Sector update

It is hoped that encouraging more workplaces to facilitate these conversations will help to reduce stigma and ultimately prevent deaths by suicide.

A new telephone call-back service will support people with lived experience of suicide by connecting them to others with a similar lived experience.

The National Ambulance Surveillance System is an innovation that will provide a more complete picture of suicidal and intentional self-harm behaviours in Australia.

A new toolkit is available to support business managers in the event of a public death by suicide at a site they are responsible for.

The Life in Mind team spoke with Professor Pat Dudgeon, Director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Western Australia, about the role of the Manual of Resources in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention.

CEO, Fiona Cornforth announces the release of the Make Healing Happen: It’s time to act report during recent National Press Club address.

The new 2021 Snapshot of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Statistics for LGBTIQ+ People and LGBTIQ+ Health and Wellbeing Policy Priorities 2021 resources aim to increase understanding and improve mental health and wellbeing outcomes for LGBTIQ+ people.

The State Budget directly responds to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System’s 10-year plan to transform the state’s mental health and wellbeing system. It also builds on the Federal Government’s announcement earlier this month of a $2.3 billion investment into mental health and suicide prevention in the 2021/22 budget.

Organisations working in mental health and suicide prevention welcomed the commitment to issues in urgent need of national attention while cautioning that the funding must be followed up with continued support and investment in future years.

The Life in Mind team attended the post-budget briefings held by the National Mental Health Commission and Suicide Prevention Australia and summarised the themes below.