Our Work
CBPATSISP Reports
The CBPATSISP produces reports on key topics related to Indigenous suicide prevention.
I will no Longer Starve My Spirit or my Soul : A Mixed Methods Evaluation of the Long-term Benefits of the Culture, Social and Emotional Wellbeing Program in a Pre-release Centre in Western Australia.
This report records the 2nd delivery of the Culture, Social and Emotional Wellbeing Program in Boronia Pre-release Centre for Women and its long-term impacts on social and emotional wellbeing.
Flood Response and Recovery in Fitzroy Crossing Needs Assessment
In response to the unprecedented flooding that impacted Fitzroy Crossing town and surrounding communities in January 2023, local Aboriginal community-controlled organisation (ACCO) Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre (MWRC), through its long-standing partnership with specialist child development service Royal Far West (RFW) known as “Marurra-U”, invited UNICEF Australia to undertake a post-flood Needs Assessment with affected communities. With a shared vision to improve the lives of children and families in the Fitzroy Valley, and in line with greater awareness and concern about the current and future impacts of climate change in Aboriginal communities, the three organisations partnered on the post-flood Needs Assessment. CBPATSISP contributed to this work by ensuring the voices of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were being included.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voices Have the Solutions to Suicide Prevention: Who's listening and who's taking action?
The objective of this scoping review is to formally evaluate the uptake and influence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP) findings, recommendations, and resources to inform Primary Health Networks (PHN) commissioning and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide prevention activities across Australia. This review identifies where implementation has been successful and provides solutions to overcome barriers to implementation by directing PHNs and peak Aboriginal bodies to areas where uptake can be increased.
Yarn Up Listen Up: Community Report of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People’s Perspectives on Suicide Prevention
This report includes discussions regarding what culturally appropriate resources are currently available, information relating to the most effective and accessible medium to utilise resources, and where the gaps of information are for young people who maybe seeking support for themselves or someone else.
SEWB Gathering 4 Report
The fourth Social and Emotional Wellbeing Gathering (SEWBG-4) was held 31 July to 2 August 2023, on Larrakia Country, Darwin, Northern Territory. The purpose of SEWBG-4 was to further the aims and recommendations of the previous SEWB Gatherings and to bring the SEWB network together to share insights and developments on SEWB, locally and nationally.
Coronial Responses to Suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Research Report
This research investigated how Coroners’ Courts respond to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities after losing someone to suicide. Through a literature review, interviews with Coroners and their staff, and a Lived Experience Workshop, the report makes recommendations for reforming coronial practice to improve the experiences of Indigenous people. The project was generously supported by the National Suicide Prevention Office.
Coronial Responses to Suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Report from the Lived Experience Workshop
The Lived Experience Workshop was a central element of the Coronial Responses research. This report summarises in their own words a yarning workshop with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have been bereaved by suicide, and includes their ideas on how the Coroners’ Courts and processes can become more culturally responsive.
Anika Indigenous Youth Cultural Exchange Report
The generosity of the Anika Foundation and the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health has allowed UWA to organise a cultural exchange to Canada for six Aboriginal Australian Youths. In Canada, they exchanged practices and knowledge about Indigenous suicide prevention and Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB). The Anika Cultural Exchange was organised by the Centre for Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP) and the Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing (TIMHWB) Research Project at the University of Western Australia.
Trauma Informed Care in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) Symposium Summary
A Trauma Informed Care in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) Symposium was held in Rubibi (Broome) on July 12, 2023. It was hosted by Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service (KAMS) and the Wellbeing Informed Care – Kimberley (WIC-K), Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing (TIMHWB) and the Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide prevention (CBPATSISP) teams. The day was generously supported by headspace National.
'Speak Up and Be Strong': The Cultural, Social and Emotional Wellbeing Program with Boronia Pre-Release Centre for Women
The high rates of incarceration and recidivism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can be attributed to a range of historical, social, economic, and systemic factors and a lack of culturally appropriate programs. The Cultural, Social and Emotional Wellbeing (CSEWB) Program is a culturally appropriate program based on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) model, which is a strengths-based and holistic health framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This study reports the evaluation of the first delivery of the CSEWB Program within the justice system, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women at the Boronia Pre-Release Centre for Women.
