Collaborating to Enhance Suicide Prevention
Across Western Australia, SafeSide Prevention initiatives are building capability, connection and shared approaches to suicide prevention. More than 1200 people have completed SafeSide CARE, with strong improvements in confidence and practice; SafeSide Restore is strengthening how organisations learn and improve following suicide-related incidents; and Core Connections is strengthening connection and wellbeing across first-responder teams. Together, this work is supporting meaningful change across services, organisations and the broader WA system.
One of SafeSide Prevention's core values is Better Together. Our educational programs are co-led by clinical and lived experience experts. The Explore phase provided information to enable us to make SafeSide CARE available with some tailoring to include local Western Australian contexts and voices. Watch this video to meet some of the people who have contributed to our programs so far.
Implementation in Western Australia
The Western Australian Mental Health Commission has funded SafeSide to deliver a range of suicide prevention initiatives across the State until July 2027. These fully funded initiatives are ready to be implemented in your workplace.
Core Connections
| Summary | Who is eligible? | Why do this program? |
|---|---|---|
| An upstream prevention program proven to strengthen and protect workplace teams through interactive training. Core Connections reduces hidden suicide risk and creates a supportive environment that naturally protects vulnerable individuals, allowing team leaders to care for their people through systemic support rather than relying solely on individual detection and intervention. | First Responder and Justice Organisations. | Proven to reduce suicide risk and depressive symptoms without stigmatising mental health concerns and strengthen connections that specifically buffer against suicide risk. It also provides multiple layers of passive and active protection for at-risk individuals without requiring them to self-identify or their commanders to detect and intervene. |
SafeSide CARE
| Summary | Who is eligible? | Why do this program? |
|---|---|---|
| SafeSide CARE provides evidence-based suicide prevention education for mental health, primary care, alcohol and other drugs, and youth services. Structured around the SafeSide Framework, the program uses the InPlace® Learning model, combining video teaching and demonstrations with group interaction. | Mental health, youth and alcohol and other drugs workforces. | Provides a shared, evidence-based approach that enhances care delivery, promotes consistent practice, and offers continuous learning opportunities while incorporating lived experience voices. It increases clinician confidence through a contemporary person-centred approach to prevention-oriented risk formulation, ultimately building consistency and quality in suicide risk assessments across teams. |
SafeSide Restore
| Summary | Who is eligible? | Why do this program? |
|---|---|---|
| SafeSide Restore is a quality improvement learning collaborative delivered through five interactive learning sessions over several months. It helps organisations strengthen how they review, respond to and learn from suicide-related events. Each participating organisation sets its own improvement aim and leads a practical project within its service. Between sessions, teams test changes, measure results and embed what works. | Leaders responsible for reviews and responses to suicide- related incidents. | Implementing a Restorative Just and Learning Culture system matters because organisations lose valuable staff members after critical incidents without proper support, while families often feel alienated from response processes, leading to further hurt and investigations. Additionally, poor stakeholder engagement creates a cycle of ineffective recommendations that aren't implemented, causing problems to recur, whereas better engagement leads to improved recommendations and implementation. |
Register Your Interest
To learn more about implementing the funded programs in your service complete this form, and a team member will be in touch.
Project Updates
Local services across Western Australia are now well underway in implementing SafeSide CARE programs, building skills, sharing learning, and supporting safer care in their communities. The energy and commitment from services across WA are inspiring. Thank you to every team, leader, and participant who is making this work possible. Read our progress updates below.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Western Australian Mental Health Commission has funded SafeSide to deliver a range of suicide prevention initiatives across the State until July 2027. These fully funded initiatives are ready to be implemented in your workplace.
SafeSide offers demo accounts for SafeSide CARE and sample resources for SafeSide Restore. For Core Connections, live demonstrations can potentially be scheduled. Please get in touch with our team to talk through your options.
With support from the Mental Health Commission, SafeSide is currently rolling out a suite of suicide prevention programs in Western Australia through July 2027. Planning for ongoing implementation beyond the pilot phase is already underway, informed by evaluation outcomes and subject to available funding. Organisations interested in future delivery opportunities beyond the funding date are encouraged to connect directly with us to explore how they can be involved.
We'll keep in touch with you throughout implementation and talk about options for continuing support around month eight of your Commission-funded implementation period.
Your 12-month period of services and support under any of the programs from SafeSide begins when your organisation starts with SafeSide.
For example, if you start in month 14 of the current contract between SafeSide and the Western Australian Mental Health Commission, you will still receive 12 months of service and support from that month.
The Explore Phase
Suicide prevention is complex, requiring a multifaceted response tailored to community needs. This report details the initial phase of our work exploring how SafeSide Prevention’s approach might enhance suicide prevention efforts in Western Australia, reflecting its diverse communities’ unique voices, experiences, and needs.
