DHS Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2025 — 2028

Statement from Chief Executive

The Department of Human Services (DHS) brings together a diverse range of services, funding, and policy responsibilities that support fairness, opportunity, and choice for all South Australians.

DHS services and strategic policies support South Australians from all backgrounds and walks of life, offering numerous opportunities to support people’s wellbeing and help prevent suicide and related distress.

Our inaugural DHS Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2025–2028 (the DHS Action Plan) aligns with the South Australian Suicide Prevention Plan 2023–2026 (the State Plan). It outlines our commitment to contributing to the State Plan’s vision of compassionate, resilient, and connected communities that support wellbeing and prevent suicide.

We recognise that our main role in suicide prevention is to foster a supportive environment for our staff and the people we serve. This requires self-reflection, examining our processes, engaging with staff, and listening to people who access our services. During the first two years of implementing the DHS Action Plan we will focus on ensuring our organisation is equipped to support the State Plan’s vision by reviewing and improving what we do, while strengthening our engagement with external stakeholders to help inform the implementation of the DHS Action Plan and to identify other opportunities.

Building on this foundation, the second phase of the DHS Action Plan will extend our focus outwards, working together with our partners in the government and non-government sectors who share our goals to further support the people of South Australia.

We all have a role to play in the prevention of suicide, and through coordinated action, together we can make a positive difference.

Sandy Pitcher
Chief Executive
Department of Human Services

Acknowledgement of Aboriginal Peoples

We acknowledge and respect Aboriginal Peoples as the State’s First Peoples and Nations and recognise them as traditional owners and occupants of land and waters in South Australia.

We acknowledge that the spiritual, social, cultural and economic practices of Aboriginal Peoples come from their traditional lands and waters, that they maintain their cultural and heritage beliefs, languages and laws which are of ongoing importance, and that they have made and continue to make a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the State.

Please note the term Aboriginal is used throughout this document to include all Peoples of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent in South Australia. We acknowledge that other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural names may be preferred.

Recognition of Lived Experience

We recognise lived and living experience of suicide, including South Australians who have been affected by suicide either through their own experiences, or through the experiences of people close to them.

We recognise the lived experience that has contributed to the development of the DHS Action Plan, including people with lived and living experience of suicide and mental distress, and the lived experience of people from one or more of the priority populations discussed in this Action Plan, such as Aboriginal peoples, LGBTIQA+ people, neurodivergent people, and people living with disability.

Content Warning and Support Services

This document discusses suicide and suicide prevention. If this content raises any concerns, free and confidential support is available.

About the Department of Human Services

The Department is responsible for developing and implementing a broad range of services that support South Australians. Our programs and services aim to ensure South Australians are safe, empowered and connected in their communities.

Examples of DHS services include Disability Services, Youth Justice, Child and Family Support, Women’s Information Service, Adult Safeguarding Unit , Metropolitan Aboriginal Youth and Family Services and Concessions SA.

DHS also funds non-government and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to support South Australians in areas such as community connection, child and family support, gambling harm support, homelessness, and domestic, family and sexual violence. DHS provides various grants to community organisations, including through programs like Grants SA.

Along with funding and delivering services, DHS leads strategic policy that supports diverse population groups in South Australia. These include people living with disability, young people, carers, LGBTIQA+ communities, older people, Aboriginal Peoples, and women.

Strategic Context

DHS’ Action Plan is a legislated requirement under the Suicide Prevention Act 2021 (the Act) and aligns with the five strategies in the South Australian Suicide Prevention Plan 2023–2026 (the State Plan).

As of June 2025, DHS is one of ten government agencies (referred to in the Act as ‘Prescribed State Authorities’) required to have an Action Plan. Each agency’s Action Plan must focus on suicide prevention as it relates to the people that agency engages with.

DHS’ role in suicide prevention

DHS supports a whole-of-government approach to suicide prevention and wellbeing, and shares the State Plan’s vision of compassionate, resilient and connected communities that support wellbeing and prevent suicide.

DHS has various opportunities to contribute to suicide prevention as an employer, service provider, and funding body, and through leading or contributing to various government strategies and initiatives. The services and initiatives we deliver, and how we do this, is central to our role in suicide prevention.

DHS recognises the need for suicide prevention action to address the risk factors that can increase risk of suicide, and protective factors that reduce risk for suicide. We also recognise that suicide prevention can take various forms and will therefore look different in different parts of DHS.

More information about risk and protective factors and approaches to  suicide prevention  can be found in the State Plan.

Recognition of priority populations

The State Plan recognises that whilst anyone can experience suicide risk, some population groups are disproportionately impacted by suicide. This is not inherently because of who they are, but rather because of societal impacts and biases. The DHS Action Plan refers to these groups as ‘priority populations’.

DHS recognises that people from these groups are strong and resilient in the face of challenges such as discrimination, trauma, grief, or barriers to seeking support, and that these challenges can be amplified when someone belongs to more than one of these priority populations (often referred to as ‘intersectionality’). Despite this strength, people from these groups can be more likely to think about, attempt or die by suicide.

DHS’ Action Plan includes a focus on listening to and supporting the wellbeing of priority populations, many of whom DHS has a responsibility for assisting through services and strategic initiatives.

