Place-based Suicide Prevention

A Victorian Department of Health and Human Services partnership.

Suicide prevention is a shared focus of the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services and the Primary Health Networks, an Australian Government initiative.

Key polices include the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2015 and the Victorian suicide prevention framework 2016-25. In line with these, the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services and the six Victorian Primary Health Networks are implementing a collaborative response which will see place-based approaches to suicide prevention being implemented across twelve metropolitan, regional, and rural locations of need over a four year period.

The twelve locations include:

Ballarat
Bass Coast
Benalla
Brimbank and Melton
Dandenong
Great South Coast

Latrobe Valley
Macedon Ranges
Maroondah
Mildura
Mornington Peninsula and Frankston
Whittlesea

A place-based approach recognises that people and places are inter-related, and that the places where people live and spend their time affects their health and wellbeing.

A place-based approach focuses on local needs and local priorities, engages the community as an active partner in developing solutions, and maximises value by leveraging multiple networks, investments and activities to deliver the best outcomes for communities. Each community will establish their own suite of responses based on their local need and local capacity.

These collective efforts are guided by a robust statewide operating model, evaluation approach and other relevant frameworks.

Objectives

The place-based trials seek to have a positive impact on rates of suicide and attempts, individual resilience and well-being, and broader system improvements. This innovative approach has provided a means to pool local understanding and latest evidence, align funding streams and collective health investment, and provide a basis for shared outcomes in this important area.

PHN mechanisms

The initiative involves joint commissioning of evidence-based suicide prevention approaches which integrate collective impact insights, build workforce capacity, and enhance effectiveness of the existing service system.

The delivery of place based suicide prevention interventions is supported by the Eastern Melbourne PHN, Gippsland PHN, Murray PHN, North Western Melbourne PHN, South Eastern Melbourne PHN, Western Victoria PHN and the Victorian Government. PHNs are an Australian Government Initiative.

In July 2019, representatives from South Eastern Melbourne PHN and the Department of Health and Human Services presented at the National Suicide Prevention Conference on collective efforts, entitled ‘Leadership for systems change – supporting implementation of place-based suicide prevention’.