Ahead of the South Australia state elections, we’ve created an election explainer to clearly outline where each political party stands on issues related to alternative first responders and community safety. …
February 19, 2026
Open Letter: Investment in Alternative First Responders
February 19, 2026
South Australia’s political leaders are being urged to rethink how community safety is funded, with a growing demand for care-led alternatives to policing that prevent harm. Alternative First Responders are not new, they are …
AFR Team – Formal Statement
February 9, 2026
Inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system
February 9, 2026
Alternative First Responders Submission Summary In December 2025, the Alternative First Responder Team put forward a submission to the inquiry, with a focus on Terms of Reference 2B: evidence of …
AFR Team – Formal Statement, Submission
January 29, 2026
Alternative First Responders in Australia: Impact, Advocacy and Lessons from 2025
January 29, 2026
As we arrive in 2026, we wanted to reflect on how far this work has come, the lessons learned along the way, and the collective effort that brought us here. Alternative First Responder …
AFR Team – Blog
January 13, 2026
Beyond police in mental health crisis: centring First Nations leadership and community-driven care
January 13, 2026
When someone is experiencing psychological distress, the response they receive can mean the difference between safety and traumatisation. For too long, Australia has defaulted to the police as first responders …
Danelle Lever, Knowmore Legal Services – Blog, Opinion Piece
November 10, 2025
Building an Ecosystem of Care
November 10, 2025
When looking at the numerous contexts and communities that stand to benefit from the establishment of alternative first responders, the area of mental health is hard to ignore. It is …
AFR Team – Blog
September 8, 2025
Housing not hyper-policing
September 8, 2025
Across the world, cities that have reduced punitive enforcement and increased funding into social services, housing and community, have seen decreased numbers of people experiencing homelessness. Makes sense, doesn’t it? …
August 4, 2025
Grounded insight from the frontline: Keeping people safe and supported with the right response
August 4, 2025
When we began exploring the scope and impact of current criminal justice responses, people experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence – and the organisations that support them – were pivotal …
AFR Team, CAAFLU, CTBMCLC – Blog
July 7, 2025
The school-to-prison-pipeline
July 7, 2025
When we place police in schools, what message are we teaching? Everyone has the right to a culturally safe and responsive education. The school system in Australia is boasted as …
AFR Team & NIYEC – Blog
June 26, 2025
Alternatives not quasi-policing
June 26, 2025
The Alternative First Responders campaign is deeply concerned about the Northern Territory Government’s plan to implement law reform that would create a new police stream specifically targeting public places and …
AFR Team – Formal Statement
RELATED MEDIA
- Carly couldn’t get the healthcare she needed. She almost didn’t make it home, 1 July, Sydney Morning Herald
- Open Letter Signed: having a mental health crisis is not a crime, 24 June, Being – NSW peak body for mental health consumers
- AFR Campaign Lead delivers speech outside NSW Parliament, 24 June, Being – NSW peak body for mental health consumers
- AFR Advocate interview, 3CR Radio, 30 June, 3CR Radio
- Inside Australia’s Mental Health System, 23 June, Farrago Magazine
- Alternatives to Police as First Responders, 18 June, About Time Magazine
- 3CR Radio Interview with AFR Campaign Lead, 2 June, 3CR Radio
- Why Australia Needs Alternative First Responders, 1 June, ABC Radio
- Why public confidence in the police and justice system is plunging, 25 May, Sydney Morning Herald
- No funding spent under $842 million NT remote Aboriginal services agreement, documents reveal, 25 May, National Indigenous Times
- Kimberley Aboriginal community sets new blueprint for health and wellbeing, 16 March, National Indigenous Times
- AFR Campaign Lead Interview with 4ZZZ Radio, 7 March, 4ZZZ Radio
- Centring community and care: why Australia needs an alternative to police-first responses 11 October, Cheek Media
