What is this resource?
Introduction
Every day in Australia, approximately nine people die by suicide1: in 2024, 3,3072 such deaths were recorded nationally. Each death has profound and long-lasting impacts on families, communities and clinicians. Suicide bereavement is often described as ‘grief with the volume turned up’, reflecting the intensity and complexity of such a loss.
This guide – After suicide: A resource for GPs – supports GPs who are responding to suicide in their communities and practices. A loss by suicide is different to other types of loss, and there is deep complexity in the experience. Aligning with broader suicide-prevention and postvention reform in Australia, it provides practical guidance, links and resources for bereaved individuals, families and communities. As a companion resource to the GPMHSC’s Suicide prevention: A resource for GPs, it complements existing clinical guidance and mental health training.
Being a trusted point of contact, a GP has a central role in providing compassionate, informed and culturally safe postvention care within Australia’s evolving suicide-prevention system. Therefore, this guide aims to support GPs to fulfil that role (in a sustainable and connected way) and also aims to support GPs who are affected by suicide.
When supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples affected by suicide, GPs need to understand suicide and postvention within a Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) framework (which recognises the central importance of connection to Country, culture, spirituality, family, kinship and community), as well as the ongoing impacts of colonisation, racism and intergenerational trauma. The Victorian Suicide Prevention and Response Strategy 2024–2034 emphasises the need for approaches that are coordinated, culturally responsive and led by those with lived-experience. Nationally, postvention is also embedded into the National Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring System, which is led by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
References
- Overview of suicide and intentional self-harm. Available at www.aihw.gov.au/suicide-self-harm-monitoring/overview/summary [Accessed May 2026]
- ABS cause of death statistics – national suicide data summary. Available at www.suicidepreventionaust.org/news/statsandfacts/ [Accessed May 2026]