Wesley Mission Annual Report 2020 - Flipbook - Page 43
Suicide prevention
Preventing suicide across Australia
Over the last ten years, Australian communities have experienced an increase in the rate of suicide.
In 2018, there were 105,730 years of life lost to suicide, stealing more years from our friends and
families than any other cause of death.
Wesley LifeForce Networks
With a presence in every state, focusing on areas
where the problem of suicide hits the hardest,
Wesley LifeForce Suicide Prevention Networks are
community-led working groups addressing suicide
at a local level.
So far, there are 114 groups in communities across
Australia representing a membership of more than
2,664 people including groups in rural and remote
areas and groups led by young and First Nations
people. New networks are being established every
year through the support of the Commonwealth
Government and Primary Health Networks.
Evaluating the effectiveness of our networks
This past year, Melbourne University’s Mental
Health Policy and Practice Unit of the Centre for
Mental Health evaluated our program and found:
• c
lear evidence of the positive internal and
external impacts for network members and the
communities they support
In 19/20, Wesley LifeForce supported
114
2,664
suicide prevention
networks across Australia
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Wesley LifeForce Network Members
• increased knowledge and linkages to
service providers and support services in
the community
• reducing stigma, and providing a safe and
empowering space for those with a lived
experience of suicide.
As they drove back to Killabakh, they met a
horrifying site. “I’d never watched a house burn until
that day at Bobin. When we came over the hill [in
Killabakh], everything was on fire. We’ve never seen
that before,” says Greg.
Wesley LifeForce has been delivering
community suicide prevention training since
1995. In that time, more than 40,000 people
have participated in the workshops in
metropolitan, regional, rural and remote
Australia.
The stakes suddenly rose. For Greg and his brigade,
this wasn’t just any fire; they were now fighting to
save the lives and homes of their community, friends
and family.
Our suicide prevention training has been
evaluated to be ‘robust and effective’ by the
Australian Institute for Suicide Research and
Prevention.
625
218
supported by
Wesley LifeForce
National Chaplaincy
It was the longest 55-minute drive of Greg’s life. But when his brigade finally arrived, their home village,
Killabakh was on fire. And their fire truck was out of water.
It was 8 November 2019 and Rural Fire Service
(RFS) volunteer, Greg and Killabakh RFS brigade
were a fighting a blaze in Bobin, west of Killabakh
when they ran out of water.
Wesley LifeForce Training
people completed commercial
training for professionals
A community’s journey of resilience
beyond smoke and ash
Greg and his wife Gabrielle own a 160-acre
property. For four days they defended their land,
and they barely slept. Every hour Greg would wake
and walk around his veranda to check the location
of the fire.
1,483
people completed community
suicide prevention training
By 3am it was finally over. Their land was scorched
and many fences destroyed but thankfully,
they’d managed to save their cattle, shed and
farming tools.
During this season, Greg has sought support from
Wesley LifeForce Manning Suicide Prevention
Network, based in Taree. The network brings
together community members and local
organisations to create awareness about suicide
and develop community-led suicide prevention
strategies at a grassroots level.
While a traumatic experience for Greg and Gabrielle,
sadly the bushfires are just the latest in a series of
disasters. For the last two years their community
has faced drought.
Wesley LifeForce Community Development
Coordinator, Amy says in addition to practical help,
mental health support is crucial to long-term
recovery in the region.
“About six weeks after a disaster, suicide risk is a lot
higher,” explains Amy. “Going through disasters like
these, trauma lasts for a long time and people
respond to trauma in different ways.
“This is long-term. It’s about looking at sustainable
long-term support and solutions for communities
like Killabakh.”
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