This World Suicide Prevention Day, WentWest is launching our suicide prevention webpage to help health professionals and people across Western Sydney better understand how our region is working together to prevent suicide.
Each year on 10 September, World Suicide Prevention Day invites people and communities around the world to take action to prevent suicide.
The theme ‘Changing the Narrative’ encourages ongoing improvement in how suicide prevention is understood and delivered, drawing on evidence, lived experience and collaboration across communities and services.
For WentWest, changing the narrative means shifting both how we talk about suicide and how we respond to suicidal distress.
Mental health care remains an important part of a coordinated suicide prevention response, but suicidal distress is influenced by a range of social, economic, cultural and health factors.
Experiences such as trauma, discrimination, social isolation, financial stress, significant life changes and physical or mental health challenges can all affect wellbeing and increase vulnerability to distress.
Suicide prevention is a shared responsibility
It’s easy to look at bigger picture factors and feel a sense that the work is too big. We know, however, that at regional levels, there are ways to fund, program and, indeed, influence the broader system towards an approach to suicide prevention that works for all.
A new resource for Western Sydney
WentWest’s new Suicide Prevention webpage, launching on World Suicide Prevention Day, is the ‘front door’ to our approach in Western Sydney. The webpage has been developed to make it easier for health professionals, community partners and people across Western Sydney to find relevant information and join our efforts to change the narrative locally.
It also explains why suicide prevention must extend beyond clinical and crisis services, towards a system approach that includes domains of prevention, early intervention, postvention and whole of community wellbeing. A strong regional response also includes partnerships across the health sector as well as with non-health organisations, communities, cultural and social leaders and people with lived and living experience.
Explore the new Suicide Prevention in Western Sydney webpage
Connecting services, communities and systems
Working alongside community members, health services, government partners and service providers, WentWest contributes to suicide prevention across three connected areas.
- Commissioning and supporting the development of programs and services for people experiencing suicidal distress
- Strengthening the capability of communities and workforces to recognise distress and respond early
- Regional systems coordination that brings together stakeholders to coordinated responses to suicide that reflect the diverse needs of Western Sydney
Much of this work is coordinated through the Western Sydney Suicide Alliance (WSSA), a regional partnership involving service providers, community organisations, health services, primary care providers, government agencies and local voices.
Through the Alliance, partners work collectively to strengthen connections between services, build community capability and create a more coordinated and sustainable response to suicide and suicidal distress.
We encourage you to reach out to the WentWest Suicide Prevention team if you would like to be involved wssa@wentwest.com.au
From awareness to action
World Suicide Prevention Day provides an important opportunity to start conversations. But changing the narrative cannot be limited to one day – it requires ongoing action. The launch of our new webpage is one part of this broader commitment.
By making local supports and our approach easier to understand, we can help create a region where people are more able to access compassionate and appropriate support, wherever they are in their journey.
Visit the Suicide Prevention in Western Sydney webpage to learn more about available supports, regional initiatives and how WentWest and its partners are working together to prevent suicide.