has taken some of my property — it's pretty expensive,' Cauchi tells officers in the footage. He described the items to Senior Constable Matthew McDonald and Constable Hope Porter as 'military collectibles', including a USMC Ka-Bar knife — the same type used in the Bondi rampage. Cauchi had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager, and his parents had confiscated the knives out of concern for his deteriorating mental health. His mother Michele told officers her son was a different person when medicated, but he had stopped taking his medication in 2019 and stopped seeing a psychiatrist in 2020. 'My son's got schizophrenia, he's really not well. He needs help. A couple of years ago he was at university, at the top of the class,' Michele said. Police didn't take further action that day, but later that night, they emailed a Queensland Police Service mental health intervention coordinator (MHIC). The email described Cauchi as fidgety and fixated on retrieving his knives, and recommended a mental health follow-up. However, the email was overlooked, and no action was taken. Cauchi also appeared in more bodycam footage from September 2021, when he was pulled over for driving erratically in Brisbane. The highway patrol officer described his driving as 'very erratic' and 'unsafe.' During the stop, Cauchi handed over his licence and told the officer he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was not taking medication at the time. Ashlee Good, Yixuan Cheng, Pikria Darchia, Dawn Singleton, Jade Young, and Faraz Tahir were all killed in the stabbing attack, and 10 others were injured, including a nine-month-old baby. NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott ended the attack by fatally shooting Cauchi. By this time, Cauchi was no longer living with his parents, he was homeless, 'floridly psychotic' and 'completely detached from the mental health system,' the court heard. Police seized his phone after the incident, uncovering web searches that displayed a preoccupation with killing, serial killers, weapons and death since at least 2022. Improving mental health treatment and responses is expected to be a major recommendation by the Coroner.
News.com.au
06-05-2025
- News.com.au
Push to change ‘confusing' legislation after fatal Westfield Bondi Junction attack
There's a 'unanimous' push to change 'confusing' legislation that could have reintegrated the 'floridly psychotic' Bondi killer Joel Cauchi into the mental health system months before the fatal rampage. Six people were killed and 10 others were injured in the attack at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13, 2024. Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia died in the incident. Cauchi, 40, had gone on a rampage through the palatial shopping centre with a WWII knife purchased at a camping store before being gunned down by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott. A five-week coronial inquest into the deadly stabbing began last Monday, with the first week revealing never-before-heard details about the incident. Cauchi was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17. He was medicated for more than a decade to treat the condition until he stopped taking all psychotropic medication in June 2019. He has been described as being 'floridly psychotic' on the day of the fatal attack. Police were called to Cauchi's parents' home in January 2023 after he claimed his father had stolen his knives. His father had given them to a friend over concerns for Cauchi's mental health, the court was told on Monday. Cauchi had also pushed his father after the knives were confiscated. However because he was not deemed a risk to himself, the attending officers told the court they had no powers to take Cauchi for an emergency assessment, as per changes to the Emergency Examination Authority (EEA) criteria in 2017. Changes to criteria in the Emergency Examination Authority mean only those who have an 'immediate threat to self' can be taken for emergency assessment, and cites the example of 'a person is threatening to commit suicide'. Before 2017 it referred to those who were an immediate threat to themselves or somebody else. An email was sent to an officer acting as one of the force's mental health intervention coordinators (MHIC) requesting a follow up on the Cauchi family, however the email was missed. 'Unfortunately it was an oversight and I did not manage to follow up,' the relieving intervention officer told the court on Monday. He also accepted the incident was a 'missed opportunity', and agreed it had been difficult for him to process that he had something to do with this missed opportunity. A better system for follow up has since been put in place. However the officer, who typically works in the MHIC role, told the court there may have been a way to force Cauchi to undergo an emergency assessment. 'In my capacity with my expanded knowledge base…there would've been a possibility to expand on serious harm beyond harm to self to collateral harm,' she told the court. 'There may have been an opportunity for an emergency examination authority based on my skill set.' She emphasised that she has a completely different knowledge base to general duties officers, and that she can see why officers would read the legislation as being restrictive to someone needing to pose serious harm to themselves including by way of threats of suicide. She supported a proposed legislation change to 'remove that ambiguity' to expand the risk of harm to unintentional harm to self and harm to others. Counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer SC said this was shaping up to be a 'significant recommendation in this inquest given there's such unanimous support for that'. She agreed the relieving MHIC's oversight was 'devastating', and agreed she would have followed up on the email had she been there. However she also noted it was the type of email she would receive daily in her role. 'As I said before I can guarantee it was an unintentional oversight,' she told the court. She said the MHIC role was 'fast becoming an overwhelming role' and even said there was no one to fill her role while she was in Sydney for the inquest. The number of mental health call outs are also increasing, with the court told calls for service increased by 51 per cent between 2016 and 2020 in Queensland. The MHIC said in a 'perfect world' she'd also like to have three extra staff, as at the moment it is just her working 6.30am-2.30pm responding to calls to service related to mental health, dementia, those with intellectual disabilities, and other cases that fall outside the scope of a general police response. 'Through that, because there's so much of it effectively at times I have to triage my follow up, I have to risk asses who is repeatedly coming into contact with police…who is a risk to themselves and the community,' she told the court. 'Ideally I'd love to engage with every person (the day after a call out)... it's just not possible.' The QPS Manager of the Vulnerable Persons Group also agreed the EEA terminology was confusing. 'It's very specific in its terminology, and as police we are bound by the laws…that govern what actions we can take in partic circumstances,' he told the court. 'The law needs to be interpreted…if the example provided is a person threatening to commit suicide that sets a principle that is when police have to intervene.' Ms Dwyer said it sounded like some police may interpret the legislation more broadly, but it can be restrictive, to which he agreed some may take it 'literally'. He said 'it is is a very high threshold that needs to be met' based on what the EEA says 'on paper', and that some feedback on this has already been provided. There's been a resounding push from officers during the inquest for the need for other ways to respond to mental health incidents outside of Queensland Police.
