Over the past 4 years the Department for education of Children and young people (formally the Department of Education) has undertaken to provide training to all school psychologists, social workers and School health nurses in the state in recognising suicidal distress in young people and cocreation of safety plans for students from upper primary to collage aged students (approx from ages 10 to 19). This work has been carried out by me and a school health nurse with over 40 trainings using the connecting with people model. As of august 2025 we have 100% of school Psychologists (in excess of 120), 97% of School Social workers (in excess of 110) and 90% of school health nurses trained throughout the state. This means that there is consistent language used across our department, a centralised support able to be offered for staff who are seeking support or reassurance re their work with young people in suicidal distress (myself in the position of senior School Psychologist) and staff who often work in isolation a level of confidence in their practice, this is further needed in that they often work without 2nd and 3rd tier support offered on the mainland. In its fourth year, the program continues to grow, and regular refreshers are provided ensuring currency of practice and knowledge. A central support page has been set up for supporting young people with NSSI and one is presently being constructed for working with young people in suicidal distress. This work has been described as changing people's view of working in this area, showing them how they can help young people, see beyond just the ideation to the underlying cause and is often cited as one of the primary reasons why they continue to work for the department.
At a time when 1/3 of young people are identifying thoughts of suicide and possible attempts in Australia this model shows a possible way forward for education services, be they government departments of private organisations such as catholic education