The Department of Health has announced contracts for nine Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to employ Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers (CLOs).
The Department said the initiative was part of a Government plan to reduce Aboriginal suicide rates.
It said the CLOs, based at Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, would work with their respective communities and support the implementation of region-specific Aboriginal suicide prevention plans.
The Department said the plans formed part of the implementation of the Western Australian Suicide Prevention Framework 2021-2025 and included culturally-informed social and emotional wellbeing initiatives designed by and for Aboriginal people.
It said the CLO appointments were aligned with the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which has identified building the community-controlled sector as one of the four priority reform areas.
The Department said the appointments also aligned with socio-economic targets set out in the National Agreement, including achieving a significant and sustained reduction in the suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people towards zero.
It said that, between 2016 and 2019, Western Australia had the highest age-standardised rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia.
Minister for Mental Health, Stephen Dawson the new regional-specific Aboriginal suicide prevention plans and the introduction of the CLOs reflected the guiding principle of ‘Nothing for Aboriginal People without Aboriginal People’.
“They ensure that Aboriginal people are supported to take ownership of these programs and determine their direction,” Mr Dawson said.
“It is initiatives such as the appointment of these CLOs that will have a real and sustained impact on closing the gap, especially in our regional and remote communities,” he said.
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