National Suicide Prevention Outcomes Framework Print this page

Overview

On 20 February 2025, the National Suicide Prevention Office (NSPO) and Australian Government released the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025-2035 (the Strategy). The Strategy was developed by the NSPO through extensive consultation and in partnership with people who have a lived and living experience of suicide. The Strategy provides a model with actions to follow for governments, service providers and communities to achieve an effective suicide prevention system.  

For more information on the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and its development, please visit the National Suicide Prevention Office’s Strategy webpage. 

About the Outcomes Framework

The NSPO is now developing a National Suicide Prevention Outcomes Framework (Outcomes Framework) to enable meaningful monitoring and reporting of progress in suicide prevention as outlined in the Strategy. It recognises that while tracking trends in population-wide suicide rates and monitoring the implementation of suicide prevention activities is important, these aspects alone do not provide insight into how known contributing factors are influencing those rates, or whether progress is being made in reducing their impact. Additionally, simply monitoring the implementation of suicide prevention activities does not indicate whether these activities are effective and are influencing rates of suicidal distress, deaths and attempts. The Outcomes Framework translates the Strategy’s model into person-centred outcomes, describing the impact we are trying to achieve, and how to measure whether we are reducing suicidal distress and lives lost to suicide.

For the first time in suicide prevention, the Outcomes Framework will involve multiple methods to approach data and reporting, including both quantitative and qualitative data. This approach approach will ensure we can better understand the experiences of those with a lived and living experience of suicide. By focusing on what matters to people whose lives have been impacted by suicide, the Outcomes Framework will provide the insights and evidence required to know what works and what needs to be improved.  

The Outcomes Framework is made up of four components that work together to enable effective monitoring and reporting. Each component has a specific function, these include an Overview, an Outcomes Map, Data Quality and Improvement Plan, and a Monitoring and Reporting Plan.

Outcomes Framework Overview	Outcomes Map	Data Quality and Improvement Plan	Monitoring and Reporting Plan
Provides an overarching description of the Outcomes Framework, including the purpose and orientation to its components.	Provides an outline of outcomes, indicators, and data measures, as well as the logic that connects them.	Identifies what requires improvements and any gaps that need addressing.	Outlines the process of integrating, interpreting and translating data into engaging and useful reporting.
Please visit NSPO's webpage to download a copy of the Outcomes Framework Overview and the Data Overview.	Please visit NSPO’s webpage to download a copy of the Outcomes Map. Click here to download a copy of the Outcomes Map Technical Workbook	Please visit NSPO’s webpage to download a copy of the Data Quality Framework.	Content coming soon.

The Overview document was published by the NSPO on 26 November 2025. This document provides a description of the Outcomes Framework, what its components are, and how they operate together. It provides a foundational understanding of all components of the Outcomes Framework. To download a copy of the Outcomes Framework Overview, please visit the NSPO’s Outcomes Framework webpage.

On 24 June 2026, the Outcomes Map, the Data Overview, and the Data Quality Framework were published by the NSPO, and the Outcomes Map Technical Workbook was published by AIHW. These documents connect the Strategy’s goals and outcomes with indicators and data measures to show both desired changes and how to track them. The Outcomes Map uses both quantitative and qualitative data to assess change across the Strategy’s outcomes and indicators to understand its impact on individuals and communities, offering a comprehensive view of what is working in suicide prevention across Australia.

The Data Overview provides a high-level description of the approach to data being taken by the Outcomes Framework. It sits alongside the Outcomes Framework Overview to provide an overarching description of the Outcomes Framework and how it operates. The Data Overview has been released by the NSPO to help users understand the type of data being used, the frequency of data collection and analysis, and so people can understand how to contribute to data collection.  

The Data Quality Framework, developed in collaboration with stakeholders, sits alongside the Outcomes Map to guide decisions on data measures included in the first release of the Outcomes Framework. This has been released by the NSPO to help users understand the decision-making criteria, identify data quality limitations, and highlight where future improvements may be required. This will inform the Data Quality & Improvement Plan.

The Outcomes Framework approach

The Outcomes Framework adopts two types of reporting – Indicator and Insight reporting.

The Indicator reporting, published by AIHW in partnership with senior qualitative researchers, is multi-method and uses both quantitative and qualitative data to track and describe change at an Outcome and Indicator level as outlined in the Outcomes Framework Overview and Monitoring and Reporting Plan. Indicator reporting is updated when all the data measures have available data, in line with the publication of the parent data source or when new data has been collected. Indicator reporting helps show what is changing in suicide prevention and what those changes mean for people.

Insight reporting is mixed methods and uses both quantitative and qualitative data to assess progress at the Goal and Domain level. It supports the NSPO to monitor system-wide progress and advise government on priorities for improvement in suicide prevention. This reporting provides the bigger picture to national suicide prevention efforts. It can also be used to highlight what needs deeper exploration such as insights into a specific outcome or a group disproportionately impacted by suicide.

The Outcomes Framework is utilising this comprehensive approach to measure the changes of the outcomes and indicators to provide Indicator reporting. This means that quantitative and qualitative data are being collected, analysed and reported together. At the Goal and Domain levels quantitative and qualitative data will be purposefully mixed to provide deeper understanding of the progress being made in suicide prevention. At the Objective and Indicator level, both quantitative and qualitative data will be reported.

For more information on the National Suicide Prevention Outcomes Framework and its development, please visit the National Suicide Prevention Office’s Outcomes Framework webpage.