Forensic psychiatrists in Victoria are sounding a loud alarm over a dramatic rise in homicides committed by individuals suffering from psychotic disorders. Recent data compiled by Dr. Rajan Darjee reveals that approximately one in three homicides across 2024 and 2025 were linked to psychosis, representing a staggering fourfold increase compared to figures from a decade ago. Even more concerning is the fact that these crimes are not isolated incidents involving untreated strangers; instead, half of all stranger killings and two thirds of family related homicides involved perpetrators experiencing psychosis.
The most haunting aspect of this trend is that these tragedies appear largely preventable. According to the findings, nearly eighty four percent of the offenders had previously engaged with mental health services, and half were actively connected to a provider at the time of the crime. Experts argue that this indicates a systemic collapse rather than a lack of available resources, suggesting that patients are receiving fragmented episodes of care rather than the sustained, high quality treatment necessary to manage severe instability.
Professor Patrick McGorry, who advised the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, describes the situation as a profound public policy failure. He argues that while the royal commission provided a blueprint for reform several years ago, the government has failed to implement those recommendations with any real urgency or investment. This gap in care has left vulnerable people without a safety net since the closure of old psychiatric hospitals decades ago, turning manageable health issues into lethal crises.
While emphasizing that most people with psychotic disorders are never violent, specialists warn that failing to treat acute illness creates dangerous risks for both the patient and the community. Psychiatrists expressed particular frustration over shorter hospital stays and a push away from compulsory treatment orders, which they believe have stripped away life saving interventions. For many practitioners, these murders are merely the most visible sign of a deeper catastrophe where thousands more are living far worse lives than necessary due to institutional neglect.
