Five Neami suicide prevention services and programs have been recognised for their quality, safety and effectiveness, recently achieving accreditation against the national Suicide Prevention Standards for Quality Improvement:
- The Way Back – Western Sydney and Central and Eastern Sydney regions
- Perth Metro Suicide Prevention Coordination
- Safe Space Strathpine
- Reach Out and Connect Suicide Awareness Training (developed by the former LifeConnect service)
James Bell, Neami Director – Safety and Homelessness, said “this is a fantastic outcome and reflects our staff’s hard work and dedication to delivering meaningful supports to the consumers and communities we work with.”
Suicide Prevention Australia assessed the programs against a national quality benchmark to ensure they align with best practice in suicide prevention and are meeting community needs.
All five programs achieved 100% compliance with the Standards, which assessed:
- alignment with Neami’s aims and objectives
- how the voice of people lived and living experience has informed all aspects of each program
- the strength of our collaboration and partnerships
- the program framework, or ‘behind the scenes’ functions supporting program delivery
- program management, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for all involved, and
- each program’s contribution to learnings to improve the wider suicide prevention sector.
Chloe Loveday, Neami Senior Manager Operations – Safety and Homelessness, said the accreditation is “an opportunity to highlight the difference between suicide prevention services and other service delivery.
“We knew that our services and programs are both lived experience- and trauma-informed, but the accreditation process enabled us to go back through the service design process and articulate the roots of program development to demonstrate it more clearly.”