Discretionary paid leave for police under mental health stress and tough restrictions on officer access to firearms during these leave periods have been recommended in the wake of three suicide deaths of federal officers over seven months from October 2018.
ACT chief coroner Ken Archer handed down a series of recommendations after collectively assessing the three deaths, all of which involved Australian Federal Police officers taking their own lives with their own service weapons.
Two of the three accessed their firearms from the armoury at AFP headquarters in Barton and the third, an air security officer, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a hotel room in Canberra in July 2019.
Two of the officers had around 20 years of service with the federal police. The third had been in "the job" since 2016.
"Each death was tragic. Each of the deceased were deeply loved by their family and friends and held in high regard by their colleagues," Mr Archer found.
"The matters were investigated together because of common features of their death including their employment, access to firearms and the fact that each was most probably suffering a mental illness at the time of their death.
"In each matter a finding is made that matters of public safety arise. Recommendations are made as to how those safety issues might be addressed."
An adverse and embarrassing finding was made against the AFP in a performance audit by the Australia National Audit Office in 2107-18, which identified the organisation did not have in place "mechanisms or sufficient data to appropriately align resources with key mental health risks".
Since then, the federal government committed $65 million to develop sweeping internal AFP health care reforms through a program known as SHIELD.
And yet even this program has had its shortcomings, as the coronial hearing revealed. An intention by the AFP to imbed clinicians within various national workplaces fell short of its goal because of the organisation's security framework.
Such is the nature of elements to the AFP's work - where some officers have full access to top secret and extremely sensitive information - that discussing that work with "outsiders", even clinicians there to protect their mental health, would be considered a major security breach.
One of the coroner's recommendations was to address this security clearance issue for mental health clinicians and contracted psychologists
Every sworn AFP officer with access to firearms has to undertake operational safety training (OST) to retain their certification for use of force. For many officers, retaining an OST sign-off is regarded as an important part of the operational police response ethos; an ability to "step up" when the organisation requires it.
Officers also feared losing an OST sign-off was a potential "career killer".
The coroner recommended the AFP consider "temporary removal of access to AFP equipment, including firearms, for periods when an AFP appointee will not, or should not, be required to use it (such as periods of approved leave)".
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
