NSW Cops Out, Nurses In for Mental Health 000 Calls

New South Wales is overhauling its response to mental health emergencies, shifting from police to specialist nurses for some triple zero (000) calls. This long-awaited reform, announced on Thursday by the mental health and police ministers, aims to provide better support and improve decision-making for first responders.

A $270 million investment over ten years will fund a new team to assess mental health calls 24/7. This initiative includes establishing a hub for real-time clinical advice to NSW Ambulance paramedics and deploying eight new mental health teams. These teams will provide a health-led response, comprising a paramedic and a specialist mental health nurse.

However, the new teams will initially operate for only 12 hours a day and not across the entire state. Outside of these hours, police or existing models like the Police Ambulance and Clinical Early Response (Pacer) will handle call-outs. The reform, inspired by the UK's "right person, right care" model, is described as a "first step" with potential for statewide scaling.