The work of Griffith’s Australian Institute for Suicide Research and
Prevention (AISRAP) has been praised following a visit by the Minister for Mental
Health and Ageing, the Hon Mark Butler MP.
The Minister paid a visit to the Institute at the university’s Mt Gravatt campus and was greeted by AISRAP’s director Professor Diego de Leo and Emeritus
Professor John O’Gorman.Minister Butler praised AISRAP’s work as the National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention and also its activities as a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention.
The latter marks AISRAP as an international ambassador of Australian quality research and education.
The importance of the WHO study for low and middle-income countries and the issue of quality in mortality data registration were also topics of the meeting.
Benefits of high quality research
Another important theme discussed was the clinical care of suicidal individuals and how this benefits from high-quality research, such as that provided by AISRAP.
Minister Butler said the Institute’s work provides valuable evidence to guide government spending aimed at national counselling services for those identified at risk of suicide.
“The ramping up of these services goes a long way to improving the understanding we have of risk and prevention around suicide. And equally, the research community is vital to forging ahead and lifting these services,” he said.