Consultation report

Advisory committee

An expert advisory committee was established to provide guidance and expertise to support collaborative development of the strategy.

The Commission convened the Expert Advisory Committee to fulfil the following objectives:

1. Contribute to shaping the strategy’s strategic intent and directions by providing insights, recommendations and input to define its overarching vision, principles and priorities.
2. Ensure alignment with the Queensland Government’s strategic reform priorities, integrating the strategy with broader government initiatives to maximise its impact and relevance.
3. Advise on best practices, contemporary literature and trends to enhance the strategy’s effectiveness.
4. Recommend strategies for incorporating trauma-informed principles into policy and practice across Queensland Government departments, identifying opportunities for systemic change and actionable guidance.
5. Ground the strategy in a person-centred and communityfocused perspective, prioritising the insights and needs of people and communities with lived experiences of trauma.
6. Guide initial implementation planning, offering input on translating the strategy’s objectives into actionable plans at whole-of-government and agency levels.
7. Initiate discussions on measurable outcomes to monitor the impact of the strategy and its implementation.

Queensland Government representatives on the Expert Advisory Committee were from:

• Queensland Health
• Queensland Ambulance Service
• Queensland Corrective Services
• Department of Education
• Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
• Department of Housing, Local Government, Planning and Public Works
• Department of Justice and Attorney-General
• Queensland Police Service
• Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services
• Department of Youth Justice
• Department of Employment, Small Business and Training
• Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts
• Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC)
• Department of State Development and Infrastructure (Office of Industrial Relations).

To ensure the strategy is contemporary, evidence-based and responsive to community needs, the Expert Advisory Committee also included members external to government:

• People with lived-living experience
• Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC)
• Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service
• Metro South Hospital and Health Service
• Queensland Alliance for Mental Health (QAMH) Phoenix Australia
• Queensland Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies (QNADA)
• Insight
• University of South Australia
• Mental Health Lived Experience Peak Queensland (MHLEPQ)
• Queensland Lived Experience Workforce Network (QLEWN)
• Arafmi
• Queensland Injectors Voice for Advocacy and Action (QuIVAA)
• Queensland Injectors Health Network (QuIHN)
• Roses in the Ocean
• Open Arms.

The Expert Advisory Committee met on five occasions throughout the development of the strategy.

Review of existing policies and frameworks

The strategy considers the extensive impact of trauma, drawing on thematic analysis from inquiries, reviews and reforms conducted both within Queensland and nationally. These include:

International conventions

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

National policy, frameworks and programs

• National Agreement on Closing the Gap
• Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration
• National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s Mental Health and Social and Emotional Wellbeing
• The National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement and the Bilateral Schedule on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention: Queensland
• The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032
• National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030
• Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031
• Beyond Urgent: National LGBTIQ+ Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Strategy 2021–2026
• National Drug Strategy 2017–2026
• National Disaster Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework

Relevant state-based policy, frameworks and programs

• Queensland’s commitment to Path to Treaty
• Reframing the Relationship Plan
• Queensland’s Framework for Action–Reshaping our approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander domestic and family violence
• Leading healing our way: Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Strategy 2020–2040
• Better Justice Together: Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Strategy 2024–2031
• Communities 2032 and Communities 2032: Action Plan 2022–2025
• Making Tracks Together–Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Equity Framework
• Queensland Multicultural Policy: Our story, our future and Queensland Multicultural Action Plan 2022–23 to 2023–24
• Our way: A generational strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families 2017–2037 and action plans
• Queensland women’s strategy 2022–27
• Queensland Women and Girls’ Health Strategy 2032
• Queensland’s Plan for the Primary Prevention of Violence Against Women 2024–2028
• Putting Queensland Kids First: Giving our kids the opportunity of a lifetime
• Queensland’s Disability Plan 2022–27: Together, a better Queensland
• Future Directions for an Age-Friendly Queensland
• A Safer Queensland – Queensland Youth Justice Strategy 2024–2028
• Even better public sector for Queensland strategy 2024–2028

State mental health, alcohol and other drug, and suicide prevention strategies and frameworks

• Shifting minds: The Queensland Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs, and Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan 2023–2028
• Achieving balance: The Queensland Alcohol and Other Drugs Plan 2022–2027
• Every life: The Queensland Suicide Prevention Plan 2019–2029 Phase Two
• Better Care Together: A plan for Queensland’s state-funded mental health, alcohol and other drug services to 2027
• Queensland Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Service Delivery Framework
• Regional mental health, alcohol and other drugs, and suicide prevention plans.

