Welcome to the July edition of the TSPCN news!

In this issue:

• Network Update
• Member News
• Events, Opportunities & Training
• Grant Opportunities
• Resources & Support

As we move into the second half of the year, there continues to be encouraging momentum across the suicide prevention sector. National developments, opportunities to learn from colleagues across Australia and overseas and the work taking place here in Tasmania all reinforce the importance of continuing to strengthen our collective efforts.

An important recent development has been the release of the National Suicide Prevention Outcomes Framework Outcomes Map by the National Suicide Prevention Office. The framework provides a shared approach to measuring progress under the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025 to 2035. Importantly, it reflects a broader understanding of suicide prevention by clearly recognising the role that connection, belonging and supportive relationships play alongside effective responses during times of crisis. It also encourages us to focus on the outcomes that matter most to people.

Those themes were reflected throughout the recent Suicide Prevention Australia Conference. One of the highlights for me was hearing international perspectives, particularly the work underway in Hong Kong and Aotearoa New Zealand. Learning from different approaches helps us continue to strengthen our work here in Tasmania while ensuring it remains grounded in the needs and experiences of our own communities.

It was also fantastic to see the announcement that the 2027 Suicide Prevention Australia Conference will be held in Hobart. This presents an important opportunity to showcase the work taking place across Tasmania, strengthen relationships with colleagues from across Tasmania and Australia, while continue learning from one another.

I hope you find this edition of the newsletter informative. If there are topics you’d like to see covered, please reach out to the team. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to strengthening suicide prevention across Tasmania.

Michael,
Tasmanian Suicide Prevention Community Network Chair

Join us for the next Tasmanian Suicide Prevention Community Network (TSPCN) meeting! This is your chance to connect, share knowledge, and collaborate with others contributing to suicide prevention in Tasmania.

We'll be hearing from:

• Casey Musicka - Live4Life Program Coordinator, supporting rural and regional communities to improve youth mental health and reduce youth suicide

• Amanda Aitken - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT), youth co-design launch of the new "Whatever the Weather" assessment tool

• Laura Johnson OAM - Founder of THEIRS, a youth-led mental health and suicide prevention organisation on Tasmania’s North West Coast

• The Department of Health - Receive a direct update on the Department’s current initiatives and priorities and learn how they are working to strengthen suicide prevention efforts across Tasmania.

Date: Thursday, August 27, 2026
Time: 12:30 - 2:30pm
Location: UTAS, Inveresk campus - River's Edge Building (Room 308), Launceston, TAS, 7248

For catering and logistics, kindly RSVP by Thursday, August 20, 2026. Light refreshments will be provided.

We hope to see you there!

Interested in what was discussed at the previous online meeting? You can read previous meeting minutes on our website. 

Congratulations to the following groups on their recent CAP endorsements!

• Leo Febey Tech
• South Launceston Suns
• THEIRS
• UTAS Paramedicine Society

Curious about how a Community Action Plan can benefit your group, workplace, sporting club, organisation or community?

Click the button below to discover more.

Community Spotlight - Auslan After Dark!

Auslan After Dark is a training and performance organisation run by Deaf and CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult) founders Michelle and Ben. They are a dynamic duo with special interests in stand-up comedy, performance art, and building connections between the Deaf and Hearing world.

Their contributions to accessibility and advocacy for the Tasmanian Deaf community have been immense. After completing a Community Action Plan in 2025 the team have gone on to deliver 'Wine & Sign' nights, Auslan trivia nights, and share their story (hilariously) on stand-up comedy stages right around Australia.

As an accredited Auslan training program, the team also deliver short courses for beginners wanting to learn. Get in touch with Michelle and Ben today if you're keen to increase language inclusivity in your community and make some new friends!

Claremont Men's Shed - The Wall in the Wilderness expedition

Members of the Claremont Men's Shed enjoyed a day of connection, shared interests, and craftsmanship on their journey to the infamous 'Wall in the Wilderness' at Derwent Bridge.

In the consultation phase of their recent Community Action Plan, members expressed a desire for more opportunities to attend workshops, skill-building, and social events that incorporate intergenerational knowledge-sharing. This is a wonderful example of their commitment to supporting each other; continuing the legacy of Men's Sheds' numerous contributions to maintaining connected and respectful communities.

