Report on clinical decisions before Alex Ophel allegedly stabbed at ANU

The first of the two reports led by ACT Chief Psychiatrist Dr Dinesh Arya will be a clinical review, focusing specifically on the September 18 incident. It is due by the end of this year.

Alex Ophel was let out of the Gawanggal Mental Health Unit in Bruce, where he was involuntarily detained, to go for a bushwalk by himself on the day in which he allegedly attacked two students with a frying pan and stabbed two female students.

Gawanggal is described as a "community transition mental health unit" helping former patients from the Dhulwa high security mental health environment transition back into the community.

However, despite details of the September incident, the alleged offender identified, and the victims being known publicly, the ACT government says it will not release it in full "due to the strict privacy of protected information provisions under the Health Act 1993".

It will also mean the identities of the people within the health system who made the decisions will be protected.

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"Advice will be sought from the Chief Psychiatrist to consider what information can be released publicly without compromising the privacy and confidentiality of people involved," Justice Health Minister Emma Davidson said in a statement.

The three people who have been nominated to conduct the clinical review are all from outside the ACT. They are a forensic psychiatrist from Victoria, a forensic mental health nurse from Queensland, and a consumer advocate from Victoria.

Canberra's Chief Police Officer previously had waded into the privacy debate after the incident, warning last month there was "probably" too much focus on the privacy of mental health patients at the expense of community safety.

"At the moment we probably place too much focus on the privacy of the individual patient ... Does the individual privacy outweigh the safety of the whole community? I would argue that it probably doesn't," he said.

Ms Davidson has also ordered a second "expanded" review.

This will "focus on best practice for mental health services to manage individuals found not guilty due to a mental impairment by the courts and transferred from custody into the care of mental health services", according to the government statement.

This panel is still being assembled but will include experts in forensic practice and mental health law, and will take input "from a variety of relevant stakeholders to understand their perspectives, which may include police, ambulance and carers".

The Chief Psychiatrist has indicated that his report following the expanded review should be completed by January 2024.

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