Summary

CIRCA was engaged by the National Suicide Prevention Taskforce, within the Commonwealth Department of Health to undertake research that will help to build a better understanding about the lived experience of suicide in Australia to inform recommendations to the government. The focus of the research was on people who have attempted suicide or experienced a suicidal crisis and who are from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

The research was undertaken in two stages to allow early findings to be included by the Suicide Prevention Taskforce in its preliminary reporting. The Suicide Prevention Taskforce (based on existing information and a need to access the lived experiences of more recently arrived CALD communities) specified an interest in learning about the lived experiences of people from the following language/cultural backgrounds: Chinese, Vietnamese, South Sudanese, Congolese, and Maori/Pacifica. Stage 1 of the research involved recruitment of a sub-sample of these target groups and Stage 2 involved further recruitment and the development of a final report that incorporated the findings of Stage 1 with the addition of 5 further interviews, with a more specific focus on the experiences of younger men from African, Pacific Islander, and Asian backgrounds.

CIRCA’s specific objectives for the research were to:

• Build a better understanding of the lived experience of suicide in Australia among people from CALD backgrounds
• Understand the consideration of immigration and its consequences as a factor in suicidal behaviour and crisis
• Assess the impact of factors that have contributed to a person’s suicide attempt or crisis and to understand what elements and supports prevent them from overcoming the crisis

CIRCA’s Research Approach

The initial recruitment task sought to find people from CALD backgrounds with a lived experience of suicidal crisis from the following demographic groups:

• Chinese, Vietnamese, South Sudanese, Congolese, and Maori/Pacifica
• self-identifying as male
• aged between 18 and 35 years old
• in recovery and not presently experiencing a crisis

The specificity of the recruitment criteria created an initial difficulty in identifying people, due to the significant cultural sensitivities across these groups around the issues of mental health and suicide. Therefore, the approach relied on us developing pathways to potential research participants through community engagement of organisations and individuals who themselves would have contact with or access to people experiencing suicidal crisis.

As a result of these actions, nine people with diverse CALD backgrounds showed interest in telling their life stories and experiences related to suicide.

An important consideration in undertaking the interviews was to ensure that the interviewers were themselves appropriate to and capable of undertaking the interviews with these candidates. Interviews were conducted by skilled CIRCA research consultants with experience in trauma-informed practice and a knowledge of suicide prevention and mental health first aid. CIRCA also ensured that the interviewers were both linguistically and culturally appropriate. To support researchers, CIRCA developed a Distress Protocol to help them manage and mitigate any distress or anxiety that might emerge among participants during or after interviews.

Research Findings and Outcomes

As suicide is a complex behaviour with multiple trajectories caution was exercised in extracting life histories and information provided in the interviews. Each lived experience varied across individual considerations, which included the following: age at which the person attempted suicide, migration and refugee pathways, family structures and relationships, and issues relevant to settlement in Australia and the broader notion of ‘fitting in’ both within the host culture and the ethnic or religious culture specific to the participant’s background.

The life stories and information provided within these interviews indicates several factors that were identified by interviewees as significant to their suicidal crisis. Within the interviews, the following issues contributing to suicide among the people with whom we spoke were consistent:

• Early childhood trauma
• Issues around cultural differences and cultural clashes between the home environment and the out-of-home environment
• Relationship issues
• Family relationship issues
• Mental health being viewed as a cultural taboo
• Experiences of racism and prejudice in Australia

These findings were integrated by the National Suicide Prevention Taskforce into their final report.

The CIRCA’s Suicide Prevention Research – CALD Lived Experience is available here: https://lifeinmindaustralia.imgix.net/assets/src/uploads/Final-Advice-CALD-Suicide-Prevention.pdf