We haven't actually been using peer support mechanisms as much as we could have or should have been. We are about to embark on a major mental health initiative in our defence force called “Keep Your Mates Safe” as peer support.
That means we are going to be training up selected members from units. Commanding officers will choose members of their units who will be trained up as mental health peer support persons. Those persons will be taught suicide prevention. Beyond the basic suicide awareness, they will be taught actual skills to identify whether someone may be at risk of suicide and to know what to do to keep that person safe.
They will be taught BattleSMART principles to be able to help someone who may be suffering at the time, or who may be depressed or anxious. They will be able to understand the fundamentals of BattleSMART in order to help that person cope.
These peer support people are going to be identified, and they are going to be taught more skills than your average soldier. They will to be able to help keep someone safe if they are at risk of suicide. They will know more about mental health things than your average soldier does, so yes, we are starting to come on board with peer support.