New South Wales Police mental health response model and the case for scaling what works

3rd July 2026Kavitha Vipulananda, Strategy and reform consultant

New South Wales (NSW) Police is facing a $1.75 billion psychological injury bill and a co-responder mental health programme known as PACER that operates in only 12 of 57 area commands almost a decade after its first pilot within the force; strategy and reform consultant Kavitha Vipulananda compares the police approach in NSW with co-responder models in other Australian states and asks what it would take to scale a programme that works.

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New South Wales Police mental health response model and the case for scaling what works

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