Coronavirus Australia: Mentally ill quarantine guest sought help from Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville

Victorian inquiry hears mentally ill guest sought help from the state’s Police Minister because their situation was so bad.

Minister for Police, Lisa Neville speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Daniel Pockett

A hotel quarantine guest suffering from a mental health condition sought help from Victoria’s Police Minister because their situation was so bad they were considering “purposely overdosing on medication”, an inquiry has heard.

Emails detailing the cry for help were shown to the probe into the the state government fiasco on Friday, and also said the Department of Jobs, Regions and Precincts run complaints hotline was advising guests to take up complaints with their local members.

Merrin Bamert, who shared the role of hotel quarantine commander with Pam Williams, replied “not appropriate at all” to the April 2 email.

When counsel assisting Ben Ihle asked Ms Bamert to clarify what part of the email was inappropriate, she told the inquiry her recollection was vague.

“I think there was a comment about taking increased medication and that it was not the responsibility of [call centre staff] to provide information about that - or that it‘s not appropriate that they tell people to ring their local members,” she said.

Ms Bamert said in the early days of the program there wasn’t an established complaint protocol and guests were instead given a 1800 hotline number, which was managed by DJPR.

But she said unhappy guests were on Facebook encouraging each other to take up their complaints with their local MPs, which she heard was also being suggested by hotline staff.

When Mr Ihle asked if it was possible the guest who contacted Minister Neville felt they had no other option, Ms Bamert said: “I imagine that‘s probably what they felt at the time, there were certainly options for them internally.”

Ms Bamert said guests were given the hotline numbers of support groups BeyondBlue and Lifeline and that she arranged for a welfare visit for the guest who contacted Minister Neville.

Next week, the inquiry will hear from Victoria’s top officials, including Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, former top cop Graham Ashton and Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp.

It comes following reports Professor Sutton was sidelined from leading Victoria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by public health bureaucrats.

Who led the program remains unclear, with former COVID-19 Accommodation Commander Pam Williams telling the inquiry the term in charge was “loaded” on Friday.

“I think the terminology ‘in charge’ is somewhat loaded in the context of the inquiry,” she said.

“I think that the person who was co-ordinating and was our representative on site was the team leader … And we were working as a team.”

Ms Williams said department staff were “under pressure” by guests detained in hotel quarantine to meet their needs such as providing food and fresh air.

“Guests used many opportunities to seek assistance for things that they required and there were many issues that guests had,” she said.

“Initially there was quite a focus on food, so people were often unhappy with the choice and the nature of the food provided … But in Victoria as opposed to other states we do have a Charter of Human Rights and there was a lot of respect for welfare considerations.”

The inquiry continues.

If this story has raised concerns for you or someone you know, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14