What the Department is doing

The Tasmanian Government has created a Whole-of-Government Communications Strategy (the Strategy) to safely and responsibly communicate about suicide. 

The purpose of the Strategy and supporting resources is to provide high-level key messages, communication principles and guidance to the Tasmanian State Service (including operational staff within Tasmanian Government Agencies) to support safe, consistent, and responsible communication about suicide and suicide prevention in Tasmania.

The Strategy has been informed by existing national guidelines developed by Mindframe (National Media Initiative), which is funded by the Australian Government to provide evidence-based advice on safe reporting of mental health, mental illness, suicide, and alcohol and drugs.

The strategy is currently being finalised with an expected release date in early 2024. 

We have partnered with the Tasmanian Centre for Mental Health Service Innovation (Centre) to develop a comprehensive evaluation framework for the TSPS. 

The framework has been approved by the Premier’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Council and the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.

This evaluation framework is the first of its kind for Tasmania and puts our state at the forefront of suicide prevention evaluation.

Roses in the Ocean is a national suicide prevention organisation led by people with lived experience. Its staff and members are dedicated to empowering those with lived experience to find their voice, and to build their capacity to bring their insights and wisdom to suicide prevention. Its vision is ‘For every person to have access to effective suicide prevention supports that are informed or led by people with lived experience of suicide’.

The Lived Experience of Suicide Summit (the Summit) is convened every two years by Roses in the Ocean with the most recent summit (LE Summit 2023) held in Hobart. The Tasmanian Government is proud to have supported this event through sponsoring the two-day event. 

The two-day Summit provided an interactive workshop-style forum connecting people with lived experience of suicide with key sector organisations, researchers, clinicians, government departments and non-government organisations. It provided a platform for multi-levelled collaboration to explore innovative solutions and bring about change. Watch the opening and closing plenaries and read the LE Summit workshop reports.

The development of Tasmania’s Suicide Prevention Strategy 2023–2027 recognises the critical input of people with lived experience of suicide through its comprehensive and inclusive consultation processes.

March 2023 saw the launch of the Peacock Centre in Hobart. 

The Peacock Centre operates four services, including a 12-bed short stay unit (Peacock House). Peacock House provides intensive specialist mental health support in a homelike community-based environment. Community-based services increase the capacity of acute hospital-based mental health services, while delivering effective, intensive, community-based care.

The opening of the Safe Haven in the Peacock Centre was delivered as a part of Rethink 2020: A state plan for mental health in Tasmania 2020–2025. The Safe Haven is designed to provide responsive and compassionate care to people experiencing suicidal and situational distress.  

The Safe Haven is one of a suite of new community mental health services through our Mental Health Reform Program.

Safe Havens are designed to provide support to people in suicidal or situational distress, aged 15 years and over, and their families, friends, or support networks, operating over extended hours and strongly informed by the expertise of people with lived experience.

Safe Havens are designed to be a safe and supportive environment. They emphasise relationships, safety planning, and are grounded in connection, compassion, and hope. They provide a therapeutic space with peer workers and senior mental health clinicians and the support offered is based on people’s preferences and needs.

Tasmanians are encouraged to drop into the Safe Haven at the Peacock Centre, where caring and experienced staff are available to provide individualised support, recognising that distress looks different for everyone.

You can access the Safe Haven without a referral, and you don't have to be linked with mental health services to ask for or receive support.

The Safe Haven is located within the Peacock Centre, 10 Elphinstone Road, North Hobart 7000.

Find more about the Peacock Centre Safe Haven

The Peacock Centre also includes a Mental Health Integration Hub which will act as a ‘one-stop’ shop where consumers, families and carers can be linked with a range of community service providers to help build individual capacity, avoid escalation of mental illness, or assist in ongoing recovery.

Find out more about the Mental Health Integration Hub

We have boosted funding to Relationships Australia Tasmania for Community Action Plans (CAPs) to provide small grants to support local suicide prevention actions in communities. This empowers grassroots initiatives and encourages community involvement.

CAPs are practical plans that communities (workplaces, schools, clubs, or organisations) develop together to safely build supports to prevent and reduce suicide. These plans are established around the specific needs of each group and align with the Tasmanian Suicide Prevention Strategy 2023–2027.

Find out more about Community Action Plans 

The TSPCN was established in September 2012 as a primary prevention initiative. Relationships Australia Tasmania is funded by the Tasmanian Government to support and deliver TSPCN actions.

Through the TSPCN, members come together to discuss and address issues related to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. The network’s core belief is that everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide, and communities that are resilient and willing to openly discuss suicide-related matters are better equipped to tackle the issue.

Suicide prevention is everybody’s business. Strong and resilient communities that understand and talk about suicide are better equipped to be able to prevent and recover from it. 

Initiated in 2017, the establishment of the Tasmanian Suicide Register (TSR) is one of the most notable achievements to date and is thanks to the collaborative work of dedicated people across the Departments of Justice and Health.

The Register is essential in guiding our work to prevent suicide and ensures our researchers can access reliable, comprehensive and authorised data.

The TSR is a state-based database established as a joint initiative between the Tasmanian Departments of Justice and Health. It resides within and is maintained by the Magistrates Court of Tasmania Coronial Division. The data contained in the TSR is essential in guiding local decisions and informing risk mitigation strategies for suicide prevention. It also serves to ensure Tasmanian researchers can access reliable and authorised suicide data.

Find out more information about the TSR

The Tasmanian Communications Charter (the Charter) aligns with the National Communications Charter and is embedded into Tasmania. The Charter is an evidence-informed resource guiding the way mental health and suicide prevention sectors, government, business and community members talk about mental health and suicide.

The Charter brings together government, the community sector, and people with lived experience. Promoting a common language around mental health, mental illness and suicide in Tasmania ensures we work together to reduce stigma and promote help-seeking behaviour.

Both the National and Tasmanian Charters will be reviewed and updated to align with the changing mental health and suicide prevention landscape.

Find out more information about the National Communications Charter and the Tasmanian Communications Charter

Tasmanians who have survived a suicide attempt or suicidal crisis can now access more support through the Way Back Support Service. Beyond Blue designed this service which provides people with access to specialised support following their discharge from hospital, in recognition that the recovery process is ongoing.

Anglicare Tasmania delivers the Way Back Support Service in Hobart and Launceston/Burnie.

Medical and mental health care is far from the full extent of care that a person may need when recovering from a suicidal crisis, and the Way Back Support Service aims to offer non-clinical support.

Find out more information about the Way Back Support Service