SEWB Gathering 3 Report
The 3rd Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Gathering was held in Canberra, 6th – 8th September 2022. It aimed to strengthen understandings of individual and community SEWB, with a special focus on human rights and cultural therapies, in addition to highlighting the importance of self-determination in the development of SEWB policy, workforce, and services. Click below for a full report on the gathering and interviews with various attendees.
SEWB Gathering 2 Report
Following the success of the 1st Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Gathering, the 2nd SEWB Gathering was held in Perth, Western Australia in October 2021.
Wellbeing and Healing through Connection and Culture (2020)
In 2020, Lifeline commissioned Professor Pat Dudgeon et al to provide this evidence review.
Aboriginal Participatory action research: An Indigenous research methodology strengthening decolonisation and social and emotional wellbeing (2020)
Focusing on Indigenous wellbeing paradigms, discourses, and disciplines this discussion paper was co-authored by Professor Pat Dudgeon and published by the Lowitja Institute.
SEWB Gathering 1 Report
The 1st Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Gathering was held in Perth, Western Australia in March 2021. The aim of the SEWB Gathering was to bring together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies, community organisations, leaders, experts, and front-line workers to create a national SEWB blueprint for the future by exploring 1) where we have been, 2) where we are now, and 3) where we are going.
Developing best practice guidelines for the psychosocial assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting to hospital with self-harm and suicidal thoughts (2020)
Developed with the Menzies School of Health Research, these evidence-based guidelines are intended to improve the quality of care and outcomes for Indigenous people who go to hospital with suicidal thoughts or behaviours.
Workshop on Challenges and Opportunities in Relation to Strengthening the Social and Emotional Wellbeing Workforce (2019)
In May 2019 the CBPATSISP co-hosted a workshop with Nunkuwarrin Yunti of South Australia and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group (ATSIMHSPAG), intended to:
- share knowledge, wisdom and preferred ways of working among the existing SEWB workforce
- identify structural and practical supports to strengthen the SEWB and mental health workforces and systems
- prioritise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce at worker, organisational and systems levels
- agree on ways to strengthen and sustain the SEWB workforce.
This report details the workshop outcomes.
Roadmap to recovery: Reporting on a research taskforce supporting Indigenous responses to COVID-19 in Australia (2020)
This report to the Commonwealth Government by Group of Eight universities, which outlined an approach to ensuring the physical and mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous people during the Covid-19 pandemic, was co-authored by Professor Pat Dudgeon.
Implementing Integrated Suicide Prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities – A Guide for Primary Health Networks (2018)
This document supports Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to implement integrated approaches to suicide prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Global Overview – Indigenous Suicide Rates (2018)
This background paper presents an overview of suicide in Indigenous peoples in countries where there is a dominant White society. These countries share similar colonial histories and all but Greenland have Indigenous populations that are significantly smaller than the non-Indigenous population.
Empowerment and Accountability in Indigenous Youth Suicide Prevention – Report on Workshop Proceedings (2019)
In response to the high rate of suicide deaths among Indigenous young people and children, and the Western Australian Coroner’s report of the Inquest into the 13 Deaths of Children and Young Persons in the Kimberley Region, the CBPASTSISP co-hosted Youth Suicide Prevention workshop in Canberra in April 2019. This report details the workshop outcomes.
Implementation workshop reports: Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration Implementation Guide and the CBPATSISP Indigenous Governance Framework (2018-19)
In late 2018 and throughout 2019, the CBPATSISP and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership in Mental Health (NATSILMH) co-hosted a national series of workshops to discuss implementation of the Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration and the CBPATSISP Indigenous Governance Framework. Reports on the outcomes of the workshops are listed here:
Guidelines for best practice psychosocial assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting to hospital with self-harm and suicidal thoughts (2019)
These guidelines contain recommendations for the effective and appropriate psychosocial assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting to hospital with self-harm and suicidal thoughts. These guidelines are important for all practitioners, and particularly non-Indigenous practitioners, to better understand their capacity to engage more responsibly with Aboriginal people.
We are not the problem, we are part of the solution: Indigenous Lived Experience Project Report (2018)
In June 2018, the CBPATSISP facilitated a workshop to investigate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lived experiences of suicide. This report details the workshop outcomes.
