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Alternative First Responders - logo Alternative First Responders

Re-Think
The Response

The right response starts with the right people, making a system that works for everyone. With diversity and community involvement in the first response, care comes first, not force.

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By signing, you are joining a movement demanding safety, dignity and care in every first response.

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Alternative First Responders - logo Alternative First Responders

About Alternative
First Responders

Call - Answer - Response

There will be moments in our lives when we need support, care, and assistance. Whether for ourselves, our peers or our loved ones. In times of need we ask to be treated with compassion and dignity. 

Right now, when help is needed the default response too often relies on police as first responders.  

Despite overwhelming support from research and communities, there has been a longstanding failure to commit to alternative first-response models, along with poor funding for health, social, and community support services at all levels of government. As a result, the current first response is ineffective and fails to meet the diverse needs of the community. This default police-first response causes significant harm to individuals, their families and entire communities. The impact is profound and long-lasting. 

The Alternative First Responder campaign calls on us to reimagine how we respond to people in need and to invest in solutions as diverse as our communities. When we rethink the response and centre community and diversity, we ensure that everyone is met with safety and dignity in their time of need. 

READ THE POSITION PAPER

AFR Symposium

Thank you to everyone who attended the Alternative First Responders Symposium. Over 200 people registered to tune in from overseas and across the country. Our deepest thanks to our speakers and artists for their generosity in sharing insights, knowledge, and experience in building a first response beyond police.

It was clear that change across policy is needed, in who we include and how we deliver alternative first responder practices.

You can watch all the recordings from the Alternative First Responders Symposium by visiting:

Learn with us page

 

Opening Speech

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Gina M. Nagano - Keynote Speaker

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Alex Heaton - Keynote Speaker

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Subscribe and pledge your support. We’re building a movement to re-think the first response – one that puts care, community, diversity and human rights at the centre.

By signing up you are adding your name to the pledge for Alternative First Responders. You’ll receive regular updates about the campaign, ways to get involved and how you can help push for alternative first responders.

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The National Justice Project acknowledges that we live and work on unceded sovereign Aboriginal land, with our office on Gadigal Country. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and celebrate First Nations’ continuation of a living spiritual, cultural and social connection with the land, sea and sky.

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The National Justice Project is committed to embracing diversity and eliminating all forms of discrimination in the provision of its services. We welcome all people irrespective of ethnicity, disability, faith, sexual orientation and gender identity.

© Alternative First Responders 2025 brought to you by the National Justice Project