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Suicides in the Kimberley and services to support the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous communities

Fact sheet on the government response to suicides in the Kimberley, including an outline of mental health and social and emotional wellbeing programs for Indigenous communities throughout Australia.

Fact sheet: Suicides in the Kimberley and services to support the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous communities (PDF 44 KB)

There have been a number of reported suicides in the Kimberley Region which is of great concern to the Australian Government.

The Commonwealth continues to work with the West Australian Government to respond at a local level and is also developing a national approach to suicide prevention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. At the same time the government is enhancing services to improve the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

What is the government doing to respond to the suicides in the Kimberley?
What is the government doing more broadly?
Specific mental health and social and emotional wellbeing programs

What is the government doing to respond to the suicides in the Kimberley?

In the Kimberley, extra support is being provided to individuals, families and communities through:

• the StandBy Suicide Response Team, a community-based program that provides a 24-hour coordinated response to assist families, friends and communities who have been bereaved through suicide. The StandBy team, Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council and Ord Valley Aboriginal Health Service have staff providing support to affected communities in the West Kimberley and
  
  
• the Kimberley Suicide Prevention Initiative which will provide culturally sensitive services through the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. ATAPS provides individuals with evidence based mental health therapies by a range of trained health professionals.
  • The Kimberley Suicide Prevention Initiative was announced in April 2011 and provides an additional $490,000 to the local ATAPS service so that it can better help individuals in the Kimberley region who have attempted or are at risk of suicide.
  • Funding of $280,000 is also being provided to deliver Indigenous specific, culturally appropriate suicide prevention training for mental health professionals in the Kimberley. This approach will be rolled out nationally to improve the culturally appropriateness of ATAPS services across Australia.

What is the government doing more broadly?

The government funds national and local, grass roots suicide prevention activities through the National Suicide Prevention Program (NSPP) and is also providing an extra $6 million for community activities targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the Taking Action to Tackle Suicide package.

The NSPP has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as a priority target group and in the last two years $11.6 million (or 25% of total NSPP funding) has been provided to 13 community-based suicide prevention projects specific to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their communities.

Additionally, the government will develop the first national Indigenous specific suicide prevention strategy. This body of work will be taken forward in close consultation with key stakeholders and communities. Top of page

Specific mental health and social and emotional wellbeing programs

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, health is viewed in a holistic context that encompasses mental health and physical, cultural and spiritual health. Land, family and spirituality is central to wellbeing. Social and emotional wellbeing recognises the importance of connection to land, culture, spirituality, ancestry, family and community, and how these affect the individual. Adverse life events can result in unbalancing an individual’s wellbeing and can result in psychological distress.

Some examples of what the government is committed to doing are:

• As part of the 2011-12 budget mental health reform package, ATAPS funding will double with an additional $205.9 million over five years.
  • ATAPS will now be able to provide services to an extra 184,500 people in particularly hard to reach and vulnerable groups. This includes $36.5 million over five years to expand Indigenous mental health and suicide prevention services. This funding will mean an additional 18,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will receive care and support under ATAPS.
    
    
• Through the new e-mental health Central Support Service, e-based specialised mental health training and ongoing support will be made available for Aboriginal Health Workers and other health professionals in remote areas providing services to Indigenous people. It will be modelled on the successful GP-psychiatrist help line for remote GPs providing mental health services.
  In April the government announced that funding of $6 million will be allocated to support new projects, from the Taking Action to Tackle Suicide package, to target those Indigenous people who are at high risk of suicide.
  • An immediate investment of up to $150,000 for enhanced services through the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program targeting people in the Kimberley Region who have attempted or are at risk of suicide, and to develop culturally appropriate training for professionals including Aboriginal Health Workers.
    
    
• The doubling of the number of Family Mental Health Support Services will ensure a specific focus can be placed on vulnerable groups like Indigenous children.
  • This will help over 30,000 vulnerable and at risk children, young people (up to 16 years) and their families.
  • This expanded service will also enable wrap around service to be provided in a 'whole of family' approach, ensuring the needs of children, young people, their families and carers are taken into account. Top of page

Just some examples of what the government is already doing are:

• Funding of $182 million over the next four years will provide counselling, family tracing and reunion services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, including the Stolen Generations.
  • The funding will also go to social and emotional wellbeing services, particularly counselling services, and to mental health and counselling staff in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations across Australia. In addition the funding will provide workforce support, a training pathway program and a range of national projects.
    
  • Over $5.6 million was provided to these social and emotional wellbeing services in the Kimberley region in 2010-11.
  
  
• The government has provided $542,340 to December 2011 for the development of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander KidsMatter Early Childhood initiative aimed at:
  • building the capacity of Indigenous community controlled early childhood services to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous children
    
  • ensuring culturally appropriate resources and initiatives are developed for Indigenous children participating in the KidsMatter Early Childhood pilot
  
  
• Vibe Australia was funded to hold a 3-on-3 basketball competition in Broome. The event brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth for basketball, dancing, and music and encourages sportsmanship, teaches new skills and builds self-esteem, alongside the delivery of key health messages and contacts.
  
  
• The Australian Government funds beyondblue: the national depression initiative who invest significantly in Indigenous mental health research, early intervention, promotion and suicide prevention programs including:
  • BEAT: Best Practice in Early Intervention Assessment and Treatment of Depression and Substance Misuse Program
    
  • Rites of Passage – the pilot study of an early intervention program for Indigenous young people
    
  • Indigenous Men's Sheds and
    
  • The Indigenous Hip Hop Project.
  To improve the capacity of workers in Indigenous communities the government is investing $13.8 million from 2010-11 to 2013-14 for scholarships, remote mental health workers, mental health training and development of an information and resources toolkit for health practitioners working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
  
  
• Through the COAG Mental Health in Tertiary Curricula initiative the Government is investing $5.6 million (over five years) to increase the mental health content in tertiary curricula through the development of mental health training modules for registered nurses (including the culturally appropriate management of Indigenous patients), and will provide students with clinical training in multi-disciplinary teams that include allied health, medical and nursing students.
  
  
• The Mental Health Community Based Services aims to support families, carers, children and young people (aged between 16 and 24 years) affected by mental illness through a diverse range of community programs.
  
  • The program seeks to build on family strengths and improve resilience and family functioning, particularly for Indigenous families and has received funding of $45.2 million over five years from 2007.