Through partnerships with local governments in the Perth Metro region, the Perth Metro Suicide Prevention Coordinators (SPC) have been able to address suicide prevention through a place-based collaborative approach to improve mental health awareness across the community and assisting local government departments to be become more aware of how they can work in the mental health space within their current scope of work.
With the population and needs of those in the Perth Metro region greatly broad and varied, the SPC Team has partnered with local governments to create place-based solutions to meet the needs of local communities for suicide prevention. These partnership networks mean local governments and services can plan impactful, timely and accurate responses to community needs; which can include workshops, training, community events and even tailored seed grants.
The presentation will spotlight our role in chairing the PaRK Suicide Prevention Collaborative in the South Metro, outlining how we measure the group's impact within the community. The collaborative, comprising of 20 services and actively involving 5 local governments as co-Secretary’s, is dedicated to pursuing a shared agenda of reducing suicidality across the region through collaborative efforts with local governments and services.
Our discussion will explore and provide details of how Suicide Prevention Coordinators in the Perth Metro area have worked collaboratively with local governments to provide impactful approaches to suicide prevention for high risk cohorts that regularly interact with local government services. This will be explored through SPC examples to highlight ways to measure outcomes, discussing the numerous touch points where those with mental health challenges interact with local government, emphasizing the significance of maintaining meaningful partnerships with local government to further enhance the reach of suicide prevention agencies to improve collaboration between local government and non-profit sector.
Our goal is to address the question: Where to start with suicide prevention in local government? By sharing our experiences and insights, we hope to provide valuable answers and contribute to the ongoing dialogue on effective suicide prevention strategies that local government can be involved in without dramatically increasing the administrative burden.