South Australia have released a Draft Suicide Prevention Bill 2020 for public consultation. You can participate in the consultation by providing a written submission or completing the short community survey available on the South Australian Government’s website: www.yoursay.sa.gov.au.
The purpose of the Bill is to establish a legislative mechanism that aims to reduce suicides and suicide attempts in South Australia. This legislation will play a key role in driving a whole-of-government approach to suicide prevention in the state.
Advocating for the establishment of permanent machinery to support a whole-of-government approach to suicide prevention has been a central focus of our work, and is a pillar of our National Policy Platform. We endorse the legislation which will provide government coordination of suicide prevention and postvention in the state, ensure responsibility and accountability across the state in suicide prevention, and establish a South Australian Suicide Register.
The draft Bill proposes several measures we will endorse in our submission, including:
- Legislated requirement to have a State Suicide Prevention Plan.
- Embedded governance arrangements through a Suicide Prevention Council with lived experience representation to oversee the State’s Suicide Prevention Plan.
- State authorities (such as public sector agencies, statutory office holders, Police, etc.) required to develop their own suicide prevention plans and report on them annually.
- Legislated requirement to establish a State Suicide Deaths Register.
We encourage you to review the discussion paper and make a submission.
Submissions close COB Friday 12 February 2021.
Key links:
If you wish to provide input into Suicide Prevention Australia’s submission or have any questions, please contact policy@suicidepreventionaustralia.org.