Q&A: National Suicide Prevention Strategy next steps

We’ve had a great response, both from the sectors and from a lot of areas across governments. When the draft went out for public consultation, we had really strong engagement – we received over 300 submissions, with 119 from individuals and 112 from organisations. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with two main themes of feedback: (1) release this as a National Suicide Prevention Strategy (rather than “advice on a Strategy”), and (2) release it as soon as possible. So, we were pretty sure its final release would be welcomed, which it has been.

It's been such a collaborative effort to develop the Strategy, with lots of input from people from across Australia and from a range of perspectives. I think that’s definitely helped to ensure the final product is really evidence-based and thoroughly considered. So, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to respond to consultations. We have greatly valued your feedback and have worked hard to reflect it in the final Strategy.

There’s heaps on for us at the moment. We’re keen to harness the momentum from the release of the Strategy by expanding our networks to increase its reach. We’ve released five translations of the shorter summary version of the Strategy to help more communities engage in suicide prevention. The Summary is now available on our website in Arabic, Farsi, Samoan and Simplified and Traditional Chinese. And there will be more work we’ll be doing to keep engaging people in understanding what the Strategy might mean for them.

We’re already well underway on our next big project, the National Suicide Prevention Outcomes Framework, which will help us measure progress against the direction outlined within the Strategy in alignment with the outcomes that matter to people. We presented this work at the Roses in the Ocean Lived Experience Summit in March, where attendees provided us with really helpful feedback on outcomes they believe are the most critical to measure. We’re really looking forward to sharing more about the Outcomes Framework because we expect it to be an impactful piece of work.

Over the last ten years, our understanding of suicide and its impacts has greatly increased.

People with a lived and living experience of suicide, research and the recommendations from multiple inquiries have all emphasised the importance of starting suicide prevention before people reach the point of crisis – that is, making it genuinely preventative. The Strategy goes even further – it has just as much focus on prevention as it does on ensuring supports are high quality and effective. And it articulates what genuine prevention would require. It also calls out factors that contribute to suicidal distress - such as financial stress, housing instability, domestic and family violence, childhood adversity, discrimination, and alcohol and drug harm.

This Strategy says that a comprehensive approach to preventing suicide needs to include high quality, effective supports AND efforts to address the circumstances that can lead to suicidal distress in the first place.

The Outcomes Framework will be critical in providing a collective approach to measuring suicide prevention outcomes that matter to people.

As readers here would be aware, the current measurement of progress in suicide prevention is focused on tracking trends in population-wide suicide rates and monitoring the implementation of suicide prevention activities. This leaves a significant gap in our understanding of the impact and effectiveness of the suicide prevention system.

The Outcomes Framework aims to measure success over time. It will introduce measurable outcomes that are person-focused with the aim of providing greater insight into the pathways to suicide and the impact of prevention efforts.

We are developing the Outcomes Framework using a mixed methods approach to data collection. This means we will use quantitative and qualitative data, which will help provide a fuller picture of what is working and what needs to improve. We will work with people with lived and living experience and the sectors to understand the data we have and the data we need to effectively measure against suicide prevention outcomes. The NSPO is working with teams at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Social Policy Research Centre to develop this mixed methods approach. We’re really excited about it.

There’s so much we’ve learned throughout the development of the Strategy, but if I was to list my top three, they would be:

1. There is a great sense of unity and consistency in the approach to reform within the suicide prevention sector. This clarity has been super helpful to us in the advice we provide and offers much hope for the change the Strategy is calling for.
2. There is so much to learn from our First Nations leaders and communities. We have been incredibly humbled by the generosity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members who have so willingly provided their wisdom and knowledge of whole-of-community approaches to strengthen this Strategy.
3. The suicide prevention sector is determined to have a lasting and meaningful impact. There’s recognition that this will require us to work together and sometimes do things differently to how we’ve been doing them. While developing the Strategy, we found that people were up for these challenging conversations, which will be really important to reducing the prevalence and impact of suicide.

The NSPO has worked very closely with the team at Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia (who authored the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy) to ensure the two strategies can sit side by side as mutually reinforcing scaffolding.

We recognise that the vision outlined in the Strategy cannot be achieved without significant and sustained reductions in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives lost to suicide, and that these reductions can only be achieved through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leadership.

We also recognise that accountability for improved social and emotional wellbeing outcomes cannot rest solely with agencies and services run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. To this end, the Strategy seeks to emphasise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts of social and emotional wellbeing as a key source of leadership and guidance for holistic approaches to suicide prevention across the Australian population.

These are very special sectors. I’d like to give a huge thank you to everyone for all the work you do and the work you continue to do to keep people safe. The team and I have appreciated many opportunities to engage with you throughout the development of the Strategy. We are constantly inspired by the dedication and commitment you bring to your work each day, and we thank you for welcoming the establishment of the NSPO and for supporting us to progress this reform work.

I’d also like to let you know that the NSPO will be leading consultations throughout the development of the Outcomes Framework. If you’d like to be informed directly of opportunities to help shape our work, please register your interest by signing up to our e-Newsletter.