Try and take time to connect with Elders and other respected Aboriginal people.

Contact and utilise the Department for Education – Aboriginal Education team to support linkages with Aboriginal families. You can contact the team by email education.aboriginalservices@sa.gov.au or by phone 08 8463 5813.

Aboriginal people are more likely to have been affected by suicide at a young age. This is due to high suicide rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations.

This exposure can make suicide seem a ‘normal’ way of coping with problems. You can help people by encouraging them to:

• reflect on connections to life
• find more helpful coping strategies.

If you have Aboriginal staff, you can contact the Aboriginal Education team by email at education.aboriginalservices@sa.gov.au or by phone at 08 8463 5813 – all sectors are welcome to contact this team.

Aboriginal staff often work alone or in isolation. They might need a different level of support to non-Aboriginal staff.

The support room is a safe space where Aboriginal students of all ages can come together to receive and offer support. It allows them time to reflect on their loss.

If possible, have Aboriginal staff take the lead along with wellbeing coordinators and leadership to coordinate and supervise the room. They can relate to the Aboriginal students. They can link them to community support and appropriate services.

Find out how to set up a support room.

Ceremonies and grieving

At first, do not expect staff to go near the location of the student’s death. Wait until there has been some ceremonial grieving or cleansing of the site. Each community has different ways to observe this.