Copyright 2002 The Age Company Limited
The Age (Melbourne)
October 29, 2002 Tuesday
SECTION: News; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 462 words
HEADLINE: Doctors Reject Reporting Gun Owners
BYLINE: Phillip Hudson Mark Forbes
BODY:
Canberra -- Doctors and psychiatrists have attacked the Federal Government's proposal to force them to report concerns about the behaviour of gun-owning patients.
Health professionals said it could prevent people with mental health problems seeking treatment.
The option is part of a 13-point plan presented by Prime Minister John Howard to crack down on handguns and related crime. Victorian Premier Steve Bracks also wants police ministers meeting next week in Darwin to look at whether gun owners should undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Australian Medical Association president Kerryn Phelps said it was a call for doctors to identify possible offenders. She described the proposal as "absolute nonsense".
"There's no magic formula for identifying people capable of committing gun-related crimes. It's also an invasion of privacy for patients who are innocent of any crime," she said.
Dr Phelps said the AMA supported Mr Howard's push to ban semi-automatic handguns.
A lecturer in psychiatry at Melbourne University and consultant at the Austin Hospital, Dr Mal Hopwood, said mandatory reporting would be counterproductive.
"You are infringing a lot on civil liberties for a small benefit. You run the risk of dissuading people from seeing mental health services. The risks seem to outweigh the possible benefits," he said.
"The majority of individuals with mental health difficulties represent no risk and any mandatory reporting of their possession of a firearm is a significant intrusion on their confidentiality."
Dr Hopwood said doctors frequently reported firearm-owning patients and were legally protected in such cases. "I have done that, asked if they have access to a firearm and if they do reported them to police. I have done that a number of times."
Dr Hopwood said enforcing mandatory reporting would require defining what represented a level of risk in a patient. Firearms owners could be frightened their guns would be seized and be reluctant to tell their doctors about mental health problems, he said.
Justice Minister Chris Ellison said Dr Phelps misunderstood the proposal.
"The Commonwealth's proposal is not for health professionals to identify possible offenders but goes to the question of a person's fitness to hold a firearms licence," he said.
Health counsellor Paul McKillop, a member of former Victorian police chief Neil Comrie's taskforce on firearms and mental illness, said mandatory reporting should be required by counsellor, health professionals, gun club officials and the public.
Mr McKillop said independent professionals approved by police should conduct psychological evaluations of gun owners and talk to gun clubs and relevant family members.
He rejected the concerns by doctors and psychiatrists.
LOAD-DATE: October 28, 2002
The Age (Melbourne)
October 29, 2002 Tuesday
SECTION: News; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 462 words
HEADLINE: Doctors Reject Reporting Gun Owners
BYLINE: Phillip Hudson Mark Forbes
BODY:
Canberra -- Doctors and psychiatrists have attacked the Federal Government's proposal to force them to report concerns about the behaviour of gun-owning patients.
Health professionals said it could prevent people with mental health problems seeking treatment.
The option is part of a 13-point plan presented by Prime Minister John Howard to crack down on handguns and related crime. Victorian Premier Steve Bracks also wants police ministers meeting next week in Darwin to look at whether gun owners should undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Australian Medical Association president Kerryn Phelps said it was a call for doctors to identify possible offenders. She described the proposal as "absolute nonsense".
"There's no magic formula for identifying people capable of committing gun-related crimes. It's also an invasion of privacy for patients who are innocent of any crime," she said.
Dr Phelps said the AMA supported Mr Howard's push to ban semi-automatic handguns.
A lecturer in psychiatry at Melbourne University and consultant at the Austin Hospital, Dr Mal Hopwood, said mandatory reporting would be counterproductive.
"You are infringing a lot on civil liberties for a small benefit. You run the risk of dissuading people from seeing mental health services. The risks seem to outweigh the possible benefits," he said.
"The majority of individuals with mental health difficulties represent no risk and any mandatory reporting of their possession of a firearm is a significant intrusion on their confidentiality."
Dr Hopwood said doctors frequently reported firearm-owning patients and were legally protected in such cases. "I have done that, asked if they have access to a firearm and if they do reported them to police. I have done that a number of times."
Dr Hopwood said enforcing mandatory reporting would require defining what represented a level of risk in a patient. Firearms owners could be frightened their guns would be seized and be reluctant to tell their doctors about mental health problems, he said.
Justice Minister Chris Ellison said Dr Phelps misunderstood the proposal.
"The Commonwealth's proposal is not for health professionals to identify possible offenders but goes to the question of a person's fitness to hold a firearms licence," he said.
Health counsellor Paul McKillop, a member of former Victorian police chief Neil Comrie's taskforce on firearms and mental illness, said mandatory reporting should be required by counsellor, health professionals, gun club officials and the public.
Mr McKillop said independent professionals approved by police should conduct psychological evaluations of gun owners and talk to gun clubs and relevant family members.
He rejected the concerns by doctors and psychiatrists.
LOAD-DATE: October 28, 2002