There is growing recognition specialist services are required to address presentations of fixation and lone-actor violence. Given the high prevalence of serious mental illness and psychosocial disadvantage, fixated threat assessment centres are jointly operated by policing and mental health services to reduce risk to community and improve outcomes for vulnerable people. Launched in 2020, the ACT FLAG is a collaboration between CHS and ACT Police and provides assessment and early intervention to people in the ACT.

 

This project evaluates the contribution of mental health to the joint model of the ACT FLAG including the frequency of clinician involvement in intervention, type of mental health intervention, and the change in level of concern over time for people referred to the ACT FLAG team.

 

Service use data from 2020 to 2023 (N=137), including the number and type of referrals, date of assessment, and intervention type were included for analysis. 

 

N=45 cases progressed to assessment, with 60% referred for fixation and 40% for lone-actor violence. A significant reduction in concern was found in 88% of cases. 28% of interventions were primarily mental health, and 53% were joint interventions with both police and mental health.

 

The findings indicate mental health intervention plays a significant role in the effective intervention within a multiagency risk management model used by the FLAG.

 

This multi-agency approach to healthcare and risk management is leading to a reduction in high-risk behaviours and promoting community safety while diverting vulnerable people from the justice system and into appropriate health care.