- Labor Government the only major party to not prioritise suicide prevention so far during the election campaign
- More than a quarter (27%) of Australians say they know someone in their personal life or networks who has died by suicide in the last 12 months
Suicide Prevention Australia has today welcomed an election commitment from the Australian Greens to invest $180 million into a National Suicide Prevention Act — a significant step toward creating a systematic approach to suicide prevention in Australia.
The commitment would ensure a whole-of-government response by legislating alignment across all levels of government and delivering a coordinated national framework — a key enabler of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
With this announcement, both the Coalition and the Greens — two of the country’s largest political parties — have now recognised suicide prevention in their election platforms. Yet despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stating in 2022 that reducing suicide rates was a personal priority, there remains silence from the Labor Government when it comes to any specific funding or implementation commitments for the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
“Suicide Prevention Australia welcomes this bold and meaningful commitment from the Greens to deliver real reform and investment in suicide prevention,” said Suicide Prevention Australia CEO, Nieves Murray.
“Legislating a National Suicide Prevention Act would ensure that suicide prevention is embedded in decision-making across government — from housing and employment to education and justice. This kind of systemic approach is exactly what the National Strategy calls for.
“At a time when suicide rates are not going down and distress in the community is rising, we cannot afford to leave this Strategy sitting on a shelf.
“We now have a roadmap for reform — the Strategy. What we need is political will, leadership, and investment to turn that roadmap into action,” said Ms Murray.
More than 3,000 people die by suicide each year in Australia, and over 55,000 make an attempt. The latest data from the Suicide Prevention Australia Community Tracker shows distress levels remain elevated across the country — particularly among younger Australians — driven by factors such as cost-of-living, housing stress, and isolation.
“While we welcome the recent investments in mental health, we know that suicide is complex, and we cannot continue to funnel all solutions through the mental health or hospital systems while ignoring the broader factors at play — financial stress, housing insecurity, social isolation, loneliness, relationship breakdown, climate change and more.
“This isn’t just about mental health services and having more psychologists. If we don’t fund suicide prevention workforce and programs directly, we are failing the many Australians at risk who never engage with the mental health system and don’t have a mental illness. We’re calling on all parties to step up and demonstrate their commitment to reducing deaths by suicide in Australia,” said Ms Murray.
Suicide Prevention Australia urges all parties to prioritise suicide prevention specifically in this election campaign and commit to fully funding and implementing the National Strategy.
To get help 24/7, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. If you or someone you know are in immediate danger, phone 000 for emergency services.
Help to report about suicide safely is available online: Go to https://mindframe.org.au/
Media enquiries:
Amelia Hew 0410 591 134 or ameliah@suicidepreventionaust.org
About Suicide Prevention Australia
Suicide Prevention Australia is the national peak body and we’ve been providing support for Australia’s suicide prevention sector for more than 30 years. We support and advocate for our members to drive continual improvement in suicide prevention policy, programs and services. Our reach is broad, including member organisations, governments, businesses, researchers, practitioners and those with lived experience. We are focused on an integrated approach to suicide prevention encompassing mental health, social, economic and community factors. We believe that through collaborative effort and shared purpose, we can achieve our vision of a world without suicide.
