Western Force Submission to the Senate Education and Employment References Committee Inquiry into Mental Health Conditions First Responders

June 2018

1 Table of Contents

Agency Profile...... 3

Key Summary Points...... 3

Term of Reference A and B...... 3

Term of Reference C...... 4

References, research and resources...... 6

2 Agency Profile

The Police Force (WA Police Force) is a State Government agency with a workforce of close to 9,000 across a variety of vocations including Police Officers, Police Auxiliary Officers, Aboriginal Police Liaison Officers, Cadets, Recruits and Police Staff (public servants). The service covers a geographic area of 2,526,646 square kilometres. There are 158 stations across the state and a number of other police occupied buildings within the metropolitan area.

WA Police Force is pleased to provide this submission which represents the agency’s views for consideration in your review, within the Terms of Reference provided.

Key Summary Points 1. Encourage staff to maintaining their own health and well-being. 2. Organisations to fund and support appropriate psychological wellbeing and preventative programs. 3. First responder organisations to collaborate on understanding, prevention and treatment options. 4. Coordinated national oversight of research, where possible. 5. Organisation to identify mechanisms for tracking and monitoring metrics that can inform decisions.

Term of Reference A and B

A. The nature and underlying causes of mental health conditions experienced by first responders, emergency service workers and volunteers. B. Research identifying linkages between first responder and emergency service occupations, and the incidence of mental health conditions Working as a has been commonly perceived as a highly stressful occupation and consequently is associated with an increased potential for psychological disorders. This could also be true for all members of the WA Police Force such as call takers, front counter staff, and “back office” staff as they can all be subjected to trauma and stress in the workplace. Research has shown that psychological and physiological distress in police officers generally results from many stressful events faced at work, the occupational requirement of constant vigilance, but can also be influenced by external factors such as relationship pressures and stressors at home (Rehehr & Bober, 2005). There is emerging research (Andre M, 2011) from Canada that organisational factors may cause more stress for police officers than operational stressors.

Most of the cases where people are exposed to trauma within their job and through external events do not result in a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In addition, PTSD is complex and there is potential that it is misdiagnosed and mistreated. Rather than focus on how many people suffer from PTSD, WA Police Force believe it is better to concentrate on how we equip our people to deal with exposure to trauma and organisational stressors when they occur and seek help early, if needed, before long term functioning is affected. Policing cultural norm of showing no weakness and having tight emotional control can be in conflict with the promotion of the concept of being part of a “police family” and supporting each other through tough times. These conflicting cultural norms can confuse and hinder police personnel coming forward and seeking help. Commonly when an officer is unable to

3 deal with stress or trauma, reactive behaviours can develop in the form of maladaptive coping strategies, such as emotional withdrawal, alcohol misuse, and domestic violence. This can result in long term impacts on physical and psychological health and wellbeing, including prolonged time off work, family and relationship issues and ultimately disability.

Research evidence has shown that providing psychological interventions, such as mental health education, peer support or counselling can assist in providing relief for police personnel from psychological problems and help build resilience to stress (beyondblue, 2016, Stuart, 2017). There is also research from the United States on the role of exercise and alternative strategies such as mindfulness in helping to build police officers to be at “peak operational performance” (Mindful, 2017).

Although there are a growing number of studies looking at the relationship between the workplace culture of the police and psychological help seeking attitudes, there have been few studies conducted that look directly into the experiences and expectations of police officers in Australia, with the majority of studies conducted with police officers from the United States. Some of these studies are listed at the end of this submission. beyondblue is in the process of analysing the initial results from their national survey, “Answering the call - beyondblue’s National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Police and Emergency Services Personnel”. This will provide some baseline data for those agencies that participated.

WA Police Force supported one if its staff to undertake a Churchill Fellowship in 2017, which resulted in the publishing of a paper on Resilience programs in emergency responder and military agencies. This paper investigated preventative resilience and positive psychology programs that contribute to wellbeing and evaluated programs that focus on keeping people well and reducing stigma around normal reactions to the abnormal events that emergency services personnel are exposed to. A copy of this paper can be downloaded at: https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellows/detail/4114/Fiona+Donaldson.

