Victoria: Paramedic-led mental health plan shut down as ambulance union says they weren’t consulted

A plan to let paramedics take the lead in responding to mental health emergencies has drawn criticism from an ambulance union that claims it was not consulted.

Police officers would attend mental health-related call outs only where necessary, under new protocols announced by Victorian Health Minister Ingrid Stitt on Monday.

The agreement is designed to improve outcomes for people experiencing health crises and free up police to respond to more urgent matters.

But it has raised concerns already-strained ambulance resources would be pushed to the brink, while exposing paramedics to more dangerous situations.

“We’ve always supported a health-led response,” Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill told AAP.

“But paramedics have other work to do ... and we struggle getting to even the most life-threatening emergencies at times.”

A proper health-led response would see crisis assessment teams and mental health outreach given greater responsibilities, not ambulance paramedics, Mr Hill said.

He added the union had not been consulted on the new protocols, claiming he only learnt they were on the way when contacted by the media.

The union was mulling whether to apply to the workplace safety regulator to put the changes on hold while proper consultations could take place, he said.

Under the protocols, police will continue to be responsible for public safety and officers will retain the power to take a person into care and control to prevent harm.

But they will only attend mental health call outs where necessary, while health professionals will be responsible for transporting patients to hospital where viable.

The new protocols, signed by Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and the health department, act on concerns that patients may be worse off when police lead mental health call outs.

This point was raised in the 2021 Victorian Royal Commission into Mental Health, which recommended mental health crisis responses be led by health professionals.

“We’re making sure our paramedics, mental health workers and police are in step to deliver a health-led response that is patient centred,” Ms Stitt said on Monday.

Ambulance Victoria welcomed the announcement, adding it was developing new resources to support paramedics and first responders.

“The agreement puts patient care and welfare first and provides clarity to our paramedics and first responders,” a spokesperson said.

Police Minister Paul Edbrooke said the changes would allow police to focus on more urgent matters, after officers responded to more than 59,000 mental health-related call outs in 2025.

But Mr Hill feared the diversion would leave paramedics exposed to greater risks, against a backdrop of already “skyrocketing” violence.

“They’re talking about freeing up police to be able to do other crime fighting, which is great,” Mr Hill said.

“But that obviously means they’re not going to be available to respond when paramedics need them.”