StandBy support for attendees at this years' National Suicide Prevention Conference

As the National Suicide Prevention Australia Conference is kicking off today in Melbourne, Life in Mind would like to acknowledge the invaluable support that StandBy – Support after Suicide will offer throughout the conference. 

StandBy is a national suicide prevention program that delivers free telephone and face-to-face support to anyone impacted by suicide, locally tailored workshops and education programs to communities to increase their awareness of suicide and suicide bereavement.
 
This year StandBy is actively collaborating with Suicide Prevention Australia to work together around the approach of offering support at the National conference.

The StandBy team have ten support staff attending who will offer immediate support during the three days of the conference.

StandBy has provided support of this nature for the past several years. Last year at the 2018 Conference in Adelaide they conducted 28 support sessions to those impacted by suicide and/or the sensitive information being presented.

The StandBy team will also be hosting an interactive booth at the conference, encouraging participants to ‘share a message’ (that was meaningful to them and aligned to the conference theme “United In Action” and building resilience) and have a Polaroid photo taken, which will be displayed at the booth and posted on the StandBy Facebook page.

Suicide Prevention Australia are also promoting a Duty of Care video in the lead up to and at the conference this year, starring Alan Woodward and what attendees and presenters should be mindful of.

This video amplifies the message of safe communication in the lead up and whilst at the conference to ensure attendees and representatives feel supported and discussions are respectful and safe.

To learn more about StandBy and their current work visit, Life in Mind or StandBy – Support after Suicide.

To access Suicide Prevention Australia’s Duty of Care video, visit: @SuicidePrevAU on Twitter.