SPA Position Statements
SPA POSITION STATEMENTS
Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) publishes position statements! The SPA position statements are devised as foundation documents to provide a basis for understanding, discussion, teaching, delivery and research. They are written as a broad overarching statement (foundation statement) on priority issues and areas of suicide prevention, intervention and postvention, and are intended to be intelligible to a wide section of the educated lay public (ie. broader community, media, and other NGOs). They are not intended to be specific to or limited to policy-makers alone.
Position statements also support SPA’s ongoing advocacy work and activities, and provide the organisation with an opportunity to clearly articulate a position by which to respond to media and general public inquiries on priority issues. In effect, the position statements give us a chance to demonstrate leadership along with SPA’s command and oversight of priority areas. They are intended to be a starting point for policy and strategy development.
To date, SPA has produced position statements on the following critical issues of importance:
- Suicide Prevention and Capacity Building in Australian Indigenous Communities
- Men and Suicide - Future Directions
- Responding to suicide in rural Australia
- Suicide Bereavement and Postvention
- Suicide and self-harm among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities
- Supporting Suicide Attempt Survivors
- Mental Illness and Suicide
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Stigma and Suicide
SPA has begun developing a position statement on Stigma and Suicide.
We are delighted to have input from an expert reference group, Chaired by Barbara Hocking, Executive Director, SANE Australia and Dr Michael Dudley, Chair SPA, both members of Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council. Community consultation shall take place during June. Please contact SPA for more information and watch this space.
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Crisis Response and the Role of Emergency Services and First Responders
Suicide Prevention Australia is pleased to present the 'Crisis Response and the Role of Emergency Services and First Responders to Suicide and Suicide Attempts' position statement.
The position statement was launched on 1st June in Canberra by the Attorney-General and ACT Minister for Police Simon Corbell to a receptive gathering of emergency personnel (both field and executive), union representatives, media, Lifeline and a cross section of local carers and support services from the ACT. Also present at the launch was Senator Judith Adams of Western Australia who addressed the gathering and told of her personal experience having worked previously as a nurse.
SPA is pleased to have Ms Dawn O’Neil, Chief Executive Officer, Lifeline Australia and Member of the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council (ASPAC) and Dr Michael Dudley, Chairperson, Suicide Prevention Australia and Member of ASPAC, co-chair the Reference Group for this position statement.
Please click the link below to view the position statement:
Crisis Response and the Role of the Emergency Services and First Responders
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Mental Illness and Suicide
Suicide Prevention Australia was pleased to have Professor Rob Donovan, Professor of Behavioural Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University and Principal of Mentally Healthy WA’s Act-Belong-Commit Mental Health Promotion Campaign, launch our Position Statement on Mental Illness and Suicide at the LIFE Awards on 11th September, 2009.
Please download the position statement from the link below.
Mental Illness and Suicide
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Supporting Suicide Attempt Survivors
A new Position Statement on Supporting Suicide Attempt Survivors was launched at the SPA Community Forum in Perth on World Suicide Prevention Day, 10th September, 2009. SPA was pleased to have Ms Allison Kokany, Chairperson, NSW Consumer Advisory Group, Mental Health Inc, and Dr Michael Dudley, Chairperson, Suicide Prevention Australia and Member of the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council launch the statement.
Please download the position statement from the link below.
Supporting Suicide Attempt Survivors
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Suicide and self-harm among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities
Suicide Prevention Australia was pleased to have The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG (Retired Justice of the High Court of Australia) launch our Position Statement on Suicide and self-harm among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities on 31 August, 2009. Speakers at the launch included Associate Professor Anne Mitchell, Director of Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria and Manager of the Community Liaison and Education Unit at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, and Dr. Michael Dudley, SPA Chairperson and member of the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council (to the Federal Minister for Health & Ageing, The Hon. Nicola Roxon, MP). SPA is grateful to the Inspire Foundation for hosting the launch.
To view a brief video of Hon. Michael Kirby speaking at the launch click here (YouTube).
Please download the position statement from the link below.
Suicide and self-harm among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities
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Suicide Bereavement and Postvention
The profound effects of suicide can often be likened to a stone thrown into a lake in that the ripples that radiate have a multiplier effect; impacting the lives of any number of individuals—from family to friends, colleagues, clinicians, coronial staff, volunteers of bereavement support services and other associates—who inevitably suffer intense and conflicted emotional distress in response to a death of this kind. In spite of this, the mechanisms of bereavement following suicide remain largely unexplored and empirically understudied. What is known is that, while a death in a close relationship can be one of life’s greatest stresses, the grief following suicide undeniably has its own particular difficulties. Indeed, the bereavement specific to suicide can be said to be unique from other forms of bereavement; largely as a consequence of the individual and social stigma frequently associated with suicide, which has been found to be a major inhibiting factor in the reluctance exhibited towards help-seeking among individuals bereaved by suicide.
