Unite this July to #SupportTheCharter

In 2017, Life in Mind was funded to redevelop and operationalise the National Communications Charter (The Charter) as part the Government’s new suicide prevention reform investment.

The Charter is a unified approach to guide the way we talk about mental health and suicide prevention, with each other and with the community.

Today, Everymind is rolling out a campaign aimed to encourage individuals to take action and become signatories of the Life in Mind National Communications Charter.

The campaign, which is running throughout July in the lead up to the National Suicide Prevention Conference, is kicking off with Everymind staff focusing on their individual reasons for becoming signatories of The Charter and how they embed the principles into their work.

By signing The Charter individuals are making a formal commitment to reducing stigmatising language and promoting help- seeking and help-offering behaviour.

We found that staff from all of our teams had unique and varied responses to how they embed The Charter into their work, but commonly staff felt empowered to sign, taking action to commit to the eight principles in their daily and professional settings.

Everymind Suicide Prevention Project Lead, Simon Pont said The Charter encourages action and support from individuals to become signatories as we all have a role to play in reducing stigma around mental ill-health and suicide.

“By signing The Charter, individuals are agreeing to communicate in ways that are safe and actively work to increase help-seeking behaviour, reduce stigma and encourage collaboration,” Mr Pont said.

“It’s wonderful so many of our staff members, across all of our teams felt empowered to become signatories and commit to The Charter’s principles and messages. It highlights how multiple sectors and the broader community can come together to ensure an inclusive and proactive response to prevent suicide.”

Why are Everymind staff sharing their stories?

It highlights to the community, that we all have a role to play in reducing stigma around mental ill-health and suicide. Staff across Everymind felt it was important to highlight and acknowledge how they implement the eight core principles across the various programs and speak to how they incorporate into their personal lives.

How do we use The Charter?

The Charter sets out broad communication principles and key messages about mental health and wellbeing, social and emotional wellbeing, mental ill-health and suicide prevention.

By working together under the guidance of The Charter, we can maximise our efforts and resources to help prevent mental illness and suicide and minimise the personal, social and economic effects these have on people, families, communities and organisations.