This Section notifies people when a student, still at school, dies from suspected suicide. They:

• only contact senior members of a student’s family.

For Government schools they:

• have one point of contact in the Department for Education, this is the Incident Management Directorate.

The department’s Incident Management Directorate will:

• liaise with the Coroner’s Office
• notify the Chief Executive and other department Executive Directors and the Minister’s Office
• advise relevant key contacts, such as the Customer Feedback Unit, Department for Education and the Complex Care and Trauma Mental Health team in CAMHS
• commence condolence messaging administration for the Chief Executive and Minister’s Office.

Child and youth suicides can increase the risk of harm to family members and other vulnerable students.

Because of this, schools must be told about:

• any immediate connections between a deceased student and members of their own school community
• the possible influence of suicide information being exchanged across their student population.

Think about other schools that are affected. It might be a school in a different sector. Work together to let their families and community know what’s happening.

Schools need as much advance warning as possible. This makes sensitive enquiries between schools easier to do. It means extra monitoring can be set up for identified vulnerable students.

1. School informs their sector office:

Department for Education

Education Director (login required)

Catholic Education SA

Schools Performance Leader

Association of Independent Schools of South Australia

Chief Executive: 08 8179 1400

2. School contacts their support services

Government schools:

• SWISS 08 8314 4100 – support for students.
• Employee Psychology Services 08 8226 0744 – support for staff.

Catholic and Independent schools:

• Be You – headspace 0448 381 280.

3. Sector offices share information

The sector where the student was enrolled must inform the other two sectors.

Each sector office is responsible for managing how they inform relevant site leaders. Decisions about who to inform will depend on what’s happening at the time.

It’s important you contact the department’s Aboriginal Education team. Email them on education.aboriginalservices@sa.gov.au or call on 08 8463 5813 – the Department for Education encourages all sectors to do this.

The sudden death of an Aboriginal person is complex. It often comes on top of other grief, loss and trauma. It needs a specialist response.

You might want to talk to a community Elder or member for advice about local customs.

Value and respect Aboriginal culture, expertise and practice. Always seek advice from family and community to adopt local practices and approaches to grieving and loss.