Doctor questions whether a breakdown between systems saw Joel Cauchi fall through the cracks | 7.30

[Music] a shortage of emergency accommodation and social housing has in part forced an increasing number of queenslanders out on the [Music] street and those sleeping rough are more likely to have a long-term mental illness Joel cchi who suffered from schizophrenia lived in this park opposite to WBA hospital for more than 6 months and he was very softly spoken he would just come up get his pies with sausage rolls and bit of Bakery stuff and nice hot coffee and off he'd go Tony Hur runs a Community Kitchen in Toba feeding up to a 100 people each night and yet he still remembers a polite well-dressed local man called Joel from more than four years ago we meet all sorts of people um all walks of life and um Joel was certainly one of those ones that was you remember you remember because of his manners did he ever tell you why he was sleeping rough no no back back when we first started everybody is there obviously for a reason so we just like to um help out where we can and very few questions were were raised Joel cchi stopped visiting Tony's kitchen sometime in late 2020 the next time Tony Hur saw Joel couchy was on the television something the charity worker is still trying to come to terms with I can't say that I predicted something like that would happen but it certainly is is very um very disturbing Joel cchi murdered six people and injured another 12 including a 9-month-old baby during a terrifying knife Rampage through the West Field mall at Bondi the slaughter only stopped when a police officer shot him [Music] dead since then the nation has been asking why would someone commit such an atrocity it's difficult it's horrendous it's I can't put in the words Joe Couch's Father Andrew struggled to talk about his son's mental illness he was a to Ted so he was tormented and and frustrated and and and and I'm sorry that he's done this to your children into this nation I mean there's nothing I can say that can take away the pain that my son has caused this is the street where Joel CI grew up and where he lived from time to time as an adult now now the neighbors were spoken to uh understandably devastated and very concerned about jel cult she's parents one neighbor said to me she understands mental health is complicated but in this case she feels the system failed we need to invest more money in mental health and around mental health getting these people the help that they desperately need if you're living or sleeping rough you don't have access to that what's the state of services for mental health in Tober at the moment a long waiting list unfortunately you know and we're hearing 6 12 18 months for the basics Joel cchi did get some help for his schizophrenia he was treated in the Queensland public system up until 2012 when he was transferred to a private psychiatrist and according to his parents he started to come off his medication around 2019 with some medical supervision he asked the doctor if he could come down on it and and she did it over a period of a number of years very carefully giving him the warnings of what might happen within a year though he was sleeping rough I don't know any other details other than what I've heard on the news about about his care but it does seem like he did get lost in in in in the system neuros psychiatrist and griffith University Professor Harry McConnell says weaning someone off this medication requires close collaboration between the public health system private psychiatrists and GPS he says although Queens land health does have case coordinators there's not nearly enough and what's really important is that communication and that communication then needs to extend to community networks to the family to the to the police so that people are talking to each other and that uh and that people don't get um sort of you know lost between the cracks as kchi came off his medication he had a series of contacts with police and although he was never charged or found guilty of a criminal offense there's one incident that stands [Music] out in January last year CI called police from his parents' home to complain his dad had stolen up to six of his knives I was concerned about having those knives in my house Queensland police confirmed that went to the house and talked to the parents but said no further action was taken we intersect with a lot of people in our community that have schizophrenia um police are not um mental health experts they have to deal with things that are presented to them and what threat there was to the community and at that time there was no clear threat to the community and no action that could be taken by police there's a whole network of communication here and and and a safety net that he missed out on uh so part of that was the communication between the police and the public Mental Health Services but also that loss of the link between the public Mental Health Services and Community Resources and the private sector and the family that whole communication system was lost we don't know if early intervention could have prevented the horrendous murders or what prompted such horrific acts it's a question for the coroner and mental health support services want to emphasize that people with severe conditions such as schizophrenia are more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators of violence in the wake of this incident people should really be mindful that we don't actually know what's happened yet it's important not to make assumptions because mental illness impacts everybody in very unique ways but those who had contact in the past with Joel cchi can't help but think what if I do believe if we would have got an inkling of of something that was going to happen a bit before then we could have probably been able to help let's hope that we can make Society a better place for people with mental health [Music] issues and if that story has raised any issues for you you can call lifeline on 13 11 14 and for family and career support call The Association of relatives and Friends of the man mentally ill arapi on 1300 55466

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 148,261

Keywords: abc news, australian news, abc news indepth, documentaries, long-form journalism, abc 730, 730, joel cauchi, bondi junction, attack, mental health, health system, public health, police, queensland

Id: 85nQ3c7693M

Length: 7min 43sec (463 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 18 2024