Aboriginal Youth Wellbeing Workshop Report (2019)
A workshop on Aboriginal youth wellbeing was held in Broome in August 2019 to inform the Western Australian Government’s response to the Learnings from the Message Stick report into youth suicide in remote areas and the Western Australian Coroner’s report of the Inquest into the 13 Deaths of Children and Young Persons in the Kimberley Region. This report details the workshop outcomes.
Indigenous Governance for Suicide Prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities (2018)
This is the second Guide to support Primary Health Networks (PHNs) working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations to co-design and co-implement integrated approaches to suicide prevention.
Indigenous Lived Experience of Suicide: Literature Review (2018)
This literature review informed the establishment at the Black Dog Institute of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre.
Projects
Project Summaries
Coronial Responses to Suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
Coronial Responses to Suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
This research examined the practices of State and Territory’s Coroners’ Courts, to assess their cultural safety and responsiveness to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families who have experienced the loss of a loved one by suicide. With ethics approval from AIATSIS and majority Indigenous project governance, the project considered multiple perspectives: Indigenous people who have lost loved ones to suicide contributed to a lived experience workshop. Coroners, their staff and others with an occupational interest in Indigenous suicide participated in interviews. A desktop review of academic and community literature.
Collaborative Projects
Project Summaries
Training with Trainer with Danila Dilba
Training with Trainer with Danila Dilba
In collaboration with Danila Dilba Health Service (DDHS), an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHO), and the National Empowerment Project’s Cultural, Social and Emotional Wellbeing (CSEWB) Program was implemented in Darwin. The CSEWB Program was developed in response to the high suicide rates and levels of psychological distress in communities. The aim of the CSEWB Program is to capacity build the Social and Emotional Wellbeing Team (SEWB) at Danila Dilba Health Service. The CSEWB Program is made up of 12 modules covering 3 main topics, namely, Self, Family, and Community. The sessions include presentations, interactive workshops, group discussions and self-reflection on these topics.
Against the Odds
Against the Odds
Collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of economists, statisticians, researchers, and epidemiologists from the University of Sydney, Melbourne University, Menzies School of Health Research, and the University of Western Australia, in partnership with an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHO) in Darwin, ‘The Against the Odds project aims to discover how Indigenous children in Darwin live balanced, fulfilling lives, even in the presence of poverty, health problems or other risk factors.
Evaluation of the Kimberley Empowerment, Healing and Leadership Program
Evaluation of the Kimberley Empowerment, Healing and Leadership Program
In collaboration with Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services and Centacare Kimberley, the evaluation of the KEHLP is to build evidence of the effectiveness of culturally affirming programs. The short-term benefits of implementation of the KEHLP with pre- and post-release Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will enhance social and emotional wellbeing and reduce the levels of psychological distress that participants experience; the longer-term benefits include improved relationships within families and communities, strengthened social support network, (re)connection to culture, and resilience which may directly and/or indirectly contribute to reductions in (re)offending and suicide risks
NACCHO – Culture Care Connect
NACCHO – Culture Care Connect
In collaboration with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), we aim to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and suicide prevention outcomes, building evidence and understanding, supporting a culturally appropriate mental health system workforce, and providing early intervention measures that contribute to improved social and emotional wellbeing outcomes.
Telethon Kids Institute (TKI)
Telethon Kids Institute (TKI)
Researchers from TKI and the UWA are working with the WA Mental Health Commission to develop a universal aftercare service program for individuals who present to healthcare services following a suicide attempt, and a pilot referral program that expands referral and entry pathways to aftercare services from other health settings. The research team is seeking input from the WA healthcare service sector, not-for-profit organisations and individuals with a lived experience of a suicide attempt and/or suicidal crisis in a series of community consultations.
Media training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Media training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices are crucial to shifting the media’s deficit-focused narrative when reporting on key issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to ensure post-colonial truth telling. In collaboration with Everymind, the CBPATSISP co-designed and co-delivered media training which aimed to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to speak up about mental health and suicide. We are in the process of writing a report to summarize key findings from the media training event and recommendations for future media training.