This is a major public health concern for Australia, given that suicide bereaved individuals are at increased risk of developing adverse physical and mental health problems, including complications to pre-existing health conditions. They also themselves often experience a heightened risk of suicidal ideation, behaviours and attempts; particularly where appropriate, on-demand systems of support are either limited or lacking, and/or individuals experience other compounding adverse life events. SPA recognises that there is an urgent need for better continuity of care of suicide bereaved individuals; extending beyond immediate follow-up after a suicide to longer-term care—even, in some cases, lifetime support. As this position statement suggests, this requires improved transparency and coordination between outreach and support services and health care agencies, as well as a renewed commitment to recurrent and long-term funding of Australia’s National Suicide Bereavement Strategy.
Please download the position statement from the link below.
Suicide Bereavement and Postvention
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Responding to Suicide in Rural Australia
While research reflects substantial differences between rates of suicide in rural and urban areas, a relative deficit of literature exists in relation to the underpinning social determinants that contribute to elevated suicide risk in rural Australia. One frequently cited contributor is depression. More recently, however, longstanding challenges faced by rural communities have been compounded by the effects of climate change (the full ramifications of which are yet to be determined). This has led to international trade pressures and socio-economic decline; typically resulting in significant social and human costs, such as depopulation, financial indebtedness, the guilt and shame often experienced as a consequence of financial vulnerability, and an increased reliance on alcohol and other substances as a method of escaping difficult life experiences. These factors have been shown to be major precipitators to increased suicide risk among both younger and older, as well as Indigenous and migrant rural Australians.
SPA recognises that strategies aimed at reducing the rate of suicide and self-harm in rural and remote areas must address these factors as well as others, such as the impact of stigma as a significant inhibiting factor towards help-seeking in rural communities. While this position statement does not purport to resolve all of these complexities, it does aim to draw greater attention to these and other issues, such as the far-reaching impacts of vicarious drought-related trauma and the growing need for improved rural mental health and suicide prevention literacy, training, support, services and resources, in an attempt to provide a firm basis of understanding from which further debate, discussion, and strategic response may ensue. Fundamental to this progress is an improved appreciation of rural Australia as an important contributor to the nation’s social and economic fabric.
Please download the position statement from the link below.
Responding to Suicide in Rural Australia
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Suicide Prevention and Capacity Building in Australian Indigenous Communities
While the prevalence of suicide in Indigenous communities has been shown to be significantly higher than that of non-Indigenous populations, Indigenous understandings and definitions of suicide and self-harming behaviours remain under-researched, undervalued and under-utilised. What is known is that the risk of suicide and self-harm among Indigenous communities is complicated and compounded by complex (trans)generational transmissions of violence, trauma, grief, (de)colonisation, racism and loss. The effects of these are known to greatly contribute to sociocultural and economic problems and conditions, which in turn place Indigenous individuals at greater risk of suicide and self-harm.
SPA recognises that strategies aimed at reducing the rate of suicide among Indigenous communities must be culturally based to recognise and support the differences between Indigenous groups. They must also embrace genuine consultation with the groups for which they are intended, rather than indiscriminately adapting non-Indigenous models of suicide prevention. The role and potential of community-based, family-centred care giving and ‘self-determination’ as a protective factor must not be underestimated in this.
Please download the position statement from the link below.
Suicide Prevention and Capacity Building in Australian Indigenous Communities
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Men and Suicide – Future Directions
Suicide among men of all diversities remains one of the more complex and challenging, yet preventable, health issues facing Australian communities today. Indeed, men account for more than 80 per cent of recorded suicide deaths each year. The catalysts and contributors to male suicidality span a complex range of intrapsychic, emotional, interpersonal and social factors that often isolate men and erode their hope. This risk is something to which every man is potentially vulnerable.
SPA believes initiatives, such as the development of a national Health and Well Being Strategy for Men, which encourage help-seeking among men, remove the barriers to continuity of care and replace the negative aspects of gender stereotyping with empowering and positive ways in which men can see themselves as contributors to society, have the potential to greatly reduce the rates of male suicide and self-harm in Australia.
Please download the position statement from the link below.
Men and Suicide – Future Directions
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