Homicides linked to psychosis rise in Victoria, experts warn of mental health system failings
A new study has revealed that one in three homicides in Victoria in 2024 and 2025 were committed by people with psychosis, sparking concerns about the state's mental health system. The research, led by consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Rajan Darjee, found that 43 out of an estimated 126 homicides in the two-year period were committed by individuals with psychotic disorders.
The study, which surveyed nine forensic psychiatrists who write defence reports for courts in Victoria, suggests that many of the deaths could have been prevented had the perpetrators received proper treatment. Dr Darjee's research also showed that half of all stranger homicides and two in three intimate partner and family homicides in the same period were committed by people with psychosis.
Psychosis is a set of psychological symptoms that impair a person's sense of reality, and is a central feature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. While most people with psychotic disorders are never violent, there is a clear association between psychosis and violence. Experts have long stressed the importance of effectively treating psychosis to reduce and prevent violence.
Dr Darjee said that treating people with psychosis early and effectively can prevent poor outcomes, including violence and aggression. "If you treat people with psychosis early and effectively, you prevent poor outcomes later, including chronic mental ill-health, disengagement from family, not being able to work, homelessness … but also violence and aggression," he said.
The study's findings have been met with concern from experts, who warn that the rise in homicides linked to psychosis is a symptom of a deeper crisis in the mental health system. Professor Patrick McGorry, a psychiatrist who chaired the expert advisory committee for the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System, said that the data was the result of a "public policy failure" to build a modern system of care to replace the state's old psychiatric hospitals.
The Royal Commission's recommendations have been criticized for prioritizing "wellbeing" over severe mental illness, with some doctors calling for a "wholesale review" of the recommendations. Dr Darjee believes that the system is at risk of "swinging the pendulum too far the other way" if people with psychosis aren't being put on compulsory treatment orders when they need to be.
