Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayor's Taskforce for Suicide Prevention Project Update
“Being part of the lived experience team has allowed me to feel as if I'm contributing towards helping others by using my journey and pain to share the lessons and hopefully help others have easier access to help and support.” - Barb Hill
Greater Whitsunday Communities Suicide Prevention Project Officer Courtney has been working to find place based solutions for individuals who are experiencing mental health distress, are at risk of suicide and have difficulties navigating and accessing services. At their project milestone presentation in March, the Greater Whitsundays Council of Mayors Suicide Prevention Taskforce heard from lived experience representative Daniel Young. Daniel shared his personal story and reminded the group about the three main points that resonate with everyone; connection, compassion and a positive experience.
Over the past few months, the project has focussed on connecting and collaborating with local service providers and hearing from people who have a lived experience of the mental health system. From these connections and conversations, it was indicated that the need for an Indigenous Specific co-design workshop was needed in order to create a culturally safe space for First Nations and South Sea Islander peoples to open up about their experiences and concerns. In May an Indigenous Specific workshop was held, facilitated by Fiona Bobongie with over 20 service providers and members of the First Nation and South Sea Islander Communities were in attendance.
During June, Suicide Prevention Officer Courtney, conducted eight community engagement sessions throughout the Whitsunday, Isaac and Mackay Regions. These were conducted in partnership with with Selectability workers Jason Peoples and Maxine Brown who were seeking feedback for the Regional Suicide Prevention Plan review. Together, these community engagement sessions and the Indigenous Co-Design workshop were utilised to inform the final Co-Design Workshop held in Mackay on the 23rd of June to establish a place-based model, in solution to service navigation in the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac region.
This event was a huge success with over 100 people in attendance from all across the region and some from all over Queensland including service providers, local government and council representatives, people with lived experience and community members all with a passion for suicide prevention and improving mental health systems.
“Very valuable session for what a serious issue in our regions, anything that lessens stigma around suicide/depression/mental health is valuable” - Participant Co-Design 23 June
The workshop began with a personalised and heartfelt Welcome to Country by Aunty Veronica Ah-Wang. People who attended then heard from Mayor Greg Williamson who provided some background about the Greater Whitsunday Council of Mayors Suicide Prevention Taskforce establishment and an overview of their involvement.
The day was emceed by former ABC Radio speaker, journalist and storytelling specialist Kim Kleidon, who creatively kept everyone engaged and laughing during technical difficulties that were experienced with virtual presentations delivered by Bronwyn Edwards from Roses in the Ocean and Joshua Harding from My Community Directory. Bronwyn provided detailed information about the value of co-design and working with people who have lived experience, while Joshua spoke about the potential of My Community Directory as a centralised database of local information for our region and provided a visual presentation of what it could look like. Then, to ground the purpose of the workshop in context of personal and meaningful human experiences was Nangala Woodley who gave an incredible presentation from the perspective of a person with a lived experience of mental health and suicide as a First Nations woman.
Previously mentioned Fiona Bobongie was the lead Co-design facilitator and provided an incredible artistic environment which allowed everyone an opportunity to explore preventative solutions to their individual case scenario. These aided participants in unpacking the diverse needs of individuals relevant to the Mackay, Isaac, and Whitsunday region. The process has allowed for the progression of tremendous amount of data to be synthesised, collated and developed into a prototype model for the region. This data will inform what is presented to the Taskforce in August 2022, where further initiatives for funding and implementation will be developed and progressed into operational actions.