Culture is Life (CiL)
Culture is Life (CiL)
This youth-led project aims to understand the lived experiences and service needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in the context of mental health and suicide. We have partnered with CiL, who have led a serious of consultations, yarning with youth about their experiences and needs.
Systems Approach with Black Dog Institute (BDI)
NACCHO – Culture Care Connect
We propose that the ATSISPEP findings could be further articulated and operationalised through a systems approach framework, that highlights the need for preventative, culturally informed strategies that address the social determinants of health. In collaboration with BDI, we aim to develop a framework and guidelines for a transformative and decolonising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Systems Approach to suicide prevention. We are writing a report and paper to share these results, and to highlight the role that different bodies should play in suicide prevention activities.
Suicide Prevention Fact Sheets
CBPATSISP has produced several fact sheets which provide concise summaries of findings, recommendations and outcomes of research, conferences, roundtable consultations and other enquiries relevant to suicide prevention.
Suicide Prevention Policy Concordance
The Suicide Prevention Policy Concordance is aimed at Indigenous communities, mental health and health services, Primary Health Networks, policy-makers, researchers and advocates interested in Indigenous suicide prevention.
It aims to assist readers navigate the many policy documents that encompass Indigenous and mainstream suicide prevention and related areas at the Commonwealth, States and Territory and community levels. This includes Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and relevant mental health-related policy documents.
Projects
Collaborations
Research Programs
Advocacy
The CBPATSISP is Australia’s leading authority on Indigenous suicide and participates actively in policy and consultation processes to ensure that the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are understood and appropriately considered in policy, system and funding decisions at Commonwealth and State and Territory levels.
As a member of Suicide Prevention Australia the CBPATSISP seeks to influence the suicide prevention sector to be inclusive of Indigenous people in its systemic advocacy, ensuring equitable investment in Indigenous-specific suicide prevention reponses, while promoting cultural safety in mainstream programs and services.
Policy Submissions and Statements
Mental health charities call for stronger action on climate change and support for NGO’s in the lead up to Black Summer Bushfire anniversary – September 2020
Fourteen leading Australian mental health, homelessness, disability and representative organisations, including the Center for Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP), have come together to urge federal, state and territory governments to take stronger action to address the climate crisis and reduce emissions to protect the mental health and wellbeing of the Australian community. You can find the joint statement here.
Analysis: Coroners Court of Victoria report of the Victorian suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – July 2020
Call for Action: The WA Government needs to commit to investing in the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal people – May 2020
This statement is from the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Cultural Centre (KALACC), Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services (KAMS), the Kimberley Land Council (KLC), Empowered Communities East Kimberley (ECEK) and the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at the University of Western Australia (CBPATSISP).
Call for Action: The State Government Needs to Commit to Addressing Kimberley Youth Suicide – March 2020
This statement is from the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC), the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services (KAMS) and the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at the University of Western Australia.
Comments on the Productivity Commission Draft Report on Mental Health – February 2020
The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP) and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership in Mental Health (NATSILMH) prepared a joint submission for the Productivity Commission.
Other Contributions
WA Coroner’s Inquest into the deaths of thirteen children and young people in the Kimberley region
This report, which concluded 12 of 13 deaths of children and young people were suicides, drew extensively on the expert testimony of Professor Pat Dudgeon and on the ATSISPEP Solutions That Work report.
Learnings from the message stick: The report of the Inquiry into Aboriginal youth suicide in remote areas
Education and Health Standing Committee, WA Parliament (2016) This report drew extensively on the work of Professor Pat Dudgeon, the ATSISPEP Solutions That Work report and the National Empowerment Project.
Manual of Resources for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention
The Manual is a collection of practical resources and tools that people, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous, can use to make a real difference in promoting positive mental health and social emotional wellbeing, and preventing suicide in our communities.
Advisory Appointments
Professor Pat Dudgeon contributes expertise to a broad range of governance and advisory groups. These include:
Member: Aboriginal Family Safety Project Advisory Panel
Chair: Indigenous Statistical and Information Advisory Group
Chair: Data group for Working Party
Member: Expert Panel, WA Children and Young People Wellbeing Survey
Inaugural Chair and current Member: Steering Committee
Founding Member