The Minns government has revealed eight new teams to deal with mental health emergencies across the state, but it's unclear if the Hunter will get one.
A government statement said the teams will be "based across areas of high need in NSW operating 12 hours a day, seven days a week".
Only eight teams will be created for NSW, despite there being 14 local health districts.
A government spokesperson said the "locations haven't been locked in just yet".
The government said it would spend more than $270 million on its new mental health emergency model over a decade.
More than 100 new full-time roles will be created as the model is rolled out.
The reforms follow the Bondi coronial inquest, a NSW parliamentary inquiry into community mental health and a police review of incident responses.
The funding will establish a statewide "virtual mental health hub" within NSW Ambulance, along with eight "mental health acute assessment teams".
The teams will include a paramedic and specialist mental health nurse, while the virtual hub will provide clinical advice to frontline responders attending mental health incidents.
Brendan McIlveen, a Newcastle-based paramedic and NSW secretary of the Australian Paramedics Association, said "it would be a great benefit to the Hunter community" if it had one of these emergency teams.
"It would allow for mental health clinicians to work alongside paramedics on the road," Mr McIlveen said.
He said it would make sense for an emergency team to be based in the Hunter because "we have one of the major mental health referral services outside of metro Sydney".
NSW Greens mental health spokesperson Amanda Cohn said the emergency teams were "the right response" from the government.
"But what has been funded is nowhere near enough to meet the need for emergency mental health support across the state, meaning police will still be the default response," Dr Cohn said.
"With no indication yet from the Minns Labor government of where these services will be located, it's possible that the Hunter could miss out entirely.
"There's no good reason for this service not to be rolled out across the whole state."
The Newcastle Herald reported last week that Hunter New England emergency departments had 20,888 mental health presentations in 2024/25, rising from a low of 13,143 a decade ago.
Hunter New England Health district recorded the second highest rate per 100,000 people for this measure among the state's 14 local health districts.
Dr Cohn, who chaired the mental health inquiry in 2023, said the government's reform was "a welcome change to the way that triple zero calls for mental health are responded to".
However, she said it had come two years after the government had committed to reform.
Dr Cohn said a health-led response to mental health emergencies, with police involved as a secondary response only when required, was a key recommendation of the inquiry, which handed down its report in June 2024.
"When someone calls triple zero for their mental health or for a loved one, they need mental health care, not law enforcement. Too many people have been harmed by police as the default response in NSW," she said.
NSW Minister for Police and Counter-Terrorism Yasmin Catley said "police have worked cooperatively with NSW Health to develop this model of care".
"Police will always respond when a police response is required to ensure public safety. That does not change," Ms Catley said.
NSW Minister for Mental Health Rose Jackson said "we know this reform has taken time, and that's because it really matters".
