PRESS RELEASE: Albanese Government’s Opportunity to Save more Lives from Suicide

Parents Beyond Breakup congratulates the incoming Albanese government and supports Suicide Prevention Australia’s call for the appointment of a dedicated Suicide Prevention Minister.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen strong momentum and progress with the Morrison Government including record investment in last year’s Federal Budget, the establishment of a National Suicide Prevention Office and the appointment of an Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Suicide Prevention.

“A damning statistic however is that since Australia first started recording suicides in 1907, we haven’t managed to improve suicide rates for men across our population,” commented PBB CEO Gillian Hunt.

“Families are losing fathers, children are growing up bereaved, the fabric of our society is being stretched beyond measure. Every Australian child deserves to have both their parents in their lives,” Ms Hunt said.

As a national suicide prevention charity focussing solely on parents in distress, Parents Beyond Breakup has seen progress in support for reducing suicide.

“It is critical that this continues, in particular with a focus on male suicide prevention as we are losing Australian men to suicide daily, with three in four suicides being men,” said Ms Hunt.

“We call on the Albanese Government to turn these statistics around and to make real change for the first time in more than 100 years for Australian families. Please heed our call as we plead for more help and resources to save more lives. It is real, families are hurting, there is ongoing generational trauma for children losing their parents to suicide. This is a preventable loss of life,” Ms Hunt said.

“We call on the Albanese Government to take the reins in further embedding suicide prevention as a critical issue at the highest levels of government. We also call on the Government to take progressive steps to improving support for our most at-risk demographic,” said Ms Hunt.

Suicide Prevention Australia Acting CEO Matt McLean noted it was the Labour Gillard Government who first appointed a dedicated minister responsible for mental health and suicide prevention to Cabinet and called for specific suicide prevention responsibilities in the new ministry.
“Parents Beyond Breakup urgently calls for our incoming Government to further progress on taking a ‘whole of government approach’ leading from the top to deliver real outcomes in saving the lives of all Australians. To engage with our Lived Experience Peer Support organisations as we deal with the day-to-day increased levels of distress across our community that is beyond precedent,” Ms Hunt said.
“Suicide prevention and saving Australian lives should be a focus for our new leaders who have been entrusted with taking this country forward,” said PBB Chairman Brendan Blomeley.
“At the heart of government should be a focus on the Australian people and turning the tide on the scourge of male suicide”, Mr Blomeley said.
Parents Beyond Breakup Patron Julian Leeser MP commented: “In particular we continue to call for more support for saving the lives of Australian men and fathers as a priority at-risk demographic. All Australian children have the right to have both their parents in their lives. As a government this should be a key priority in supporting the future generations of our children.”
ABOUT PBB
As a national suicide prevention charity operating for over 20 years, Parents Beyond Breakup is focused solely on supporting separating parents experiencing trauma through family breakdown, a factor closely linked to suicide.
Every year over 3,000 Australians die by suicide with issues in spousal relationships the third most cited common risk factor for males compared to seventh for females. Consistent with previous years, males are around three times more likely to die by suicide than females.
SUPPORT
Those experiencing distress during family separation and in need of support:
HELPLINE 1300 853 437
Mon-Sat, 08:30am – 5pm AEST or
WEBSITE:
www.parentsbeyondbreakup.com