Perth Now
06-05-2025
- Perth Now
‘Confusing': Major push after Bondi attack
There's a 'unanimous' push to change 'confusing' legislation that could have reintegrated the 'floridly psychotic' Bondi killer Joel Cauchi into the mental health system months before the fatal rampage. Six people were killed and 10 others were injured in the attack at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13, 2024. Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia died in the incident. Cauchi, 40, had gone on a rampage through the palatial shopping centre with a WWII knife purchased at a camping store before being gunned down by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott. A five-week coronial inquest into the deadly stabbing began last Monday, with the first week revealing never-before-heard details about the incident. Cauchi was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17. He was medicated for more than a decade to treat the condition until he stopped taking all psychotropic medication in June 2019. He has been described as being 'floridly psychotic' on the day of the fatal attack. Inspector Amy Scott shot Joel Cauchi. Supplied. Credit: Supplied Police were called to Cauchi's parents' home in January 2023 after he claimed his father had stolen his knives. His father had given them to a friend over concerns for Cauchi's mental health, the court was told on Monday. Cauchi had also pushed his father after the knives were confiscated. However because he was not deemed a risk to himself, the attending officers told the court they had no powers to take Cauchi for an emergency assessment, as per changes to the Emergency Examination Authority (EEA) criteria in 2017. Changes to criteria in the Emergency Examination Authority mean only those who have an 'immediate threat to self' can be taken for emergency assessment, and cites the example of 'a person is threatening to commit suicide'. Before 2017 it referred to those who were an immediate threat to themselves or somebody else. Top, L-R: Dawn Singleton, Ashlee Good, Cheng Yixuan. Bottom: Faraz Tahir, Jade Young, Pikria Darchia. Credit: Supplied An email was sent to an officer acting as one of the force's mental health intervention coordinators (MHIC) requesting a follow up on the Cauchi family, however the email was missed. 'Unfortunately it was an oversight and I did not manage to follow up,' the relieving intervention officer told the court on Monday. He also accepted the incident was a 'missed opportunity', and agreed it had been difficult for him to process that he had something to do with this missed opportunity. A better system for follow up has since been put in place. However the officer, who typically works in the MHIC role, told the court there may have been a way to force Cauchi to undergo an emergency assessment. 'In my capacity with my expanded knowledge base…there would've been a possibility to expand on serious harm beyond harm to self to collateral harm,' she told the court. 'There may have been an opportunity for an emergency examination authority based on my skill set.' She emphasised that she has a completely different knowledge base to general duties officers, and that she can see why officers would read the legislation as being restrictive to someone needing to pose serious harm to themselves including by way of threats of suicide. She supported a proposed legislation change to 'remove that ambiguity' to expand the risk of harm to unintentional harm to self and harm to others. Counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer SC said this was shaping up to be a 'significant recommendation in this inquest given there's such unanimous support for that'. She agreed the relieving MHIC's oversight was 'devastating', and agreed she would have followed up on the email had she been there. However she also noted it was the type of email she would receive daily in her role. 'As I said before I can guarantee it was an unintentional oversight,' she told the court. She said the MHIC role was 'fast becoming an overwhelming role' and even said there was no one to fill her role while she was in Sydney for the inquest. The number of mental health call outs are also increasing, with the court told calls for service increased by 51 per cent between 2016 and 2020 in Queensland. Joel Cauchi killed six and injured another 10 during the attack. Supplied. Credit: Supplied The MHIC said in a 'perfect world' she'd also like to have three extra staff, as at the moment it is just her working 6.30am-2.30pm responding to calls to service related to mental health, dementia, those with intellectual disabilities, and other cases that fall outside the scope of a general police response. 'Through that, because there's so much of it effectively at times I have to triage my follow up, I have to risk asses who is repeatedly coming into contact with police…who is a risk to themselves and the community,' she told the court. 'Ideally I'd love to engage with every person (the day after a call out)... it's just not possible.' The QPS Manager of the Vulnerable Persons Group also agreed the EEA terminology was confusing. 'It's very specific in its terminology, and as police we are bound by the laws…that govern what actions we can take in partic circumstances,' he told the court. 'The law needs to be interpreted…if the example provided is a person threatening to commit suicide that sets a principle that is when police have to intervene.' Ms Dwyer said it sounded like some police may interpret the legislation more broadly, but it can be restrictive, to which he agreed some may take it 'literally'. He said 'it is is a very high threshold that needs to be met' based on what the EEA says 'on paper', and that some feedback on this has already been provided. There's been a resounding push from officers during the inquest for the need for other ways to respond to mental health incidents outside of Queensland Police. 'It shouldn't be police should be a health-led response,' he said. mental health support
