The National Suicide Prevention Leadership and Support Program (NSPLSP) represents a key whole-of-population element of the Australian Government National Suicide Prevention Strategy. From 2017 to 2022, over $100 million of funding was provided to 18 organisations to deliver national suicide prevention activities. $61.6 million was recently committed to extend the program to 2025 and expand its coverage to fund 40 projects delivering services across 7 activity areas.

The Australian Government’s response to the Review of Mental Health Programs and Services outlined reforms to its mental health and suicide prevention funding and program delivery, including a commitment to national leadership and support for whole of population level suicide prevention activity.

There are currently 40 projects funded under the NSPLSP, which provide services across the following areas:

1. National leadership in suicide prevention
2. National leadership in suicide prevention research translation
3. Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention
4. National support for lived experience of suicide
5. National media and communications strategies
6. National suicide prevention training
7. National suicide prevention support for at risk populations and communities.

AHA role

AHA’s ongoing role is to manage the collection, analysis and reporting of the NSPLSP Minimum Data Set (MDS), including providing guidance and support for projects to submit data and meet their MDS reporting obligations and provide reporting to the Department. Project reporting against the MDS commenced in April 2018 and will continue until June 2025. AHA was initially appointed in 2017, and following competitive tender processes, this was extended until 2022 and then to 2025.

In 2017, following AHA’s completion of the evaluation of the National Suicide Prevention Program, the department engaged AHA to develop the activity reporting requirements (Minimum Data Set) for the NSPLSP.  This data assists with the ongoing evaluation and monitoring of the program.

AHA’s initial development role included:

• conduct stakeholder consultation sessions to determine how reporting can best capture project activities
• develop the MDS in collaboration with the Department and its advisors
• develop and administered an online portal for projects to submit monthly MDS activity reporting
• develop training material and provided online seminars to support projects to use the online portal
• develop an evaluation framework for the NSPLSP.

AHA’s focus in developing the MDS was to:

• build on the previous National Suicide Prevention Program MDS, which was used up to the end of 2017
• reflect the work and and activities undertaken by NSPLSP projects under the funding streams
• tie in with other related data collections, in particular the Primary Mental Health Care MDS reported by organisations undertaking Primary Health Network commissioned mental health and suicide prevention services funded by the Australian Government.

AHA’s ongoing role includes:

• administering and maintaining the online portal
• managing the monthly data collection process and assisting projects as required
• providing analysis and reports to the department.