Throughout Australia, suicide remains the leading cause of death within the 15 to 24 year old age bracket. In Western Australia, 9595 people are homeless every night, 5% of which are young people aged 12 to 24.

These statistics reinforce feedback to the Youth Affairs Council of WA (YACWA) from the WA Youth Sector that homelessness and suicide are real and present issues impacting youth and community work practice across WA.

YACWA, through the commission of this report, aims to provide the Western Australian Youth Sector with a useful resource in supporting young people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness and who are also at risk of suicide. The report has been guided by a theory-led and evidence-based approach.

Download the Report

The full Report (PDF)

Download Report Chapters

Executive Summary  (PDF)

Report Chapter 2 – Background to the project  (PDF)

Report Chapter 3 – Setting the scene: Homelessness and young people  (PDF)

Report Chapter 4 – Setting the scene: Suicide and young people  (PDF)

Report Chapter 5 – Setting the scene: Homelessness and suicide policy  (PDF)

Report Chapter 6 – Risk factors, protective factors and warning signs  (PDF)

Report Chapter 7 – Suicide prevention  (PDF)

Report Chapter 8 – Improving the mental health of young homeless people  (PDF)

Report Chapter 9 – Taking a recovery orientated approach  (PDF)

Report Chapter 10 – Suicide prevention training  (PDF)

Report Chapter 11 – Meeting the service needs of young homeless people  (PDF)

Report Chapter 12 – Supporting youth workers  (PDF)

Report Chapter 13 – Responding to a young homeless person at risk of suicide  (PDF)

Report Chapter 14 – Developing a safety plan  (PDF)

Report Chapter 15 – Service provider perspectives  (PDF)

Report Chapter 16 – Conclusion  (PDF)

References  (PDF)

Appendix A  (PDF)

Appendix B  (PDF)

Appendix C  (PDF)

Appendix D  (PDF)

Appendix E  (PDF)

Appendix F  (PDF)

 

Acknowledgements

The Youth Affairs Council of WA (YACWA) acknowledges and thanks all of the participating youth agencies, Youth Workers from the WA youth sector, the Suicide Call Back Service and young people for their commitment, courage and willingness to contribute to the research base for this project. Special thanks also go to Craig Comrie (YACWA, Chief Executive Officer) for his guidance, Vik Jeyakumar (YACWA, Deputy Chief Executive Officer) and Bonnie Davis for leading this research project and the Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention for seeing merit in funding this project.

We would like to acknowledge the WA Centre for Health Promotion Research who was commissioned to write this report, in particular, the contribution from Rochelle Tobin and Dr Jude Comfort (WA Centre for Health Promotion Research, Project Officers).

We would also like to acknowledge and thanks all agencies involved in Stage 1 and Stage 2 of this project who have collectively provided their expertise and guidance that informed and directed the thinking within this report. In addition to this, YACWA thanks each of the 300 youth workers who have participated in the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training that was delivered over the course of this project.