The priority populations recognised in the State Plan are:

• Aboriginal Peoples
• men
• people in regional, rural and remote South Australia
• LGBTIQA+ communities
• people who have experienced thoughts of or attempted suicide
• people who experience discrimination due to racism, age, disability, gender, or neurodivergence
• migrants
• first responders
• people who have had contact with the criminal justice system
• defence force veterans
• children and young people, and people who have experienced early life adversity
• people who have been bereaved by suicide
• people who have previously made an attempt on their life
• people whose identity intersects with more than one of these groups or identities.

DHS recognises that people outside of these population groups can also be at risk of suicide. Each part of DHS will consider suicide prevention in their specific context, including as it relates to populations not identified in the State Plan.

Relationship to DHS policies, strategies and frameworks

DHS’ Action Plan aligns with the following:

Alignment with Aboriginal strategies

Australia’s Aboriginal Peoples are recognised as the oldest living cultures in the world. Their resilience is testament to the strength of their cultures, communities, and connection to Country.

For Aboriginal Peoples, health is viewed as holistic, incorporating the interconnection of mental, physical, cultural, and spiritual wellbeing (often referred to as ‘social and emotional wellbeing’). Connection to Country, community and culture, and feeling valued in society, can serve as protective factors to support social and emotional wellbeing, which in turn help reduce suicide risk.

Aboriginal communities, however, are also disproportionately impacted by the grief, loss and distress associated with the ongoing impacts of colonisation, including the impact of racism, disconnection from culture and Country, social and economic inequality, and intergenerational trauma.

DHS recognises the importance of Aboriginal leadership and self-determination in supporting social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention, as recognised in:

• The Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration
• The Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration Framework and Implementation Plan
• The Social and Emotional Wellbeing Policy Partnership

DHS is committed to ensuring our services, strategies and workplaces are culturally safe and responsive for Aboriginal Peoples now and into the future, and that we walk alongside Aboriginal communities in all that we do.

The DHS Action Plan will align with other DHS strategies and commitments to help achieve these goals, including:

• South Australia’s Implementation Plan for Closing the Gap (noting Target 14 – Significant and sustained reduction in suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people towards zero)
• The South Australian Public Sector Anti-Racism Strategy 2023–2028
• DHS’ Reconciliation Action Plan (new Plan under development)
• DHS’ Aboriginal Workforce Strategy 2025–2030 (in development)
• DHS’ Closing the Gap Framework and Policy

DHS is committed to working together with Aboriginal Peoples through these strategic approaches in a genuine spirit of partnership and reconciliation.  In implementing the DHS Action Plan, we will ensure that we engage appropriately with Aboriginal staff, communities and organisations.

Development of DHS’ Suicide Prevention Action Plan

The DHS Action Plan was developed through consultation with stakeholders that incorporated diverse perspectives and expertise.

An initial draft was informed by engagement with:

• The LGBTIQA+, Youth and Disability Minister’s Advisory Councils
• DHS teams that deliver services
• DHS teams that manage contracts for services that DHS funds
• DHS teams that are responsible for staff wellbeing and safety
• Aboriginal and LGBTIQA+ DHS employees.

It was also informed by existing research and consultation, including:

• Shifting the Focus: A national whole-of-government approach to guide suicide prevention in Australia
• Consultation conducted by Preventive Health SA in developing the State Suicide Prevention Plan, including their engagement with priority populations and those with lived and living experience.

Following this, DHS conducted public consultation via YourSAy, inviting members of the public and stakeholder organisations to provide feedback on the draft DHS Action Plan. All DHS staff were also invited to provide feedback.

In total, 57 individuals or organisations provided feedback via a YourSAy survey and written submissions, which informed the final version of the DHS Action Plan and will support implementation over the next four years.

A YourSAy consultation report with more information about the feedback we received and how we have used it can be found on the DHS website.

DHS thanks everyone who has contributed to the development of the DHS Action Plan, with a particular recognition of the contributions from people with lived experience of suicide, who accounted for most people who provided feedback via YourSAy.

Our Vision and Guiding Principles

The wellbeing of all people who interact with DHS is prioritised, people experiencing distress have access to support, and we work together with other organisations and people with lived experience to prevent suicide in South Australia.

Guiding principles

The DHS Action Plan is informed by the following guiding principles:

Centring lived experience

• People with lived or living experience are best placed to inform action
• Suicide prevention looks different for different priority populations

Diversity of initiatives

• Each DHS service is unique, and suicide prevention will look different across DHS
• Actions should be applicable across the diversity of DHS services and initiatives

Building on existing practices

• Recognise existing systems that support DHS staff and service users
• Build upon this work to better support wellbeing and suicide prevention

Evolving over time

• Actions are iterative and DHS will work with others and learn along the way
• Progress will be reviewed and actions adapted as necessary

How we will do this

The DHS Action Plan features actions we will take as first steps to help support wellbeing and prevent suicide. The implementation of these actions may look different across DHS.

In the first two years of the Action Plan (2025–2027), our aim is to:

1. Support the wellbeing of our staff and the people who access our services;
2. Engage with other government agencies, non-government organisations, people with people with lived or living experience and other relevant stakeholders to support suicide prevention initiatives in South Australia and inform our actions; and
3. Integrate suicide prevention in our initiatives and strategies, especially as they relate to Aboriginal people and other priority population groups at higher risk of experiencing suicidal distress.

A mid-cycle review in 2027 will inform further updates to the Action Plan.

Actions and Implementation

Our actions are captured in 5 strategies: