Suicide prevention in Australia’s Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities demands more than a one size fits all approach. It requires cultural nuance, trust, and tailored strategies. Building on phase one of Educaid’s partnership with Brisbane South Primary Health Network (PHN), this presentation shares Educaid’s journey toward community capacity building in the delivery of suicide prevention training to community members from Eritrean, Ethiopean, Iranian, Iraqi, Afghan, Somali, Vietnamese, and South Sudanese backgrounds.
Progressing through a two-year project, we spotlight our contextual implementation of LivingWorks SafeTALK training, alongside the development of tools and frameworks. Shaped by deep community engagement, Educaid led codesign and scoping sessions to gather feedback and data which centres the importance of faith, cultural values and social dynamics. By developing a cultural scaffold within the existing frameworks, the project aims to create a sustainable, respectful and community led model for navigating suicide awareness and training in communities.
During this presentation we will articulate the importance of a collective approach as we work together to overcome challenges such as stigma, mistrust of mainstream services, implications of trauma for refugee and asylum seekers as well as ongoing conflict impacting our CALD communities in Australia. Our discussion will also focus on supporting protective factors, building capacity to increase understanding of mental health services and confidence for service navigation to promote help seeking.
This session will offer practical insights into embedding cultural responsiveness into suicide prevention strategies and call on policymakers and practitioners to come together and support CALD communities in shaping solutions that resonate—locally and nationally.