Lived experience of involuntary transport under mental health legislation
Abstract
Police have historically been responsible for transporting people during a mental health crisis in Australia. A major change to the New South Wales (NSW) Mental Health Act (MHA) in 2007 expanded the range of coercive transportation agencies to include NSW Ambulance (paramedics) and NSW Health (mental health nurses). Anecdotal reports, however, describe a lack of clarity around how these changes should be implemented in practice. This research aims to explore this lack of clarity through qualitative analysis of interviews with people with the lived experience of involuntary transport under the MHA. Sixteen interviews were conducted; most (n = 14) interviews in northern NSW regions: six with people who had been transported (consumers), four with carers, and six with service providers (two police, one paramedic, and three mental health nurses). For consumers and carers, the police response was often perceived as too intense, particularly if the person was not violent. Carers were often conflicted by having to call for emergency intervention. Service providers were frustrated by a lack of a coordinated interagency response, resourcing issues, delays at emergency departments, and lack of adequate training. A central theme across all groups was the importance of communication styles. As one participant (consumer) said: 'Everybody needs a lesson in kindness'. All groups agreed that high-risk situations necessitate police involvement. However, invocation of the MHA during a high-risk situation is fraught with stress and difficulties, leaving little room for empathetic communications. Effective and diverse, evidence-based, early intervention strategies - both consensual and non-consensual - are necessary to reduce the requirement for police involvement in mental health transports.
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Police transportation was perceived as highly coercive and traumatizing.
“Police transportation was also perceived as highly coercive and traumatizing [121,155].”
From Factors Associated with Perceived Coercion in Adults Receiving Psychiatric Care: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as [121]
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- Authors
- Bradbury, J., Hutchinson, M., Hurley, J., & Stasa, H.
- Affiliations
- Southern Cross University (AU)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Bradbury, Joanne
- Venue
- International Journal of Mental Health Nursing
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-11-29
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 580-592
- ISSN
- 1445-8330 (ISSN-L)
- 1447-0349
- OpenAlex
- W2559115268
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Mental Health Nursing (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Cross Connect (Southern Cross University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Australian Government's Collaborative Research Networks programme
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, Medicine and Society
- Keywords
- mental health law, paramedics, psychiatric nurses, lived experience, caregivers, inter-agency coordination, communication styles, early intervention, emergency department delays
- MeSH terms
- Allied Health Personnel, Mental Disorders, Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders, Emergency Service, Hospital, Humans, Interviews as Topic, New South Wales, Transportation of Patients, Police
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