There is a moment when everything narrows. Your world shrinks to the size of a single thought. The people around you feel distant. Your own future feels like someone else’s idea.
In that moment, thinking clearly is almost impossible. That is exactly why a safety plan matters.
Not because it fixes everything. Because it gives you something to reach for when your own mind is not on your side. This is often the downstream impact of environments lacking psychological safety at work
A safety plan is one of the most practical, evidence-backed tools in mental health. Clinical research has shown it can reduce suicidal behaviour by nearly half. Yet most people have never heard of one. Let alone create one for themselves.
What Is a Safety Plan?
A mental health safety plan is a written document. You create it in advance, when you are feeling relatively calm. It outlines exactly what to do if you start to feel overwhelmed, unsafe, or suicidal.
Think of it as instructions from your clearest self, written for your most struggling self.
The most widely used framework is the Stanley–Brown Safety Planning Intervention, developed by Dr Barbara Stanley and Dr Gregory Brown. It is used across clinical settings worldwide, including in Australia’s public mental health system. A large-scale study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that patients who received this intervention were 45% less likely to engage in suicidal behaviour in the six months following a crisis, compared with those receiving standard care.
It is not a contract. It is not a promise. It is a practical tool. It works because it meets you where you are, with clear, doable steps instead of abstract advice.
Important: A safety plan is not the same as a ‘no-suicide contract.’ Contracts ask for a commitment not to act. Safety plans give you actions to take instead. The difference matters.
Why Safety Planning Matters?
In 2024, 3,307 Australians died by suicide. That is roughly nine people every single day. The median age was 46. Three-quarters were men. Almost 80% had at least one identifiable risk factor recorded, with mood disorders and relationship difficulties among the most common.
These numbers come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ most recent Causes of Death data, released in November 2025. They tell us something important. Suicide is not random. It follows patterns. And patterns mean there are points where intervention is possible. If the right tools are in place before the crisis arrives.
That is what a safety plan does. It shifts the intervention point from during the crisis to before it. You build it when you can still think. You use it when you cannot.
How to Develop a Safety Plan: Step by Step
The following steps are adapted from the Stanley–Brown Safety Planning Intervention and aligned with the framework used in Australia by Lifeline, Beyond Blue, and the public mental health system. Ideally, work through these with a health professional or a trusted person. But you can also start on your own.
Step 1: Know Your Warning Signs
What are the first signals that things are shifting? These might be thoughts (“No one would care if I wasn’t here”). They might be feelings (sudden numbness, a heavy dread). Physical sensations (chest tightness, inability to eat or sleep). Or behaviours (withdrawing from people, drinking more, stopping routines).
Write down three to five specific warning signs. The more concrete, the earlier you will catch it. “Feel bad” is too vague. “Stop answering messages for more than two days” is something you can actually notice.
Step 2: Use Internal Coping Strategies
Before reaching out to anyone, what can you do on your own to take the edge off? These are not solutions. They are distractions and circuit-breakers. Things that create a small gap between the thought and the action.
Go outside. Move your body. Listen to a specific playlist. Watch something absorbing. Do something with your hands. The goal is to shift your attention, even slightly, away from the spiral.
Write down three to five things that have worked before, or that you are willing to try.
Step 3: Reach for People and Places That Provide Distraction
Who can you be around without necessarily telling them what is going on? A friend you can call. A café where you feel comfortable. A family member’s house. A gym. A park you know well.
This step is not about deep conversation. It is about breaking isolation. Sometimes just being in the presence of other people is enough to interrupt the momentum. Connection does not always need words.
Write down two to three people and two to three places.
Step 4: Identify People You Can Ask for Help
This is different from Step 3. These are the people you can be honest with. The ones you would call and say: “I’m not in a good place.”
Write down at least two names and their phone numbers. If you do not have anyone you feel you can be that honest with right now, that is okay. It is more common than you might think. It also tells you something worth paying attention to. Building those connections is part of the longer work.
Step 5: List Professional and Crisis Contacts
These are the services that exist specifically for moments like this. In Australia, the key ones are:
Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24/7 phone and online chat)
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 (24/7)
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
13YARN: 13 92 76 (First Nations crisis support)
Emergency Services: 000
Also include your GP, your psychologist or counsellor if you have one, and your local hospital’s emergency department. Write these down with actual phone numbers, not just names. When you are in crisis, even looking up a number can feel impossible.
Step 6: Make Your Environment Safer
This step is about reducing access to things that could cause harm during a crisis. It might mean asking someone to hold onto certain items. Locking away medications. Removing specific objects from your immediate environment.
This is one of the most evidence-supported components of safety planning. Research consistently shows that creating even a small amount of distance between a person and potential means of harm can be the difference between a moment passing and a moment becoming permanent.
If you are not sure how to approach this, a health professional can help you work through it.
When and How to Use Your Safety Plan
A safety plan is not something you create and forget. It is a living document. Here is how to get the most from it.
Keep it accessible. On your phone, in your wallet, photographed, saved somewhere you can reach in seconds. The Beyond Now app (originally developed by Beyond Blue, now managed by Lifeline Australia) lets you create and store a digital safety plan on your phone.
Use it in order. Start from Step 1 and work through. Each step escalates the level of support. The structure is deliberate. It gives you the chance to manage things independently first, then brings in other people and services if needed.
Review it regularly. Phone numbers change. Relationships shift. What worked six months ago might not work today. Revisit your plan every few months, or after any significant change in your life.
Share it. If you feel comfortable, let someone you trust know your plan exists and where to find it. You do not need to share every detail. Just knowing that someone else is aware of it can itself be a form of protection.
What a Safety Plan Is Not
A safety plan is not a cure. It does not replace therapy, medication, or long-term mental health care. It is not a contract that binds you to anything. And it is not something to feel ashamed of creating.
Think of it the way you might think of a first-aid kit. You hope you never need it. But if the moment comes, you want it ready, stocked, and within reach. Having one is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign that you know yourself well enough to prepare.
If You Are Supporting Someone Else
If someone you care about is struggling, helping them create a safety plan is one of the most useful things you can do. Not as a substitute for professional help. As a bridge to it.
Sit with them. Ask the questions gently. Write things down together. Do not try to fix everything in the conversation. The plan itself is the outcome.
And if they are not ready to make one, that is okay too. Sometimes just raising the idea plants a seed. You can always come back to it.
One Last Thing
There is a quiet truth at the centre of safety planning that often goes unsaid. Every step in this plan is, in some form, a step toward connection. Noticing what is happening inside you. Reaching for a person. Calling a number. Letting someone in.
Isolation makes a crisis feel permanent. Connection is what reminds you it is not.
This is at the heart of what we explore at KanYini Earth. An ancient philosophy, adapted for modern life, built on a simple idea: that connection to yourself, to others, and to the world around you is not a luxury. It is what keeps people here.
We are currently building learning programs designed to help people strengthen that connection before a crisis ever arrives. Not therapy. Not theory. Practical tools for staying connected to yourself, to others, and to purpose. If that sounds like something you or someone you know could benefit from, stay close. More is coming.
And if this guide meant something to you, consider supporting the work behind it. A donation to KanYini Earth helps us keep resources like this free and accessible for the people who need them most. Just an invitation to be part of something that matters.
A safety plan will not make your pain disappear. But it can hold you steady long enough for the moment to pass. And moments do pass.
KanYini Earth. Walk with us
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000).
Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24/7 crisis support)
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
13YARN: 13 92 76 (First Nations crisis support)
References
Stanley, B., & Brown, G. K. (2012). Safety planning intervention: A brief intervention to mitigate suicide risk. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19(2), 256-264.
Stanley, B., Brown, G. K., Brenner, L. A., Galfalvy, H. C., Currier, G. W., Knox, K. L., Chaudhury, S. R., Bush, A. L., & Green, K. L. (2018). Comparison of the safety planning intervention with follow-up vs usual care of suicidal patients treated in the emergency department. JAMA Psychiatry, 75(9), 894-900. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.1776
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Causes of Death, Australia, 2024. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-death-australia/latest-release
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Intentional self-harm (suicide) deaths, 2024. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/intentional-self-harm-suicide-deaths/latest-release
Beyond Blue. (n.d.). Beyond Now safety planning app. Beyond Blue. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/beyondnow-suicide-safety-planning
Lifeline Australia. (n.d.). Crisis support. Lifeline.https://www.lifeline.org.au
