Statement of Purpose

This policy brief is aimed at evaluating the current policy framework of the Australian government regarding self-harm and suicide prevention, and suggestion on the possible remedies and policy solutions for the government to improvise the current programs and plans regarding the same.

Summary

Self-harming and suicidal tendencies continue to be major issues in Australia in particular, and in the whole world in general (Edwards, 2020). 3139 deaths took place by suicide in Australia in 2020, where this is more prevalent in males than in females. Suicide has been the leading cause of death in younger ones which generally occurs during midlife (Government of Australia, n.d.). A study has linked low education to increased suicide risks. This can be attributed especially to the young people whose self-harm rates outnumber those of adults. The reasons are multiple. Primary being the non-satisfaction with almost every sphere of life, utmost and perfect showcasing of life aspects by various agencies of capitalist and entertainment nature, increasing societal expectation, and the exponential effect of all these. Self-harm can sometimes be associated with increased thoughts of suicidality. Self-harm can be defined as "a preoccupation with deliberately hurting oneself without conscious suicidal intent, often resulting in damage to body tissue" (Dickson, 2019).

It has been observed that such events happen a lot and are very often, through the newspapers, the government’s awareness on the issue which can be seen in their reflections on various TV reports, magazines, official reports, and the internet. The problem lies in the fact that on the one hand when the governments agencies including the international agencies are so concerned n the issue of mental health problems and suicidal and self-harm events, there has not been substantial concern by the governments on the primary and secondary interventions to stop and prevent such events, the root of which lies in the family and the childhood of the patient. When the international bodies and agencies are so concerned about the optimum level of people's development and giving them the chance to explore their maximum self and yet the government has not included mental health checkups and intervention on a mass scale for the high and middle level identified vulnerable groups (Carbone, 2020). For this reason, the root cause has yet not been identified and addressed it is possible the gap in the policies which is needed to be addressed and added to the programs and policies. It is an irony that there are no strict laws in Australia to efficiently and precisely able to predict child abuse and potential harm to his body and mind. Self-esteem is one of the most important factors in the human mind which is reflected in the form of id, ego, and super-ego. Most mental disorders and suicidal tendencies can be traced back to the childhood trauma of a person and obviously can be avoided and prevented if such traumas are prevented. If the child is not aware of this phenomenon, the latter part of his life may contain PTSD, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and depression. It is also manifested in some types of physical disabilities (Hedrick et al., 2019). The country can take and learn from the models of various Scandinavian countries which have a strong framework for the protection of children and their mental and physical well-being. Thus there is an urgent need to include such intervention into the core policies and programs of Australian central and state governments and that to implement it, a core policy with flexible adjustable frameworks is required for children as well as adults especially the identified socio-economic backward classes and groups (Claperton, 2019).

Available Policy Options

Australian national government and the state government have multiple plans, programs, strategies, and research to help prevent suicides in Australia and to reduce their impact on families. National Suicide Prevention Strategy, National Suicide Prevention Strategy, Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide prevention strategy, various helplines for age groups, and support programs are there (Government of Australia, n.d.). The grants and tenders for research and development are also done periodically by the government.

With the development of the national youth suicide prevention strategy (NYSPS), Australia had become one of the first nations to take an all-encompassing nationally coordinated policy approach to fight self-harm and suicide. Then in 2000, it was replaced by the national suicide prevention strategy (Government of Australia, n.d.). This new program not only widens the span of a focus group on suicide but also included the consideration of specific groups which are at risk or are vulnerable through socio-economic analysis. It has four components

LIFE framework
NSPS action framework
NSPP

Mechanisms to Promote Alignment with the State Agencies

The LIFE framework was built on the 8 activities and support systems based on universal interventions, selective intervention, standard treatment, ongoing care and support, early care and support, symptom identification, long-term treatment, and support, indicated intervention, etc (Government of Australia, n.d.).

Recommendations for Change

Primary prevention of violence against women and family violenceViolence against women and families in Australia is though prevalent serious abuse of human rights, as its impact on families, society, and community is very devastating and the broader socio-economic costs are higher than anticipated. Evidence informs that violence against women and family is preventable when people got work together on this in homes, workplaces, schools, and other social groups. The main driver of violence against women is gender inequality (Claperton, 2019). This can be done by challenging the violence against women, challenging the harmful stereotypes and roles against women which are prevalent, promoting the independence of women and their decision-making, and making a strong relationship between the two genders and making positive aspects.

Violence against women and children has been a prevalent problem with significant health, social and economic costs. Evaluation of family violence is confined and cannot be easily evaluated, which is why there is a need to develop innovative and creative programs that can help to measure or compare the studies.

Every Program will be Implemented in Three parts of the Three Elements upon Which the Funds will be Divided Which are-

Lead- the environment will be supported by the infrastructure, support, policies, and procedures that are required to encourage bystander action and also assist the people affected by violence.
Train- the people, in general, get the idea of what is violence and what are its types. They will get to know the consequences of violence to every stakeholder in society. The skills and confidence which are required to speak up against violence and the supportive attitude and behavior as positive bystanders and social vigilantes.
Promote- key programs and the messages attached will be promoted across the institutions and the people will be actively encouraged to participate in the violence-preventing activities and campaigns for gender equality (Carbone, 2020).

References

Carbone, S. R. Flattening the curve of mental ill-health: the importance of primary prevention in managing the mental health impacts of COVID-19. Mental Health & Prevention, 19, 200185. (2020).
Clapperton, Angela J. "Identifying typologies among persons admitted to hospital for non-fatal intentional self-harm in Victoria, Australia." Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology 54, no. 12 (2019): 1497-1504.
Dickson, Joanne M., Kate Cruise, Clare A. McCall, and Peter J. Taylor. "A systematic review of the antecedents and prevalence of suicide, self-harm and suicide ideation in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth." International journal of environmental research and public health 16, no. 17 (2019): 3154.
Edwards, K. M., Shorey, R. C., & Glozier, K. Primary prevention of intimate partner violence among sexual and gender minorities. In Intimate partner violence and the LGBT+ community (pp. 161-176). (2020). Springer, Cham.
Government of Australia https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/mental-health-and-suicide-prevention/what-were-doing-about-suicide-prevention (n.d.)
Hedrick, Kyli, Gregory Armstrong, Guy Coffey, and Rohan Borschmann. "Self-harm in the Australian asylum seeker population: A national records-based study." SSM-Population Health 8 (2019): 100452.

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