We are please to announce that the Australian Institute of Suicide Prevention has won the LIFE Award for Excellence in the Suicide Research category.

The Research Award recognises the contribution by an Australian researcher or group of researchers towards increasing knowledge around suicide and suicide prevention. Listen to audio of Dr Kairi Kolves on receiving the Research Award.

The AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE FOR SUICIDE RESEARCH AND PREVENTION (AISRAP) has been a research centre at Griffith University since 1996, delivering high quality research, clinical services, training & education in suicide prevention. Since 2008, AISRAP has been a National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention informing the Dept of Health on policy, prevention and best-practice initiatives nationally.  AISRAP is the only World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention in Australia, 1 of only 5 centres in the world.

AISRAP made significant contributions to the 2014 W.H.O. Report, Preventing suicide: A global imperative and engages and collaborates with numerous stakeholders both nationally and internationally.  Its researchers are highly respected international experts, with over 200 peer-reviewed journal publications and invited presentations in the last 5 years. 

AISRAP manages the Queensland Suicide Register (QSR), one of the most comprehensive databases of its kind in the Asia Pacific region.  Since 1990 the QSR has informed critical suicide prevention policy and action plans of the Queensland State Government, funded by Queensland Health and more recently (since 2014) by Queensland Mental Health Commission. This pivotal data resource is invaluable in assisting Primary Health Networks in planning and evaluating practical needs-based regional suicide prevention initiatives.

In response to the absence of accurate and standardised recording systems for non-fatal suicidal behaviour, AISRAP designed and operates a unique database for monitoring of suicide attempts and self-harm presentations at hospital emergency departments (World Health Organization Suicide Trends in At-Risk Territories (START) Study).  AISRAP has produced 16 volumes of Suicide Research: Selected Readings, a biannual critical literature review series that identifies and outlines recent advances and developments in research in suicide prevention, collating all newly released publications that explicitly refer to fatal and/or non-fatal suicidal behaviours and related issues.  AISRAP’s highly innovative Screening Tool for Assessing Risk of Suicide training in suicide risk assessment has recently been translated into 5 languages. The Institute’s Life Promotion Clinic is the only outpatient treatment/research clinic providing an alternative to hospitalised-based care for those with a history of suicidal behaviour.

We are pleased to celebrate excellence in suicide prevention by recognising AISRAP’s contributions to suicide prevention research.

Other categories and winners from the night include:
About the National Suicide Prevention Conference
The 2017 conference was held at the Sofitel Brisbane Central, Queensland, 26 – 29 July 2017. The theme Relationships, Resilience and Respect: Responding to vulnerability in life is designed to bring to the fore these thematic issues in suicide prevention and how they may help or hinder implementation of initiatives at the community level.