Aboriginal people
In recognition of Aboriginal people as the first inhabitants of NSW, this resource respectfully refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Aboriginal people.
Key terms
The following terms have been defined in the context of their use and interpretation throughout this resource.
Aftercare: Services support people after they experience suicidal thoughts, behaviours or attempts, focusing on long-term recovery through personalised, non-clinical and community-based approaches that address the drivers of suicide.
Care coordinator: Aftercare worker who provides comprehensive non-clinical psychosocial support to consumers. Collaborates with peer workers and other providers to deliver tailored, holistic services.
Cis or cisgender: The term ’cis’ is short for ’cisgender’. It describes people whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned or presumed at birth. For example, if someone is assigned or presumed female at birth and identifies as a woman, they are cisgender.
Clinical care: Involves the provision of diagnosis and treatment by qualified mental health professionals.
Clinical governance: A framework to ensure safe, high-quality care through monitoring and improvement of clinical practice.
Clinician: A qualified health professional who provides clinical support, assessment and treatment to consumers. Depending on the profession, this may mean registration with the Australian Health Professional Registration Authority (AHPRA), eligibility to join the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW) or Djirruwang trained.
Cognitive disability: Refers to a range of conditions, such as intellectual disability, developmental disability, dementia, acquired brain injury, autism spectrum disorder or other neurodevelopmental conditions, and severe and persistent mental illness, that can impact a person’s ability to communicate, remember, learn, concentrate and make everyday decisions.
Colonial load: The ongoing psychological and emotional burden Aboriginal people carry due to the lasting impacts of colonisation, including trauma, cultural loss and systemic inequality.
Consumer care review: A process to review support provided by a service to meet a consumer’s needs and safety.
Consumer: A person who accesses aftercare services following suicidal ideation, crisis or an attempt.
Co-production: A collaborative approach to service design in which consumers, service providers, key partners, policy makers and family, carers, friends and kin work together. They design and implement a service that meets the needs of the community.
Diagnostic overshadowing: The wrongful attribution of a person's symptoms to an existing condition, leading to misdiagnosis or overlooked health issues.
Endosex: A word used to describe people who are not intersex.
Endosexism: Treating endosex bodies and people as valid, and people with innate variations of sex characteristics as disordered or in need of ‘fixing’.
Group debriefing: Structured group discussion about challenges, successes and stressors, in relation to supporting people in their recovery.
Heteronormative: Preferential cultural attitudes that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal sexual orientation.
Intersectionality: How various aspects of a person’s identity, such as culture, beliefs and life experiences, intersect to influence their experiences, perceptions and treatment within society.
Lateral violence: Harmful behaviours or actions that occur between people or groups within the same community or cultural background. These often stem from historical trauma, oppression and the impact of colonisation.
Lived and living experience: Knowledge and insights gained by people through their personal experiences of mental health challenges, trauma or suicidal crises. This includes both consumers or family members, carers, friends and kin.
Neurodivergence: Variation in neurocognitive functioning among people. It includes several conditions, such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Tourette syndrome, dyslexia and other learning difficulties.
Non-clinical care: Supportive services that focus on psychosocial needs and empower consumers to establish ongoing community support in a non-acute setting.
Older people: People aged 65 years and above. Aboriginal people aged 50+ are eligible to access older people’s mental health services.
Operational governance: A framework that ensures effective management, communication and collaboration among service partners. This enhances quality and sustainability of aftercare services.
Peer worker: Aftercare workers who draw on their personal lived and living experience of suicide or psychological distress. This allows authentic engagement and support for people accessing aftercare services.
Person-centred care: Care that respects and responds to the preferences, needs and values of people. Providing person-centred care means respecting each person as an individual human being, and not just as a condition to be treated.
Person-led care: Care that supports the person to lead their own care and be treated as a person first. The focus is on the person and what they can do, not their condition or disability.
Psychosocial support: Non-therapeutic support given to help meet the mental, emotional, social and spiritual needs of consumers.
Reflective practice: An activity focused on the needs and wellbeing of the employee. This is an opportunity to reflect on professional practices, successes and challenges.
Recovery-oriented: An approach to recovery, taking into account how each person is different and should be supported to make their own choices; be listened to; and be treated with dignity and respect. Each person is the expert of their own life and support should assist them to achieve their hopes, goals and aspirations.
Support plan: A personalised plan that outlines an individual's recovery goals, strategies and support systems to foster long-term mental health and wellbeing.
Safe storytelling: The practice of sharing personal experiences of suicide and psychological distress in a supportive environment. This ensures people feel respected and safe in discussing their mental health journey.
Safety plan: A collaborative, person-centred and person-led process that creates an individualised tool to help manage a person's suicidal thoughts and urges by identifying coping strategies, support resources and action for crisis situations.
Service mapping: The process of identifying local services within an area to enhance referral options, highlight service delivery gaps, and foster collaboration for improved care access.
Stakeholder mapping: The process of identifying key organisations or individuals that should be considered in building local partnerships and engagement.
Team leaders: Aftercare workers who oversee and coordinate aftercare services. They ensure the service provides evidence-informed care that is innovative and tailored to the community they support.
Therapeutic nihilism: The view that treatment is of limited or no benefit to a person.
Transgenerational trauma: The effects of trauma passed down through generations. This influences the mental health and wellbeing of people who may have not directly experienced the original traumatic event.
Trauma-informed care: An approach to care that recognises the enduring impacts of trauma on people. This ensures services are delivered in a safe, supportive and empowering environment.
Universal aftercare: The provision of inclusive and responsive aftercare services to any person who needs support, regardless of gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, ability and culture.
Virtual care: The provision of services involving any interaction between a consumer and care providers, or between care providers, that occurs remotely using technology.
Acronyms
ABS: Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACCHO: Aboriginal community controlled health organisation
ACCO: Aboriginal community controlled organisation
AH&MRC: Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council
ASIST: Applied suicide intervention skills training
CAMHS: Child and adolescent mental health services
CMO: Community managed organisation
CoP: Community of practice
ED: Emergency department
LGBTIQ+: Lesbian, gay, bi+, trans, intersex and queer individuals
LHDs: Local health districts
LRG: Local response group
MDS: Minimum data set
NDIS: National Disability Insurance Scheme
PHNs: Primary health networks
PREMs: Patient reported experience measures
SHNs: Specialty health networks
SPOT: Suicide Prevention Outreach Team
STARTSS: Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors