effective and timely outcomes, and this work will continue. Of these complaints and notifications 4% were identified to have OPCAT related issues. Where complaints or referrals are identified as having an OPCAT related issue, the Authority categorises them into those that are the most serious and require independent investigation, and those that are suitable for other action including referral back to Police for investigation under the Authority’s oversight. Particular areas of focus Three particular areas have been the focus of the Authority’s work over the financial year: the way in which mentally impaired persons in Police custody are dealt with: the physical state of Court cells and the number of young people in Police cells. Mental Health and Police Custodial Management A central theme of this report has been the inadequacies in the way in which mental health issues are addressed when people end up in custody. Police detention is no exception in this respect. Those who are detained are more likely to have a mental health issue and being detained can exacerbate these issues. Police are often the first point of call when someone is experiencing mental distress. During the 20162017 financial year (1 July 2016 until 30 June 2017) Police received 48,837 mental health related calls and attended 35,726 of these.30 Call and attendance rates have increased by approximately 9% per annum over the past 10 years and this is forecast to continue.31 In addition, Police respond to many offences (such as family violence) where mental health is a factor. Approximately 46,000 people or 35% of people proceeded against by Police have used mental health or addiction services in the 12 months on either side of their justice interaction.32 Police are not the appropriate agency to deal with those in mental distress. Often these people end up detained in a police cell due to a lack of other suitable facilities and mental health professionals Monitoring Places of Detention not being available. They may then be detained in a police cell awaiting a mental health assessment. As stated by the IPCA in an earlier report: “[t]he police custodial environment to which [mentally impaired persons] are taken is designed and constructed to facilitate the effective management of those who pose a risk to others and is an entirely inappropriate environment in which to hold a person in mental distress. It is high sensory, uninviting and frequently noisy. The problems arising from a lack of training and skills of custody officers in dealing with at-risk detainees are accentuated when people are mentally distressed. As a result, while officers strive to deal with such people patiently and professionally, their mental distress is often exacerbated”.33 The right to health is a fundamental human right. The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) states there is a right to the “enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. People with mental health needs and experiencing mental health should receive the treatment they require in an appropriate facility that will not exacerbate their illness. Places of Police detention are not generally appropriate facilities. The Authority has therefore continued to work with Police to improve the way in which Police and Mental Health Services respond to those experiencing a mental health crisis. In particular, in the exercise of its OPCAT function, the Authority has been engaging with Police, Mental Health Services, and Ambulance to ensure that as far as practicable those who are mentally impaired but have not committed an offence are not detained in Police cells awaiting a mental health assessment unless they present an immediate risk to the safety of others. During 2016 and 2017, the Authority has facilitated a number of workshops between Police and Mental Health Services throughout the country to identify actions that would improve the interagency response to mental health crisis calls. Police themselves have also taken the initiative to work with other agencies to find ways in which those in a mental health crisis can be safely assessed without taking them to the 27