The strategy also intersects with other whole-of-government and whole-of-community policies and strategies that contribute to preventing and reducing the impacts of trauma. By aligning with and building upon these initiatives, the strategy aims to maximise its impact and create meaningful change for individuals and communities impacted by trauma.

Consultation Papers

Acknowledging the complexity and breadth of potentially traumatic experiences, the Commission engaged a range of experts to undertake a review of the literature and current
practices to identify policy and reform considerations for Queensland. The consultation papers encompassed trauma concepts and context, as well as preventing and reducing
the impact of trauma across the life course for a range of diverse needs, experiences and environments.

The consultation papers were:

1. Importance of concepts and context

2. Across the life course

• Pregnancy and early parenting
• Infants and young children
• Children
• Young people
• Adults
• Older age/seniors

• First Nations peoples
• Culturally and linguistically diverse communities
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and other people of diverse gender and sexual identities (LGBTQIA)
• People with disability
• Professions frequently exposed to traumatic experiences
• Family and domestic violence

4. Specific contexts and environments

• Disasters and mass adverse events
• Problematic alcohol and other drug use and trauma
• Suicide prevention and trauma.
  

Face-to-face consultation and engagement

Extensive face-to-face consultation was vital to developing The Queensland Trauma Strategy. Consultations occurred with a wide range of stakeholders, including government, community, and private sector agencies and representatives with different perspectives, experiences and roles.

Consultation commenced in March 2024 and broadly occurred in two phases: targeted consultations with specific groups and communities to understand their unique insights and perspectives, as well as general consultations across the broader Queensland community

Targeted consultations

Targeted consultations were conducted with specific groups. This was an inclusive approach that ensured the strategy reflects the diverse needs and experiences of Queenslanders
impacted by trauma. The full list of targeted consultations is included in Table 1.

• Perinatal and infant mental health
• Children and young people
• Older persons
• People with lived-living experience and Lived-Living Expertise
• Culturally and linguistically diverse communities
• First Nations peoples
• People with disability
• Rural and remote communities
• LGBTQIA
• Housing and homelessness
• Human rights.

Table 1: Targeted consultations

Broader community consultations

In addition to targeted consultations, a series of forums were held in various locations across Queensland that included cross-sector service providers and representative organisations.

In addition to face-to-face events, stakeholders and members of the public were invited to provide input to the strategy through written submissions and by completing an online survey. Written submissions and the online survey were informed by the consultation papers and contemporary literature on best practice for preventing and reducing the impact of trauma.

Table 2: Community consultations and forums

To guide this vision, draft principles were developed and refined to produce 11 final principles:

We uphold and prioritise the human

rights and dignity of all people.

We are committed to inclusivity, regardless of people’s background, location, ability or circumstances.

We are committed to social justice

and equity

We are committed to fostering hope

and healing as foundational elements

of our approach.

We uphold the social and emotional

wellbeing of all First Nations

Queenslanders.

We address and eliminate all forms of
stigma and discrimination.

We are led by people with lived-living

experience of  trauma and their families,

kin and carers.

We prioritise partnership collective

responsibility and accountability.

We are person-led, family and

carer inclusive.

We facilitate best practice and

continuous improvement.

We prioritise gender safety and affirmation in all our environments, interactions and initiatives

Opportunities

Enhance the awareness and understanding of trauma across the community

• Establish agreed definitions and terminology for trauma and trauma-informed approaches and incorporate these into policies and procedures. 

• Collaborate with diverse stakeholders and people with lived-living experience to co-produce language resources, materials and practical guidelines that address the needs and preferences of different populations.

• Launch comprehensive public awareness campaigns to educate on what trauma is and its impacts, with a focus on challenging myths, reducing stigma and normalising discussions around trauma.

• Create platforms for dialogue and discussion to cultivate a shared language and understanding of trauma among diverse groups.

• Design targeted awareness campaigns to increase understanding of trauma within specific communities and demographics.

• Advocate for policy changes prioritising trauma-informed education and training across all levels of society.

Early education

• Implement trauma education across all educational levels, including schools, universities and professional training programs.

• Implement education programs integrating wellbeing with trauma and emphasising strengths-based approaches, including support for strengthening resilience.

• Foster a culture of ongoing learning and reflection to enhance trauma literacy and practices.

• Adopt a national best practice framework for online safety education to address grooming, cyberbullying and harmful content exposure.

• Develop public and caregiver education on child development and responsive caregiving to prevent trauma.

Media engagement and influence

• Collaborate with media outlets to ensure responsible and sensitive reporting on trauma-related issues.

• Counteract negative and sensationalist media portrayals with factual and compassionate narratives.

• Create guidelines for media reporting on traumatic events to ensure sensitivity and accuracy.

Opportunities

Stigma reduction campaigns

• Conduct public health and targeted campaigns to raise awareness about the impact of stigma on individuals impacted by trauma.
• Address systemic stigma, and challenge biases embedded in records and case notes, which can perpetuate negative perceptions and hinder trauma-informed care.
• Foster a culture of empathy and compassion to reduce stigma and self-stigma, encouraging individuals to share their experiences and seek help.
• Address systemic stigma by ensuring that all service systems (health, justice, welfare) adopt a traumainformed lens and recognise the link between stigma and trauma.
• Incorporate the perspectives of people with livedliving experience of trauma in developing educational materials and campaigns.
• Encourage open conversations about societal stigma associated with experiencing domestic and family violence, alcohol and other drug use, mental health, and challenges with parenting.
• Use safe storytelling and education to connect people, increase understanding, and reduce shame and self-stigma attached to trauma and substance use.

Groups disproportionately affected by stigma and discrimination

• Develop strategies to address stigma in rural and remote areas, where social issues and stigma may be more deeply ingrained.
• Promote inclusivity and cultural safety within agencies and services, ensuring they are welcoming and safe for LGBTQIA+ communities and people with disabilities.
• Understand that there is no universal refugee experience and that trauma experienced by refugee populations may be compounded by experiences of discrimination and racism, which have significant impacts at an individual and collective level.
• Create a culture of help-seeking and reduce shame and stigma associated with seeking support, particularly for marginalised groups.

Focus on preventing discrimination

• Implement recommendations from reports such as Don’t Judge, and Listen and Changing attitudes, changing lives to address stigma and discrimination in the justice system.
• Revise legislation, such as the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) and the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld), to protect against discrimination, particularly for the LGBTQIA community.
• Enhance community capacity and capability building activities to address sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination.

Opportunities

Community-led initiatives

• Continue implementing community-led initiatives focused on building healthy and resilient communities.
• Continue to address domestic and family violence and other significant contributors to trauma.
• Invest in place-based initiatives, particularly addressing the needs of marginalised communities.
• Embed trauma-informed approaches and reflective practices systemically to prevent harm.
• Promote protective factors and healthy relationships across all levels of society.

Work places

Opportunities

Enhance workplace capability

• Enhance workplace capabilities to identify, address and respond to workplace risks and hazards, in alignment with relevant legislation and codes of practice.
• Provide specific and tailored support to professions who regularly work with others who are or have been in potentially traumatic events or circumstances, in particular the domestic, family and sexual violence workforce, including workers with a lived-living experience who are employed in roles that regularly respond to trauma.
• Build trauma-informed workplaces to address issues such as short-term contracts, burnout and inadequate resources, while promoting a zero-tolerance policy for workplace bullying across all workplaces.
• Incorporate trauma awareness into organisational policies, including the implementation of the Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022.
• Implement reporting, mechanisms and processes in response to traumatic events in a way that prevents further psychological trauma, distress or potential harm to affected workers.

Educational settings

Opportunities

Education and early intervention

• Develop and implement statewide trauma-aware frameworks for schools.
• Establish early and universal access to care and support services, including in childcare and education settings.
• Focus on preventing adverse childhood experiences, gendered violence, and child neglect and abuse through sustained investment.
• Focus on more than individual behaviour change by recognising the influential factors in a child’s community and family, and historical and cultural contexts.
• Enhance teacher training and capacity to identify and support students experiencing trauma.
• Implement trauma-informed approaches to classroom management, including strategies for de-escalating conflicts and promoting positive behaviour.
• Support trauma-informed leadership at all levels of the education system, from school administrators to district officials.

Curriculum and education

• Provide age-appropriate education for children and young people about trauma and where to seek help.
• Build resilience and mental health literacy into the curriculum.
• Promote social and emotional learning programs to help students develop coping skills and emotional regulation techniques.
• Incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices to better meet the needs of diverse student groups.

Student and family support services

• Integrate trauma-informed principles into disciplinary practices and student support services.
• Establish peer support programs to adopt a sense of belonging and community among students.
• Provide professional development opportunities for school staff on trauma-informed practices and self-care strategies.
• Create partnerships with mental health professionals and community organisations to provide additional support and resources for students and families.
• Provide resources and support for families dealing with school attendance difficulties.

Opportunities

• Promote initiatives that focus on prevention and early intervention to address the underlying determinants of trauma related to economic, employment and housing insecurity.
• Address structural barriers, including employment challenges and discrimination, to alleviate trauma and support recovery.
• Implement policies and initiatives that address global and national traumas, such as pandemics and housing crises, to reduce their impact on people and communities.
• Provide affordable housing, job opportunities and social support systems to address the root causes of economic, employment and housing insecurity.
• Recognise the impacts on culturally and linguistically diverse populations who may face intersecting and complex inequities, including housing and socio-structural barriers.
• Foster resilience and community support networks to mitigate the effects of economic, employment and housing insecurity on individuals’ wellbeing.

Opportunities

• Acknowledge past harms and institutional impacts and recognise systemic limitations.
• Prioritise practices that promote equity, and challenge policies and legislation that perpetuate harm.
• Implement systems that do not require individuals to repeatedly recount their traumatic experiences.
• Foster a cultural shift within government and organisations to empower lived and living experiences.
• Review and revise priorities and policies to prevent trauma and re-traumatisation, especially among at-risk groups.
• Invest in trauma-informed care across various sectors, including healthcare, education and justice.
• Create alternative responses that reduce systemic trauma risks and promote healing.
• Ensure access to trauma support without fear of judgment or further harm.
• Promote information sharing to prevent re-traumatisation and enhance preventative measures.
• Develop holistic and supportive interventions to reduce trauma in mental health wards and other settings.
• Implement trauma-informed practices within systems to minimise re-traumatisation, enhance sensitivity and responsiveness, and promote healing.
• Reduce systems trauma by facilitating ‘warm referrals’.

Opportunities

• Explore opportunities to foster healing from a social model with grassroots organisations, including through the social prescribing model.
• Implement routine culturally appropriate trauma screening protocols in key settings, coupled with access to timely and appropriate support services.
• Strengthen early identification and responses to adverse childhood experiences to facilitate timely and tailored support for children, young people and their families.
• Shift to proactive identification of potential trauma, rather than reactive responses at the point of crisis, including a ‘no wrong door’ approach where people are offered support at every opportunity.
• Ensure services operate on an integrated care model that emphasises the importance of supporting the whole person.
• Provide support to assist people to effectively access and navigate services across a range of sectors, including in regional and remote areas.
• Strengthen understanding, identification and responses to domestic, family and sexual violence across a range of services including health, education, child protection, alcohol and other drugs, and the community and justice systems.
• Develop acute, assertive and accessible identification processes for early trauma detection.

Opportunities

• Strengthen promotion and early intervention initiatives for people disproportionately impacted by trauma, particularly during at-risk transition points across the life course.
• Implement routine trauma screening protocols in key settings, with access to timely and appropriate support services.
• Invest in mental health promotion and early intervention strategies to address trauma-related impacts before reaching crisis level.
• Enhance collaboration and communication among service providers to ensure a holistic and coordinated approach to early intervention across the lifespan.
• Establish and strengthen early intervention programs and services for children, young people and families involved in the child protection and youth justice systems.
• Strengthen diversionary responses for children and young people known to the justice system and reduce the use of disciplinary approaches.
• Increase the availability of appropriate supports and programs for children in detention and strengthen the accessibility and availability of support to First Nations children and young people who are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. This should include embedding the recommendations of the Atkinson Report on Youth Justice to improve cultural visits and programs.
• Enhance access to integrated service responses for children and their families, ensuring a unified response and plan.
• Increase integrated and wrap-around services for older people, particularly in rural and remote areas with limited accessibility.
• Enhance responses to social isolation and loneliness for older people in Queensland, acknowledging the transition points and lack of support particularly for people transitioning into high dependency care environments.
• Consider developing a clinical guideline for trauma-informed care in the perinatal period for health professionals.
• Consider options to increase counselling for termination of pregnancy, early pregnancy loss, stillbirth and birth trauma to promote ongoing healing from both a psychological and physical perspective.
• Recognise the impact of adoption trauma, including forced adoption trauma, across the life course.
• Focus on trauma-informed education and support for parents and caregivers.

Opportunities

• Enhance and embrace technology when appropriate, including for younger cohorts and people in regional and remote areas.
• Establish 24/7 supports beyond traditional phone lines to provide immediate individualised support when people need it.
• Develop community-based multidisciplinary teams, including those with lived-living experience, with drop-in models to provide more flexible support options.
• Strengthen integration with non-government organisations, community supports and peers to enhance service continuity.
• Explore the opportunity to investigate dedicated statewide trauma services in Queensland.

Opportunities

• Recognise disruptions in parent-child attachment as a critical factor in intergenerational trauma.
• Integrate historical and political determinants into preventing trauma, focusing on areas such as the impacts of colonisation and historical injustices.
• Enhance understanding of the long-term impacts of trauma, particularly childhood trauma, on development, mental health and wellbeing.
• Ensure that historical and intergenerational traumas experienced by communities, especially those resulting from institutional harm, are formally recognised and addressed through trauma-informed approaches.
• Understand the impacts of safety, decision-making and early identification tools and screening for First Nations children within the broader context of historical and intergenerational trauma.
• Acknowledge kinship and the role of cultural authority in addressing historical and intergenerational trauma.
• Foster trust and transparency from government institutions by acknowledging and addressing intergenerational trauma.
• Establish pathways for accessing appropriate support services tailored to the needs of those affected by intergenerational trauma.
• Progress the implementation of Leading healing our way: Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Strategy 2020–2040, ensuring its principles are embedded across all system levels.
• Implement formal accountability mechanisms and frameworks for dealing with institutional and systemic racism, disadvantage and re-traumatisation of First Nations peoples, with a focus on community-driven solutions and empowerment.
• Undertake a comprehensive review of government policies, systems and processes to enhance cultural safety, responsiveness, supervision, support and accountability, with the engagement of First Nations
  communities.
• Advocate for policy changes at the state and national levels to support the implementation of traumainformed and culturally competent practices.
• Enhance infrastructure and accessibility of community and cultural empowerment spaces and services for First Nations peoples, ensuring that services are culturally safe, welcoming and accessible.
• Ensure that First Nations’ priorities and perspectives are at the forefront of the trauma strategy and that First Nations peoples lead the delivery of initiatives relevant to them. This includes embedding learnings about the impact of colonisation from the perspective of First Nations peoples across systems and at all levels, promoting cultural safety and responsiveness.
• Facilitate whole-of-system and community support for Treaty and truth-telling processes to prioritise First Nations’ healing and self-determination. This includes recognising that truth-telling is complex and is about hearing multiple interpretations of the truth and then building shared learnings into a new relationship.
• Acknowledge that First Nations’ healing initiatives do not sit within westernised frameworks and enhance opportunities for First Nations peoples to design, lead and implement healing initiatives within First Nations models of healing. Healing initiatives should be grounded in cultural perspectives and practices that recognise the resilience, wisdom and strengths of First Nations culture.
• Recognise the diverse presentation of trauma within First Nations communities, understanding that trauma manifests differently, and tailor interventions accordingly. This includes strengthening place-based
  and localised responses to acknowledge the diversity of history and trauma within communities in Queensland.
• Shift the focus from individual-centred to connectioncentred approaches to healing, valuing community, relationships and cultural knowledge by adopting a strengths-based approach to language and narratives.
• Establish and support culturally safe healing hubs within First Nations communities, providing a range of holistic services and supports, including mental health, alcohol and other drug, and cultural healing programs.
• Develop and implement family-centred healing approaches and programs to address intergenerational trauma, strengthen family bonds and promote healing across generations.
• Increase the First Nations workforce across mental health and alcohol and other drug services, prioritising cultural safety, lived-living experience, and communityled approaches in service delivery.
• Update education and training programs to include cultural capability, supporting existing staff to update their knowledge and integrate new students into the workforce effectively, with a focus on trauma-informed care from First Nations’ perspectives.
• Advocate for the transformation of mainstream mental health systems to become more recovery-focused, trauma-informed and culturally safe, with increased accessibility and responsiveness to the needs
  of First Nations peoples.
• Address funding challenges that hinder the capacity to implement holistic, community-focused models of care, advocating for sustainable funding models that prioritise First Nations-led initiatives.

Opportunities

• Improve communication between systems to ensure that people navigating complex systems and multiple services do not need to re-tell their story, which may compound trauma and/or re-traumatise the person.
• Embed trauma-informed frameworks across all government departments, particularly departments and agencies that are the most likely to have contact with people who are experiencing trauma.
• Support initiatives that reduce re-traumatisation for people who use alcohol and other drugs, particularly through health and trauma-informed responses.
• Acknowledge historical and ongoing harm to people with a lived-living experience from system-related trauma and re-traumatisation.
• Embed a phased elimination of restrictive practices like seclusion and restraint and adopt trauma-informed language across policies and guidelines.

Opportunities

• Empower local communities to design and implement trauma initiatives tailored to their unique needs.
• Facilitate bottom-up approaches instead of top-down directions.
• Invest in community-led capacity-building initiatives, and partnerships to ensure that services and supports are responsive, accessible and culturally relevant.
• Foster collaborative partnerships between different sectors and community organisations and stakeholders.
• Prioritise cultural competency and sensitivity in community-based interventions.
• Promote community consultation and engagement in policy and program development.
• Support community-led initiatives and solutions tailored to local needs.
• Explore place-based approaches to address trauma and support collective impact.
• Ensure equitable access to resources and support for all communities, including rural and First Nations communities.
• Establish mechanisms for ongoing support and evaluation of community-led initiatives to ensure their effectiveness and sustainability.
• Establish trust and accountability with communities through transparent and responsive practices.

Opportunities

• Consider reforms to the legal and justice systems to ensure trauma-informed approaches, access to justice, and support for individuals and communities impacted by trauma.
• Explore alternative approaches to incarceration that support and enhance rehabilitation, such as community-based interventions.
• Improve support systems within prisons, including the introduction of group activities and peer support programs.
• Expand access to disability advocacy services for navigating the criminal justice system.
• Utilise harm minimisation approaches to alcohol and other drug use and consider decriminalisation or regulated legalisation to reduce stigma and prevent re-traumatisation.
• Increase research and investment into the trauma experiences of incarcerated people in the Queensland context to develop an evidence-base for therapeutic supports in prisons.
• Embed counselling and psychosocial supports for incarcerated people in Queensland.
• Shift to therapeutic environments within prisons, focusing on rehabilitation and support.
• Consider legislative and policy changes to support trauma-informed practices and non-punitive approaches.
• Enhance access to legal aid and advocacy services, particularly for marginalised people.
• Enhance access to advocacy and legal support and navigation to embed greater protection for victims and survivors recognising that access to justice is an important part of the healing process.
• Promote transparent and alternative processes for justice, prioritising the needs of people and communities impacted by trauma.
• Foster collaboration between justice stakeholders, including police, courts and community organisations, to ensure holistic support for people impacted by trauma.

Opportunities

• Safeguard the rights of individuals impacted by trauma and ensure equitable access to services and support.
• Enhance mechanisms for accountability and appropriately address breaches of the Human Rights Act to enhance safety as fundamental to human rights.
• Provide a greater emphasis on human rights assessments in policy development, decision-making processes, and implementation to ensure alignment with human rights principles and standards.
• Provide training and resources to policymakers, decision-makers and service providers to effectively integrate human rights considerations into their work.
• Foster collaboration between government agencies, community organisations and communities to promote human rights awareness and advocacy.
• Establish clear lines of accountability for upholding human rights across all services and agencies and appropriately address breaches.
• Establish clear mechanisms for reporting human rights breaches and seeking remedy, ensuring accessibility and effectiveness.
• Strengthen engagement with diverse groups and communities to ensure their voices are heard and their rights are effectively protected.
• Enhance community awareness and understanding of human rights to empower people to assert their rights effectively.
• Create safe and inclusive spaces where people feel empowered to seek support and assert their rights without fear.
• Implement a ‘do no harm’ principle across all services, ensuring safety and preventing further trauma.
• Review the use of restrictive practices and seclusion, focusing on a less intrusive, human-rights aligned approach.
• Advocate for a national Human Rights Act for continuity and accountability across all states and territories.

Opportunities

• Increase the capacity and capability of staff across all sectors to identify and respond to trauma, including by prioritising trauma-informed training and education as a key part of professional development.
• Establish an accreditation process for trauma-informed service delivery.
• Build the capability and capacity of health, human services, education, child protection and justice services to identify and appropriately respond to people who have experienced trauma.
• Address diversity gaps within workforces to better understand and meet the needs of diverse communities.
• Strengthen organisational leadership to facilitate cultural change and prioritise trauma-informed approaches across all aspects of service design and delivery.
• Tailor approaches to workforce development for different industries and professions where the risk of system induced trauma is highest, including health, human services, child protection and justice services.
• Provide tailored approaches at career transitions (e.g. into and out of leadership roles or transitioning out of professions frequently exposed to traumatic experiences).
• Cultivate leadership at all levels that champions trauma-informed approaches, fosters collaboration, and prioritises the wellbeing of people and communities impacted by trauma.
• Utilise a whole-of-workforce approach to ensure all staff members are equipped to recognise and respond to trauma effectively.

Opportunities

• Strengthen internal and external governance frameworks, oversight and accountability mechanisms to promote transparency.
• Foster and promote cultural change towards greater transparency and accountability in organisational decision-making, including by acknowledging mistakes and wrongdoing.
• Strengthen agency complaints processes by ensuring greater independence and transparency, as well as appropriate ways to address service delivery issues.
• Embed a culture of continuous improvement through critical reflective practice.
• Strengthen governance structures to facilitate meaningful change and promote trust within trauma response systems.
• Consider accountability mechanisms to oversee trauma response efforts.

Opportunities

• Foster meaningful partnerships and co-production opportunities with people with lived-living experience to ensure policies, programs and services are relevant, effective and person-centred.
• Invest in trauma-informed leadership and networking approaches to address systemic barriers and improve service delivery.
• Implement place-based initiatives co-designed with people with lived-living experience of trauma, ensuring that interventions are contextually appropriate and responsive to local needs.
• Strengthen the availability and accessibility of peer supports, recognising the unique value of peer support in promoting recovery.
• Drive cultural change needed to ensure the contribution of people with lived-living experience is meaningful and valued and they are seen as experts in their own experiences.
• Foster a cultural shift within governments and organisations to empower Lived-Living Experience leadership.

Opportunities

• Address the prioritisation and allocation of resources within the system to ensure effective support is provided to people when they need it most.
• Adequately fund trauma-informed services to meet the diverse needs of people experiencing trauma.
• Explore the establishment of independent advocates to assist people navigating complex systems.
• Ensure that funding models prioritise human rights and dignity in service delivery.
• Assess investments to achieve a balance between prevention, response and recovery services for childhood trauma.
• Advocate for funding models that prioritise based on need rather than diagnoses, promoting more equitable resource distribution.
• Explore innovative funding approaches that reduce administrative burden and support a trauma-informed system.
• Invest in workforce capability and support, including funding for recruitment, retention strategies and workforce training.
• Ensure continuity of funding for established programs, avoiding disruptions in service provision.
• Explore outcomes-based funding models that provide flexibility to adapt services to achieve desired outcomes effectively.
• Advocate for sustainable funding models, resource allocation strategies and long-term commitments to support ongoing trauma prevention, intervention and healing efforts.
• Transition from short-term planning towards long-term planning and invest in evidence-based approaches.

Opportunities

• Enhance collaboration, information sharing and integration among service providers, agencies and systems to create seamless pathways and wrap-around supports for people and communities impacted
  by trauma.
• Introduce consistent approaches across systems and services with aligned priorities.
• Strengthen partnerships between government and community organisations.
• Enhance interagency reporting and sharing of information with informed consent to ensure continuity of care.
• Promote cross-sector training and capability building to foster a shared understanding of trauma-informed principles.
• Create cross-sector leadership forums and intergovernmental groups to support strategy implementation.
• Develop partnerships between governments and community organisations to establish integrated support hubs.
• Encourage a whole-of-system approach and shared responsibility for addressing trauma.
• Identify and address barriers to collaboration, including interagency pressures and structural impediments.

Opportunities

• Invest in research, data collection and evaluation to inform policy and practice, identify emerging needs, and promote innovation in trauma prevention and responses.
• Recognise that data alone does not drive change—narratives and personal stories are powerful tools for influencing decision-makers and driving change within the system.
• Transition to an outcomes-based system, as current monitoring is focused on the process and not the outcome, which has contributed to a risk-averse culture.
• Re-evaluate key performance indicators to ensure they reflect trauma-informed principles and effectively measure progress and impact.
• Incorporate individualised measures alongside standardised metrics to capture diverse experiences and needs. 
• Explore the use of innovative technologies in traumainformed care.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement, welcoming feedback and using lessons learned to refine services.
• Encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among agencies and organisations to promote innovation and creativity.
• Evaluate and enhance system connectivity to support individuals with complex mental health needs holistically.

