Environmental scan of ‘postvention after suicide’ research, services, and practice guidelines focusing on military, emergency services and their families

Bereavement by suicide poses unique challenges, affecting family, friends, and colleagues differently from other deaths. With an estimated 135 people impacted by each individual suicide, over 50% of individuals in society are estimated to be exposed to a suicide in their lifetime. Military and emergency service populations face even higher rates, with a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of these communities. While postvention resources and services have been flagged as an area of unmet need, policies remain insufficient, and research on service-specific needs is lacking.

There is an urgent need for comprehensive investigation and international collaboration to develop appropriate support and
resources for service populations. This Environmental Scan aims to address these gaps by compiling a detailed summary of existing national and international initiatives for military and emergency services personnel and their families affected by suicide−encompassing research, services, programs, resources, policy, and education/training programs.

This scan was created to inform the Australian specific contexts, and therefore highlights Australian specific services for the broader military and emergency services community in greater details – examinations of the international contexts were performed to best inform the Australian setting, but not examined at the same level of detail. Future releases of this work may consider detailing the international services for the broader military and emergency services community in greater detail.
While this scan contains a list of all services available for military and emergency services communities in Australia, irrespective of postvention services, this scan should not be considered a comprehensive list of every service available for military and emergency services personnel internationally – it will only focus on postvention specific services internationally.