Introduction
In February 2025, the Australian Government and the NSPO have released the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025 - 2035 (the Strategy). A comprehensive approach to preventing suicide includes high-quality effective supports and efforts to address the circumstances that can lead to suicidal distress in the first place. The Strategy aims to unify the efforts of governments, communities, and service providers to improve suicide prevention outcomes in Australia.
The Strategy, with its 3 domains – Prevention, Support and Critical Enablers, 14 key objectives (as displayed in the model) and their 106 total recommended actions has been endorsed by Government. The launch of this Strategy signifies the way forward for Australia in preventing lives being lost to suicide.
Why we need a National Suicide Prevention Strategy
Every day in Australia, an average of 9 people die by suicide and more than 150 people attempt to take their own life. This is more than 3,000 deaths and 55,000 attempts each year. In addition, thousands more will experience suicidal distress. The impacts of the loss of life, suicide attempts and suicidal distress on individuals, families and communities are devastating. It does not have to be this way. Most suicides are preventable.
This Strategy aims to unify the efforts of governments, communities, and service providers to improve suicide prevention outcomes in Australia.
It provides an outline of what needs to be done to prevent suicidal distress, suicide attempts and suicide deaths.
To be truly effective we need an evidence-based compassionate suicide prevention system that:
- Acts to prevent people from reaching the point of suicidal distress in the first place. This can be achieved by taking proactive steps to address areas of disadvantage and adversity that contribute to distress before they escalate into suicidal thoughts or attempts.
- Strengthens the support system to ensure that when a person does experience suicidal distress, support is accessible, compassionate, and effective. The support system must be able to respond to individual needs and circumstances, be better equipped to address the full range of factors underlying a person’s distress and help to restore wellbeing.
- Is sustained by collective effort from governments, sectors beyond health, service providers, and communities. The system needs to be supported by greater accountability, more research and better data, and a stronger suicide prevention workforce. It is critical that the voices and expertise of people with lived and living experience are elevated and that this hard-earned wisdom is embedded into policy design and implementation.
We need to create communities where we can all feel safe, secure, included and supported to get through life’s tougher times if we are to prevent suicide. I hope that the thousands of people who have shared their personal experiences with suicide over the past years to drive improvements, whether this was at the 2010 Senate Inquiry, inputting to the National Advice in 2020, or being part of surveys, consultations, research, Collaboratives, networks, advisory groups, conferences and conversations, can see meaningful actions in the Strategy that reflect their voice. This work has been years in the making, and you have all contributed."
Jo Riley OAM
NSPO Lived Experience Partnership Group Member
It will take all governments, services and communities to work together to prevent suicide. The Albanese Government is proud to deliver the Strategy to guide our collaborative efforts to build a comprehensive and compassionate system that will reduce the experience of suicidal distress and save lives.We are grateful to every person with lived and living experience of suicide who has shared their experiences and contributed to this Strategy.”
The Hon. Emma McBride
Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
For too long, we have seen an average of 9 precious lives lost to suicide every day in Australia and another 150 people who make an attempt to take their own life. The impacts of the loss of life, suicide attempts and suicidal distress on individuals, families and communities are devastating. By working together and using the best available evidence, there is reason to hope. Reason to believe we can change this."
Dr Alex Hains
Head of the National Suicide Prevention Office
This Strategy extends suicide prevention beyond the hospitals and mental health units...Contemporary evidence and lived experience informed suicide prevention demonstrates that we can work to prevent suicide much earlier.”
Dr Alan Woodward
Former Chair of the NSPO Advisory Board
Download the National Suicide Prevention Strategy
The National Suicide Prevention Strategy is the first major deliverable for the National Suicide Prevention Office. It brings together first-hand evidence provided by people with lived and living experience of suicide, the latest research, and recommendations from existing inquiries and reports to lay out a path that will deliver a reduction in the number of lives lost to suicide nationally.
This is a summary of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
An overview of the development of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025 - 2035
A summary of feedback received through the public consultation on the Advice on the National Suicide Prevention Strategy consultation draft. The consultation was held from 10 September - 27 October 2024
