A resource tackling the issue of people using suicide as a threat has been redeveloped to assist Northern Territory community members and service providers to respond to this difficult issue. ‘’The Little Red Threat Book’’, originally published in 2007, has been revised and further developed by the Central Australian Life Promotion Network (LPN) with input from people who have lived experience of this issue.
The first edition of the Little Red Threat Book was produced in 2007 after a community workshop was held to explore this emerging issue. The Life Promotion Program, as part of the Mental Health Association of Central Australia (MHACA), coordinated the workshop. The book has been reprinted multiple times and has been a valuable resource for community members and service providers over the last decade.
In 2019, the Central Australian Life Promotion Network received funding from the Northern Territory Government, Department of Health & Minister Natasha Fyles, to organise, host and facilitate a Suicide Prevention Forum in Central Australia that would inform a revised version of the Little Red Threat Book.
The LPN was established in 2017 as part of the Wesley Lifeforce networks, and is facilitated by MHACA, MacDonnell Regional Council, Lifeline Central Australia, Australian Red Cross and the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
In August 2019, people from Aboriginal communities, people with lived experience of suicide and representatives from local service organisations came together at the Suicide Prevention Forum to share experiences and explore responses to suicide being used as a threat. The forum heard directly from people who have been impacted by this issue, as well as from successful suicide prevention programs.
The book tackles a problem that has felt difficult, confusing and dangerous for many people. In the workshops, participants expressed an understanding that people making suicidal threats are often affected by trauma and the frustrations of unmet needs. Responses explored in the book revolve around expressing care, supporting collective safety and finding ways to meet unmet needs without reinforcing unsafe behaviour.
Suicide as a threat is a complex issue and this book does not have all the answers, but the LPN has developed this resource in the hope that it will help people be more confident to provide the appropriate support in these difficult situations.
The Little Red Threat Book can be downloaded here
Please email healthpromotion@mhaca.org.au to order some printed copies.
Keeping Everyone Safe is a short video that provides advice for when someone threatens to end their life to get something they want.
The animation has been developed by the Mental Health Association of Central Australia, with the support of the Central Australian Life Promotion Network, and is adapted from the Little Red Threat Book, which provides a community response to the issue of suicide being used as a threat.
This animation is supported by the Northern Territory Government, Central Australia Life Promotion Network and is produced by ITALK Studios.