Answers to Questions

SUICIDE PREVENTION

In reply to the Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (22 March 2011) (First Session).

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women): The Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse has provided an answer to questions I, IV and V. The Minister for Education and Child Development has provided an answer to questions II and III. They have been advised:

1. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has calculated the suicide rate for South Australia as 12.8 per 100,000 from 1995 to 2005 and as 12.1 per 100,000 from 1999 to 2008. The suicide rate for each individual year is not available.

2. The Suicide Postvention Guidelines were developed by the government and non-government school sectors in collaboration with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and SA Police. They were developed in response to a tragic cluster of seven youth suicides that occurred in the Eastern suburbs of Adelaide in 2006-07. The SA Youth Welfare Advisory Committee with representation from each of the above groups was formed in 2007 to support the guidelines' development and has continued to meet since that time.

The Suicide Postvention Guidelines were initially distributed to all schools in 2008. A second edition with updated information was distributed in 2010. A key feature of the guidelines is a process of relevant information sharing across the three school sectors to better protect vulnerable young people and their families.

The SA Youth Welfare Advisory Committee has monitored the responses made by since 2007. Feedback from principals of affected school communities is that the guidelines have provided positive assistance in ensuring that essential postvention actions are undertaken quickly and with sensitivity and that this has helped protect the wellbeing of the school community. In particular the guidelines ensure that intensified consideration is given to students already identified as being vulnerable.

The school sectors have not experienced a cluster of youth suicides since 2006-07. The contribution of the application of the Suicide Postvention Guidelines to this circumstance cannot, however, be asserted with any certainty.

3. The Department of Education and Children's Services (DECS) has not funded any other agency or organisation to provide training on the Suicide Postvention Guidelines but has, through its own officers, provided postvention training to key personnel in leadership and support roles in schools. Catholic Education provided one on one briefings to their principals on the Guidelines and updated that briefing when the 2010 Guidelines were released. The Association of Independent Schools South Australia (AISSA) has also conducted briefings of principals and other school leaders and uses the resource as the basis for providing advice to individual schools.

Prior to their first release in 2008 the three school sectors held a joint briefing on suicide postvention with senior directors from DECS, Catholic Education and the Association of Independent Schools of SA. Representatives from SA Police and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services also attended this briefing.

4. It would be very difficult for the Department of Health alone to collect accurate data about the suicide rate in South Australia, as often those who suicide have no contact with the public health system. There are also difficulties in determining what deaths are suicides, as often it may only be determined by the Coroner, often some time after the person's death. The difficulties in measuring suicide rates were the subject of much consideration as part of a 2010 Senate inquiry report, titled 'The Hidden Toll: Suicide in Australia'.

5. The Department of Health has requested reports from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the National Coroners Information System about metropolitan and regional suicide data, which it will use to develop the South Australian Suicide Prevention Strategy.

6. Suicide is a serious issue and there are various ongoing suicide prevention initiatives occurring in regional South Australia, several of which are run by non Government organisations funded by the State Government. Community capacity building is central to improving mental health and wellbeing, particularly in rural and remote areas. This involves encouraging the community to talk about suicide and recognise and assist community members who may be at risk. In addition, Relationships SA is funded to provide mental health first-aid training in regional areas. A series of forums in country areas are being held throughout July 2011 to enable rural communities to have input into the development of the South Australian Suicide Prevention Strategy.