Services and support
Suicide prevention program
Standing with communities to prevent suicide and strengthen hope.
The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) suicide prevention program supports Aboriginal community controlled health services (ACCHSs) and communities across the Northern Territory to lead culturally strong, community-controlled suicide prevention.
Working alongside social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) teams, the culture care connect program and other partners, the program focuses on early support, safe responses to distress and suicide risk, and reducing the ongoing impacts of suicide on families and communities.
What we do
We help services design, strengthen and coordinate local suicide prevention approaches that are led by the community and grounded in culture. This includes supporting SEWB and alcohol and other drugs (AOD) teams, managers and community leaders to plan and deliver activities that promote connection, recognise early warning signs and link people to the right support.
We also connect services into Northern Territory-wide suicide prevention networks, training and tools, so workers have peers to learn from and don’t feel like they’re carrying this work on their own.
Why this program matters
Suicide continues to deeply affect Aboriginal people, families and communities across the Northern Territory, with emotional, cultural and intergenerational impacts. Many communities are also carrying heavy loads of grief, loss and trauma. At the same time, there is strong resilience in culture, kinship, language and country.
The suicide prevention program helps bring these strengths together with SEWB and clinical care, so suicide prevention is led by communities, not imposed on them, and people can get support that feels safe and respectful.
Our focus areas
The program focuses on building community-controlled suicide prevention capacity within ACCHSs and their communities. This includes support for local suicide prevention planning, strengthening early-response and follow-up pathways, and building the skills and confidence of SEWB and suicide prevention workers.
We work to embed culturally informed, trauma-aware practice into everyday SEWB and primary health care, and to link local work with broader initiatives such as culture care connect and regional mental health and suicide prevention planning.
How we support member services
We work with member services to understand local priorities, history and current pressures, then shape support around that. This may include working through or refreshing a local suicide prevention plan, mapping how people currently access help and where gaps exist, and identifying simple, realistic changes that fit the community.
We link teams into training, workshops and communities of practice, and share tools to support safer responses to distress and suicide risk. We also help services build relationships with other local providers and regional partners, and when needed, we back them in raising system-level issues so responses and resources better reflect Aboriginal-led priorities.
Who we work with
The suicide prevention program works with:
- ACCHSs across the Northern Territory
- SEWB, AOD and other frontline workers supporting people, families and communities at risk
- community elders, leaders, cultural advisors and local groups involved in healing and cultural support
- partners delivering programs, such as culture care connect
- Northern Territory Primary Health Network (NT PHN), the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), NT Health and other government and sector partners involved in suicide prevention planning and funding.
Our impact
Through the suicide prevention program, AMSANT is helping services and communities to:
- strengthen culturally grounded, community-controlled suicide prevention responses
- increase early identification and support for people experiencing distress or suicide risk
- build the skills, confidence and support networks of SEWB and suicide prevention workers
- improve coordination between local services, regional partners and broader mental health systems.
Over time, this work aims to support safer communities, stronger cultural and social connection, and better social and emotional wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory.
Current projects & initiatives
Culture care connect support
working with services participating in culture care connect to strengthen local suicide prevention capacity and networks.
Suicide story and related workshops
supporting access to Aboriginal-designed programs that help communities talk about and respond to suicide in culturally grounded ways.
Workforce training and communities of practice
linking SEWB and suicide prevention workers into training (for example, suicide prevention, trauma-informed practice and mental health first aid) and ongoing peer networks.
Regional planning and partnerships
contributing to mental health and suicide prevention planning and advocating for Aboriginal community-controlled leadership in this work.
Resources & downloads
Information is available about culture care connect, suicide prevention and SEWB resources tailored for Aboriginal communities, workforce training and support information, and key Northern Territory and national suicide prevention support services.
Get in touch
To find out more about the suicide prevention program or suicide prevention support in your region, please contact: