Poster presentation titled: Implementing a national program to influence media reporting of suicide: The Australian experience. Poster delivered at the International Association for Suicide Prevention Congress in Tahiti in June 2014. Poster presented by Jaelea Skehan.

1. Implementing a national program to
influence media reporting of suicide:
The Australian Experience
Authors:
Jaelea Skehan – Director, Hunter Institute of Mental Health
jaelea.skehan@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
Marc Bryant – Program Manager, Hunter Institute of Mental Health
marc.bryant@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
Websites: www.mindframe-media.info or www.himh.org.au
@MindframeMedia or @HInstMH

2. The Hunter Institute of Mental
Health is a leading national
organisation dedicated to reducing
mental illness and suicide and
improving wellbeing for all
Australians. For more than 20 years
we have been delivering successful,
evidence-based mental health and
suicide prevention programs from
our base in Newcastle, NSW. These
have made a considerable
contribution to the mental health
and wellbeing of many Australians.
The Mindframe National Media
Initiative is delivered by the Hunter
Institute of Mental Health and
funded under the National Suicide
Prevention Program. It aims to
influence media representation of
issues related to mental illness and
suicide, encouraging responsible,
accurate and sensitive portrayals.
Mindframe works with news and
entertainment media, the mental
health and suicide prevention
sectors, universities, police and
courts.
www.himh.org.au
@HInstMH
www.mindframe-media.info
@MindframeMedia

3. About Mindframe
Mindframe is funded under the National
Suicide Prevention Program in Australia
and has been managed by the Hunter
Institute of Mental Health since 2002.
The Initiative is guided by national advisory
groups, including the Mindframe Media
Advisory Group; Mindframe
Communication Managers Group (mental
health & suicide prevention); Mindframe
Police Advisory Group; and the Mindframe
for Universities Advisory Group (journalism
& public relations).
Mindframe is a comprehensive and multi-
faceted strategy to disseminate evidence
based information to a range of sectors
about media coverage of suicide and
mental illness.

5. Research into practice
Research evidence related to media
reporting and portrayal of suicide
Development of Australian
guidelines
Evidence based strategies to
enhance program dissemination
Dissemination of Australian program
(integration into policies, professional
development, partnerships, leadership)
Consultation and sector engagement to identify qualities about journalists and the
media environment in Australia
In Australia, the evidence for media reporting of suicide has been integrated with
evidence for program dissemination. Sector consultations and engagement has
been key, with resource development only one component of the strategy.

6. The Mindframe model
THE APPROACH:
1. Evidence-based and sector appropriate
print and online resources;
2. Professional development and sector
engagement;
3. Changes to policies, procedures and
codes of practice;
4. National Leadership.
AIM: To improve media reporting and portrayal of suicide and mental illness.
SECTORS: (1) Media professionals and media organisations; (2) journalism and
public relations educators and students; (3) the mental health and suicide
prevention sectors; (4) police and courts; (5) Stage and screen.

8. Capacity building model
1. Support organisational development across target groups through embedding
Mindframe information and core principles into curriculum, policies, codes and
organisational plans.
– For example, 100% of Australian media bodies now have consistent codes of
practice for reporting suicide.
2. Contribute to workforce development across target groups through relevant
direct engagement with sectors.
– For example, 500+ media training sessions have been conducted, meeting face-to-
face with over 200 journalists per year.
3. Continue to Allocate resources across through the update, maintenance and
dissemination of print and online resources.
– For example, in 2014 new resource books and an APP were launched for media.
Additional sections on journalists self care, reporting suicide bereavement and
online reporting were added based on consultations.

9. Capacity building model (cont.)
4. Support partnerships between target groups and the project team and build
partnerships across target groups.
– For example, the Mindframe team has an MOU with two national postvention
services to coordinate media responses to possible clusters.
5. Continue to provide and support leadership for this kind of work through
maintenance of reference and advisory groups, strategic partnerships with
organisations and supporting champions across sectors.
– For example, there are four active national advisory groups across target groups,
including an advisory group of over 30 journalists and senior media representatives.
6. Monitor and evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the project strategies.
– For example, the program is supporting a PhD candidate and other evaluation
activities to build knowledge about dissemination of media guidelines.

10. Summary of outcomes
• One of only two countries where the introduction of
guidelines or strategies have resulted in a change in
reporting (Media Monitoring study, Pirkis et al. 2009):
– Both suicide and mental illness items increased in
volume, with approximately a two-and-a-half-fold
increase.
– In terms of quality, suicide items increased from
57% to 75%, and mental illness items increased
from 75% to 80%.
• The only country that has shown evidence that media
are aware of the resources and use the resources in
their practice (Skehan et al., 2006; Pirkis et al., 2006).
• Uptake in journalism curricula and improvements in
student knowledge and skills (Skehan et al., 2009).

11. Summary of engagement
Online resources are important. In the past month:
15,000 People visited the website
22,700 pages were viewed
69% of visitors were accessing media pages
But face-to-face strategies increase uptake:
Mindframe delivers approx. 50 media briefings per year.
Evaluations consistently show face-to-face engagement improves
uptake over all other strategies (mail-out, online).

12. Next steps?
The program is working to refine resources and
approaches in line with program evaluations and sector
engagement. Recent developments include:
• Development of a proactive communication strategy
for media to manage high profile events or possible
clusters – including a social media account
(@MindframeMedia);
• Launch of revised media resource books, updated
website and launch of APP for media professionals;
• Development of targeted resources for priority
populations – Indigenous Australians, CALD
communities and LGBTI people.
• Progress nationally to consult with media and the
suicide prevention sector to develop a social media
strategy for Australia;
• Partnerships across sectors to manage emerging
areas.