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Abstract:
Whatever the underlying reasons, we have to be prepared for more episodes of this nature, and as medical practitioners do what we can to prevent them. With the wisdom of hindsight it is possible to suggest that the Knight and Vitkovic killings could have been avoided. Knight had a history of violence causing him to leave Duntroon Military College. Despite this, he was not prevented from holding a shooter's licence in his own State, and in particular nothing was done to stop him having a collection of weapons. Vitkovic sought help from a university psychology clinic and from the Church of Scientology. Coroner Hal Hallenstein criticised the Church of Scientology for failing to help Vitkovic after he failed their personality test on 8 October 1987, and also suggested that a general obligation be placed on psychologists to refer to a psychiatrist if they think that is required. Practitioners' concern for their own safety must be considered. It would have been an extraordinarily difficult and possibly risky task to try to deter Julian Knight from persisting in his adoration of aggression and love of weapons, or to talk Frank Vitkovic out of watching violent films and videos and later purchasing a semi-automatic weapon. Nevertheless, the practitioner's responsibility remains, and as a last resort notification to police of the risk posed by the person might have to be considered. Unfortunately the anonymity of a practitioner making such a notification might not be able to be guaranteed, given current freedom of information legislation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)