Term of Reference C

i. Reporting of mental health conditions. Despite the success of psychological interventions, many people still fail to seek or engage in available services. Some factors contributing to this may include the influence of stigma, a lack of education around emotional problems, and perceived minimal supportive behaviours from leadership (Stuart, 2017). Stigma may contribute to police personnel not coming forward when they are experiencing mental health challenges for fear of affecting their career, judgement from their peers, their family and the community, and belief that it is a sign of weakness. Education around mental health challenges, being aware of the language used to describe those in distress, challenging media stereotypes and ensuring appropriate support is available all contribute to combating stigma and encouraging people to report early.

4 iii. Workers’ Compensation Police Officers in Western Australia are not covered by the Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981. As such an “in house” de-facto workers’ compensation scheme is provided. Psychological illness including PTSD is covered by this scheme and officers are supported practically and financially to receive appropriate medical support. WA Police Force also contracts its own Psychiatrist to help in this regard.

iv. Workplace Culture and management practices Culture is difficult to define and is deeply rooted in the history of an organisation such as policing. WA Police Force places behavioural values such as “duty”, “teamwork”, “integrity” and “care” as important aspects of its culture and as such they are integrated into every decision and strategy. This cultivates an environment where all personnel are accountable for themselves and for each other. There is a great amount of research that shows the impact of managers on those in their team ( Police, 2017). A recent study involving Fire- fighters in New South Wales showed that teams where managers had received training specifically addressing how to deal with mental health challenges experienced an 18% decrease in sick leave absences compared to those teams that did not receive the training which experienced a 10% increase in sick leave absences for the same time period.

vi. Collaboration between first responder and emergency services organisations Western Australia has a working group for first responder agencies hosted by the Mental Health Commission of Western Australia. It brings together the WA Police Force, Department of Fire and Emergency Services, the Department of Parks and Wildlife, Corrective Services and St John Ambulance. These meetings provide a forum to discuss situations that affect all the agencies collectively and pool resources and experience to work together for appropriate solutions.

vii. Post-retirement and mental health support WA Police Force works with external bodies such as the Medically Retired Police Officer’s Association and the Retired Police Officer’s Association to train interested members who want to become Peer Support Officers for retired officers. In addition, access to the Employee Support Program is extended to retired officers who have exhausted all avenues of psychological care available under community programs.

Under the Police (Medical and Other Expenses for Former Officers) Act 2008, former police officers and Aboriginal Police Liaison Officers who have sustained a work related injury or disease are entitled to claim post-separation medical and other expense benefits under certain conditions.

Endorsed by: Endorsed by:

FRANK PASQUALE STEPHEN A BROWN APM; M.St (Cantab) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DEPUTY COMMISSIONER (SPECIALIST SERVICES) June 2018 June 2018

5 References, research and resources

Andres, Martin, Ontario Ombudsman, Ombudsman’s report: In the Line of Duty – investigation into how the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services have addressed operation stress injuries affecting police officers. 2011 https://ombudsman.on.ca/resources/reports-and-case-summaries/reports-on- investigations/2012/in-the-line-of-duty

beyondblue, Good practice framework for mental health and wellbeing in first responder organisations. 2016 https://das.bluestaronline.com.au/api/prism/document?token=BL/1675

Bennell, C. Operational and Organizational Police Stress in an Ontario Police Department: A Descriptive Study. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242111567_Operational_and_Organizational_P olice_Stress_in_an_Ontario_Police_Department_A_Descriptive_Study

Gilmartin Kevin, Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement – a Guide for Officers and Their Families, E-S Press, Arizona, 2002 Regehr, C., & Bober, T. (2005). In the line of fire: Trauma in the emergency services. http://www.oxfordscholarship.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/97801 95165029.001.0001/acprof-9780195165029

Stuart, H. (2017). Mental illness stigma expressed by police to police. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 54(1), 18-23. https://cdn.doctorsonly.co.il/2017/08/04_Mental-Illness-Stigma.pdf

Victoria Police. (2016). Mental Health Review. http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=46171.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/walking-the-thin-blue-line-how-stigma-is- silencing-officers

https://www.policeone.com/police-products/human-resources/articles/218917006- Suffering-in-silence-Mental-health-and-stigma-in-policing/

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