Adversity

A difficult or unpleasant situation, set of circumstances or experiences.¹

Co-design

Co-design is a way of bringing people with lived-living experience, their families and carers, and other stakeholders together to improve services. It involves planning, designing and implementing services with people who have experience with the problem or service to find a solution more likely to meet their needs. It creates an equal and reciprocal relationship between all stakeholders, enabling them to design and deliver services in partnership with each other.²

Cultural Safety

Cultural safety involves professionals and organisations providing treatment and supports to people with consideration of, and respect to the historical, cultural and social contexts in which they exist. This involves examining their knowledge, assumptions, skills and attitudes,
and consists of shifting to the worldview of people and communities.³

Culturally responsive care

Culturally responsive services respect diverse populations’ health beliefs, practices, culture, language and faith, and are accessible, approachable, accommodating, affordable and appropriate.⁴

Early support

Early support includes identifying signs of mental ill-health and other risk factors early, followed by timely care and support to reduce their severity, duration and recurrence, and promote recovery and wellbeing.

Families and carers

The term ‘families and carers’ is used to refer to a broad group of people who have an interest in a person’s wellbeing or provide unpaid care and support to another person. It may refer to a family of origin or choice, kinship group or friends, and includes informal carers⁵
 and people under 18 years old.

Integrated care

Integrated care refers to the provision of connected, effective and efficient care that accounts for and is organised around a person’s health and social needs, across the spectrum of needs and in partnership with the person with lived-living experience, carers and family members. In addition, integrated care takes several key forms, including horizontal and vertical integration, cross-sector integration, people-centred integration, and whole-of-system integration.⁶

Lived-living experience

Lived experience refers to a person’s experience of mental ill-health, problematic alcohol and other drug use, suicidal thoughts, surviving a suicide attempt, or being bereaved by suicide. This strategy uses the term lived-living experience to conceptualise a continuum of experiences that people may have at different times in their lives. The use of the hyphen signifies the fluidity or changing nature of experiences along this continuum.

Mental health and wellbeing

A state of mental wellbeing in which every person realises their own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to their community.⁷

Person-led

Person-led approaches respond to the person as the leader of their life in ways that foster personal agency and the capacity to manage challenges. In addition, person-led approaches require service providers to be accountable to the person.⁸

Psychosocial support

Psychosocial support refers to a range of services that improve mental wellbeing and build people’s capacity to live well in their communities. This includes helping people to manage daily activities, rebuild and maintain connections, build social skills, participate in education and employment, and facilitate recovery in the community.⁹

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians. Reconciliation is based and measured on five dimensions: historical acceptance, race relations, equality
and equity, institutional integrity and unity.¹⁰

Social and emotional wellbeing

This term acknowledges the diverse ways that First Nations people and communities understand, conceptualise and describe a person’s overall physical, mental, emotional and social wellness. It recognises the importance of connection to community, family, Country, land, sea, culture and spirituality on a person’s wellbeing.¹¹

Social determinants of health

The determinants of health are the social, cultural, political, economic, personal and environmental conditions in which people are born, live, work and age. The determinants of health are interrelated with experiences of mental health and wellbeing, alcohol and other drug use, suicide, and the likelihood of poorer outcomes. Uneven distribution of these determinants results in health inequities.¹²

Trauma-informed principles

Several principles underpin trauma-informed approaches. Although diverse frameworks adopt different terminologies, and these concepts continue to evolve, the core concepts remain consistent. These principles can be tailored and adapted to diverse settings, contexts
and sectors, incorporating the underlying values of safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment, voice and choice, humility, and respect for diverse needs, experiences, and preferences.^{13, 14}

Lifeline

13 11 14

www.lifeline.org.au/gethelp

Suicide Call Back Service

1300 659 467

www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au

MensLine Australia

1300 789 978

www.mensline.org.au

Beyond Blue Support Service

1300 224 636

www.beyondblue.org.au

13YARN

13 92 76

www.13yarn.org.au

SANE Australia Helpline

1800 187 263

www.sane.org

QLife (LGBTQIA+)

1800 184 527

www.qlife.org.au

Kids Helpline

1800 551 800

www.kidshelpline.com.au

Defence Family Helpline

1800 624 608

www.defence.gov.au/dco/defence-helpline.asp

National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline

1800 250 015

www.health.gov.au/contacts/national-alcoholand-other-drug-hotline

adis

1800 177 833

www.adis.health.qld.gov.au

Family Drug Support

1300 368 186

www.fds.org.au

StandBy Response Service

1300 727 247

www.standbysupport.com.au

Thirrili Postvention Suicide Support

1800 805 801

www.thirrili.com.au/find-support