Tasmania’s retired police say the police minister has broken a promise to help former officers deal with the mental toll of their careers.
The Retired Police Association of Tasmania (RPAT) wants the state government to fund 12 psychology sessions each for six retired officers as part of a 12-month trial.
The pilot was meant to begin this year but never started.
The association also says it has been unable to secure a meeting with Minister Felix Ellis, despite him promising one within a month in June.
RPAT president David Plumpton said the minister was happy to appear alongside police at media events but had failed to follow through.
“Don’t wrap yourself in the blue and then turn around and do nothing for us,” he said.
Plumpton said the group’s request was straightforward.
“Our whole mantra is very simple. That is, if they break you, they fix you,” he said.
“If a police officer in their service finishes with Tasmania Police and suffers mental health issues associated with their service, we have a belief that they should be provided with some type of assistance to get them through that.”
RPAT wellbeing officer John Mikulski said many retired officers were struggling and some urgently needed help.
“We have people who are almost falling off the edge, who need to see someone fairly quickly. We cannot get them before someone or a psychologist,” he said.
He said specialist psychologists were needed because former officers often carried unique trauma from decades on the job.
The issue was first raised in parliament in March 2025, when the lower house passed a motion calling on the government to establish and fund ongoing mental health support.
In November, Ellis told a parliamentary committee that a 12-month pilot had been developed. It never began.
Independent MP Kristie Johnston called the minister “heartless” and urged him to meet with the association immediately.
“Minister Ellis likes to pose for photos with serving police officers but forgets all about them the moment they retire,” she said.
“RPAT have been more than patient. They’ve written multiple times to the minister about following through on the call of the parliament. He ignores their letters.”
Health Minister Bridget Archer on Tuesday said the Department of Health was developing a mental health support pilot for first responders.
She said the proposal had been “broadened” and moved from the emergency services portfolio to mental health and wellbeing.
“I really appreciate the advocacy from the retired police association in relation to this issue,” she said.
“We will now be progressing, in coming weeks, invitations for co-design of this pilot program, which will be expanded to include all first responders and retired first responders as well.”
