Suicide is the leading cause of death among young Australians, calling on united system-wide responses that extend beyond individual clinical encounters. While the Zero Suicide Framework (ZSF) is well established in adult mental health settings, its adaptation for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is less developed and presents unique challenges and opportunities.
This presentation will share the journey of implementing the Zero Suicide Framework across a diverse state-wide CAMHS population. It will highlight the complexities of adapting an adult-based framework into a child and youth context, where developmental needs, family involvement, and cultural diversity play central roles. Central to this adaptation has been an emphasis on cultural co-design and partnering with families and carers, to ensure developmental, cultural, and contextual relevance across diverse service environments.
Learnings from this process include strategies to support multidisciplinary staff in embedding the Zero Suicide philosophy, delivering role-specific and culturally responsive training, and translating policy into practice to improve care and outcomes for young people and their families. Implementation strategies focused on workforce education, reflective supervision, and collaborative consultation. The development of a tailored training program will be explored from the perspective of creating services that not only respond to risk but actively build safety, connection, and hope for children, young people, and their families.
Outcomes to date will be shared, including strengthened workforce capability, improved engagement of families, and early shifts in organisational culture. These outcomes demonstrate that, even within the complexities of CAMHS, system-level suicide prevention can be achieved in ways that promote continuous quality and safety and restore hope.
Finally, the session will explore future directions, with a particular focus on innovations in safety planning with children and their families. These emerging approaches move beyond static tools, instead fostering dynamic, collaborative conversations that empower young people, strengthen protective connections, and promoting recovery and agency. By embedding hope at every level — from leadership to frontline practice — the journey to Zero Suicide becomes not only achievable, but transformative.