Beyond the Bondi Junction tragedy: Strategies to Address System Failures & Subsequent Dangers affecting Homeless, Itinerant & Alienated Individuals living with Complex Mental Health Disorders in NSW

Abstract

Major investment and reform of NSW mental health services are urgently needed in response to the Bondi Junction tragedy of 13 April 2024. This is a major challenge for the NSW Government. There have been overlapping and cumulative crises in NSW mental health services for some years. This culminated in 2024 in the Bondi Junction Tragedy which alerted the public to the serious system failures in the mental health system. This was compounded by the impending collapse of public health psychiatrist services in 2025. A NSW Coroner’s Inquest is soon to investigate these related system failures, and what can we do to prevent their recurrence. A chronology of events at the Bondi Junction tragedy indicates at least 20 cumulative system failures and missed opportunities [ see Box 1 pp 20-24]. How to avoid these tragedies has been evident for some time. So far there has been a lack of action by NSW Government Authorities to take the necessary coherent action, even after a year. It is possible that only recommendations of a Royal Commission may be able to generate and sustain effective solutions. But why must we wait further for a long-drawnout Royal Commission when we know what needs doing? Some of the most rigorous studies which generated and replicated international evidence of the effectiveness of the methods recommended below, were completed in NSW for Australian conditions. NSW often led the way in Australia & internationally with this evidence base and subsequent reforms. Over recent years, these reforms have been eroded, diluted and underfunded by NSW Health and inadvertant neglect by successive governments.