The Department for Child Protection has a new suicide prevention action plan, demonstrating its commitment to preventing suicide and reducing suicide-related distress among the community.
Under the plan, DCP will develop and implement trauma-informed and culturally-responsive initiatives to support and maintain the social and emotional wellbeing of staff members, carers, children, young people and families.
This work follows Preventive Health SA in 2023 launching the South Australian Suicide Prevention Plan 2023-2026 (PDF, 1.2 MB), to create compassionate, resilient and connected communities supporting wellbeing and preventing suicide.
DCP was among state agencies required to develop its own Suicide Prevention Action Plan.
We recognise that people involved in the child protection system may be at a greater risk of suicide. Aboriginal people and communities are also disproportionately impacted by suicide, suicide-related distress, loss and bereavement, as a direct result of the context of history and colonisation and their ongoing experiences of systemic racism, injustice and intergenerational trauma.
DCP’s staff members and partners undertake critical work to support young people and families every day. The DCP Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2025-2029 builds on existing strategies and puts in place actions delivering evidence-based, trauma-informed and culturally-responsive suicide prevention initiatives. These will promote the social and emotional wellbeing of staff, carers, children, young people and families to reduce and respond to suicide-related distress.
DCP will implement actions to:
- Improve preventive health for children and young people;
- Strengthen partnerships with agencies in a whole-of-community effort to identify, respond to, and support the mental health and wellbeing needs of children and young people in care and those who care for them;
- Increase informal and community-based support for family-based carers of children and young people who experience suicide-related distress;
- Include the voices of people with lived and living experience of suicide to inform implementation approaches and contribute to the development of future action plans;
- Partner with Aboriginal health and wellbeing service providers to increase access to culturally-responsive wellbeing supports for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and their families, with a particular focus on regional areas;
- Develop internal recording mechanisms to assist with timely identification and responses to situational crises and
- Upskill DCP staff to reduce the stigma, challenge attitudes and build a resilient and compassionate workforce.
If you are concerned about how you are feeling and need someone to talk to, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au.
Alternatively, you can connect with 13YARN on 13 92 76 and yarn with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander crisis supporter.
Services for Lifeline and 13YARN are 24/7, free and confidential.