The need for shift in approach to suicide prevention in Australia

This article reviews the current approach to suicide prevention in Australia, which is focused on medical model and argues the need for shifting the approach to social model. The new situational approach should focus on social determinants and consider the risk factors such as aboriginality, unemployment, financial distress and relationship breakdown alongside metal illness. The new approach has been successful in many local interventions. For example, The Shed in Mt Druitt, Sydney is partnering with twenty-eight local organisations to address the social determinants to reduce the suicide rate.