Ex-Tumut-cop Paul Batista shares from the heart as Heart2Heart walk passes through Riverina

The Heart2Heart Walk, which began in the Northern Territory on July 1, has passed through Wagga on its final leg to Parliament House in Canberra.

The walk aims to raise awareness of first responder mental health and wellbeing, including suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder and premature death.

Medically-retired Tumut policeman of 33 years Paul Batista has been on the journey since day one and he reflected on his experience leaving the workforce as he made his way through the Riverina.

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"After 33 years, you attend many jobs and you see, smell and touch a lot of things," Mr Batista said.

"But you never really want to talk about a lot of the things you do to anyone again, certainly not your family."

Mr Batista said during his decades with the force, these jobs have taken their toll.

"I haven't slept well for nearly 10 years now and I still [have] a lot of nightmares," he said.

"My sleeping pattern's completely gone."

He also sustained physical injuries as a result of the job.

"I've sustained a lot of physical injuries... from restraining offenders, people who didn't want to comply [with the police]," he said.

Mr Batista said when a policeman is injured, one of the first things police do is engage legal assistance.

When he left the force himself a few years ago, he experienced this first-hand and said something has to change.

"Why is that required when you've been injured at work for obvious reasons - because it's all recorded?"

He said at a time when emergency service workers are at their "worst moment of their life" the current system of dealing with that only "makes it even worse... if that's even possible."

The walk is set to arrive in Canberra on Thursday, where organisers will present the recommendations of the 2019 Senate Inquiry: 'The people behind 000: mental health of our first responders', which Mr Batista said are yet to be implemented.

"We're presenting Parliament with a copy of The 2019 senate inquiry that they've with the 14 recommendations that they haven't been acted upon," Mr Batista said.

"So we're just presenting their own document back to them in the hope that they might act on some or all of the recommendations.

"We don't need another enquiry or another report, It's all in there."

Mr Batista hopes the government will now act to bolster its support for those on the front lines, providing more welfare services, better assistance and more research in the space.

Heart2Heart organiser and former paramedic Billy Brooks had a similar experience when he left his career in the ACT this year.

After working in the ambulance service for 20 years, Mr Brooks was "deemed to be medically unfit for road duties".

"I had three surgeries which then led to psychological [issues]," he said.

He recalled dealing with insurance and said the current system just makes matters worse.

Mr Brooks said at present injured workers put in an insurance claim and "more often than not that claim will be refused."

He said the current system re-traumatises first responders.

"You might have spent three months getting treatment and then you go and take an independent medical where all they want to do is know the story of what caused you to be when you where you are," he said.

"It's pulling off a scab and ripping open old wounds."

Over the past four years, Mr Brooks has been working on "presumptive legislation" which he hopes will help change all that.

He said this legislation presumes injuries sustained by emergency workers were "caused by the job" and enables them to seek the help they need.

He compared it to the military's DVA card.

"Although it's not perfect, at least they have something," he said.

Mr Brooks has also been involved with emergency service support charity Emerge & See which launched a new support hub at the Pro Patria Centre in Wagga last week.

"I received help from Emerge & See... and have been involved with them serving as an ambassador in the ACT region ever since," he said.

In an effort to sharing the stories of emergency service workers to a broader audience, a Heart2Heart podcast series is also currently in production.

For more details on the podcast and the walk go to heart2heartwalk.org.

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