National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention

1. Project Profile

Project Name(s)	National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention
Funded Organisation	Griffith University
Geographical Area	National
State/Territory	National
Approach(es)	Universal
Individual/Group	Group
LIFE Action Areas	Improving the evidence base and understanding of suicide prevention Building individual resilience and the capacity for self-help Improving community strength, resilience and capacity in suicide prevention Taking a coordinated approach to suicide prevention Providing targeted suicide prevention activities Implementing standards and quality in suicide prevention
Target Groups	Whole of community

2. Project Description

The Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP) at Griffith University is a designated World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre of Research and Training in Suicide Prevention. AISRAP was funded under the NSPP to establish and operate the National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention.

The aim of the centre is to provide advice around evidence-based best practices and evaluation in suicide prevention, to support the Australian Commonwealth Departments, non-government agencies, academics and community groups in their respective initiatives in the field of suicide prevention.

The objectives of the centre are to:

• Enhance awareness of the work of the National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention
• Provide evidence based practical assistance to organisations funded through the NSPP
• Provide advice to the Department on evidence-based best practice in suicide prevention activity, approaches to evaluation of suicide prevention activities, development of evaluation frameworks and credibility of suicide prevention data and data issues
• Provide a half yearly critical literature review to the department. Top of page

3. Activities

Key strategies and activities of the centre are to:

• Enhance awareness of the work of the NCESP through:
  • Development and establishment of a communication and dissemination strategy to promote awareness of the Centre and its services and to establish linkages with respective lead agencies and departments working in the field of mental health suicide prevention
  • Promotion of the Centre's activities across all levels of government and lead agencies working in the field of mental health suicide prevention
  • Conducting educational workshops on a range of topics agreed to by the department to provide project managers of NSPP projects with additional support, for example, evaluation and data collection practices
  • Development of a separate website and/or portal dedicated to the Centre with linkages to the LIFE website and other relevant websites such as Australian Indigenous HealthInfonet
• Provide evidence based practical assistance to organisations funded through NSPP by:
  • Providing regular news updates, printed brochures and lists of recent research article publications available online
  • Providing evidence-based research that is targeted towards practitioners and/or project managers
  • Advising in the development and implementation of evaluation frameworks
• Provide advice to the Department on:
  • Evidence-based best practice in the suicide prevention activity to inform the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Action Framework
  • Provide assistance to Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council (ASPAC)
  • Improving approaches to the evaluation of suicide prevention activities and advising on the development of evaluation frameworks for new projects and other identified areas of the NSPS framework and
  • The credibility of suicide prevention data and data issues as they arise
• Provide a half-yearly critical literature review to the Department that outlines recent advances and promising developments in research in suicide prevention, particularly where this can help to inform national activities Top of page

4. Funding

• Round 1
  • NSPP funding
    • 2006/07 - data not supplied
    • 2007/08 - data not supplied
    • 2008/09 - $400,000
  • % project funding 100%
• Round 2
  • NSPP funding
    • 2009/10 - $451,145
    • 2010/11 - $137,530
  • % project funding - data not supplied
• Round 3
  • NSPP funding
    • 2011/12 - $468,310
    • 2012/13 - $474,820
  • % project funding - data not supplied

5. Staffing

• Round 1 (2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09)
  • Number staff positions funded (FTE) - data not supplied
  • Number staff positions filled (FTE) - data not supplied
• Round 2 (2009/10, 2010/11)
  • Number staff positions funded (FTE) - data not supplied
  • Number staff positions filled (FTE) - data not supplied
• Round 3 (2011/12, 2012/13)
  • Number staff positions funded (FTE) - data not supplied
  • Number staff positions filled (FTE) - data not supplied