Suicide story: An evaluation of ‘tackling suicide Our Way’

Despite concerted efforts to improve strategic responses to suicide, it remains a major concern in Australia. Among Indigenous communities the rates of suicide are up to three times higher than among non-Indigenous communities. Indigenous males are three times as likely to suicide than Indigenous females. The death rates for the Northern Territory are second highest in Australia, at 27.4 deaths per 100,000 population. In the Northern Territory, a program called Suicide Story is working to empower Indigenous people, creating a language to talk about suicide, and giving them tools to respond to the warning signs of suicide. The program was developed by Indigenous people and is run by Indigenous people in response to community needs. This paper draws from an evaluation of the program conducted in the Northern Territory at its 10-year mark, in 2018. Although it is impossible to assess how many lives have been saved, this paper takes a position that resilience is an indicator of prevention. One way to achieving this is through culturally safe processes. Based on the evaluation findings, we consider what that means for Suicide Story and other culturally safe suicide prevention programs designed with and for Indigenous people in Australia.