BackThe Western Australian Ombudsman reviews certain child deaths, identifies patterns and trends arising from these reviews and makes recommendations about ways that State government departments and authorities can prevent or reduce further child deaths.
As part of the Ombudsman’s responsibility to review certain child deaths, the Ombudsman identified a need to undertake a major own motion investigation into ways that State government departments and authorities can prevent or reduce suicide by young people.
The Ombudsman’s investigation has found that State government departments and authorities have already undertaken a significant amount of work that aims to prevent and reduce suicide by young people in Western Australia, however, there is still more work to be done. The Ombudsman has found that this work includes practical opportunities for individual agencies to enhance their provision of services to young people. Critically, as the reasons for suicide by young people are multi-factorial and cross a range of government agencies, the Ombudsman has also found that this work includes the development of a collaborative, inter-agency approach to preventing suicide by young people. In addition to the findings and recommendations, the comprehensive level of data and analysis contained in this report will, the Ombudsman believes, be a valuable new resource for government departments and authorities to inform their planning and work with young people. In particular, the analysis suggests this planning and work target four groups of young people that have been identified.
The findings of the investigation and the 22 recommendations for improvement are detailed in the Ombudsman’s report Investigation into ways that State government departments and authorities can prevent or reduce suicide by young people.
Source: Ombudsman Western Australia, Australia
