Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-11-11 Daily Xml

Contents

Police Suicide Prevention Training

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:30): I seek leave to give a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, representing the Minister for Police, questions regarding suicide prevention training for the South Australian police force.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: The Hunter Institute of Mental Health is a leading national organisation dedicated to reducing mental illness and suicide and improving wellbeing for all Australians. For more than 20 years, the institute has been delivering evidence-based mental health and suicide prevention programs from its base in Newcastle, New South Wales, which I was able to visit late last year. The institute has a program known as Mindframe which, along with the guidelines for media reporting on suicide, also includes specific training and guidelines for police.

The publication known as 'Mental illness and suicide in the media: a Mindframe resource for police' provides practical advice for police to support their interactions with the media when discussing events in cases which have involved issues of mental illness and suicide. The resource was developed following consultations with police services in each state and territory. The project itself aims to build the capacity of police to promote sensitive and appropriate reporting of situations involving mental illness or suicide. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has SAPOL adopted the Mindframe for police guidelines and training for its officers, particularly those performing front-line duties?

2. What, if any, suicide and self-harm prevention training does SAPOL currently provide to its front-line officers?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:32): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions and will refer them to the Minister for Police in another place and bring back a response.