'Relationships and Suicide Risk Report' - Released April 2026

This joint report in collaboration between Relationships Australia and Suicide Prevention Australia emphasises the importance of relationships in suicide prevention. It calls for a shift in Australia's approach to suicide prevention, placing relationships at the core of policy, services, and support.

The report highlights the protective mechanisms that healthy relationships can provide and identifies risk factors of unhealth relationships that can contribute to suicidal distress. 

Beaker Street Festival: Psychedelics Revisited

From the 1950s through the 1970s, early clinical research into psychedelics began to suggest potential benefits for a range of psychological conditions. Substances like LSD and MDMA were investigated by Western scientists and doctors as potential treatments for conditions from addiction to anxiety. Then came the War on Drugs, bringing most psychedelic research to a halt for decades.

In 2023, Australia became the first country to approve the clinical use of MDMA and psilocybin at a national level for specific mental health conditions. Dr Paul Liknaitzky, head of Monash University’s Clinical Psychedelics Lab, returns to Beaker Street Festival to discuss emerging findings, future directions, and the lived experience of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Content warning: This session discusses mental health conditions, trauma, and therapeutic use of psychedelic substances. Recommended for mature audiences.

When: Saturday, 15 August 2026 (5:00 - 6:00pm)

Where: Hobart City Hall 

The Black Dog Institute offers a wide range of regular Community Webinars addressing mental health for adults, for high school aged students, and parents/carers. 

These sessions include, but are not limited, to topics on:

• Breaking Down Depression
• Insights (Lived Experience of mental illness, along with signs and symptoms)
• 'Mental Fitness' - Practical positive psychology strategies
• Navigating Your Teen's Mental Health

Click the link below to learn more and view the calendar for upcoming Community Webinars.

Ask R U OK? Any Day because life happens every day.  

There are loads of resources available on the R U OK? Day website. To request an R U OK? Community Ambassador for your community or workplace event please visit R U OK? Community Ambassadors.

A presentation by an R U OK? Community Ambassador includes:

• How R U OK? began
• R U OK? vision and mission
•  Knowing when and how to ask, ‘are you OK?’
• The 4 steps of an R U OK? conversation
• Tips on how to stay connected
• They will also weave in their personal story throughout the presentation

Thursday, 10 September 2026 is R U OK? Day.

Ski for Life Community Grants - up to $10,000

Ski for Life provides grants to community groups and organisations delivering practical mental health and suicide prevention initiatives across rural and regional Australia. We support projects that strengthen wellbeing, promote connection, and deliver measurable impact where it’s needed most.

Ski for Life welcomes grant applications for projects that:

• Are community-led and locally delivered

• Focus on mental health, well-being, and suicide prevention

• Support rural and regional communities

• Create practical, measurable outcomes

Grant applications are assessed in multiple rounds each year. Please refer to the dates below for the next opening and closing times:

Round Two: Closes 31 July 2026

Round Three: Closes 31 October 2026

In a Good Place (IAGP) 2026 Grant - up to $20,000

This program gives small remote, rural and regional communities across Australia with funds to focus on strengthening mental health, social/emotional health and wellbeing through community-based approaches that:

• Are preventative or responsive in nature;
• Focus on reducing mental health stigma and promote open discussions about mental health;
• Encourage, support and enable people to seek help; and
• Reduce social isolation by fostering social participation, inclusion and connection.

Closing date: Tuesday, 18 August 2026

Tell Someone: Child Safety Small Grants Program - from $500 to $10,000

The Tell Someone: Child Safety Small Grants Program 2026–27 (the Grant Program) builds on the Tell Someone Initiative and supports the Tasmanian Government’s Change for Children Strategy by recognising the important role that community-based organisations play in keeping children and young people safe.

The Grant Program will contribute funding for eligible community-based organisations that deliver projects that align with shared objectives and contribute to the following improved child safety outcomes:

• safer environments for children and young people,
• reduced risk of child sexual abuse, grooming and harmful sexual behaviours, and
• stronger organisational and community capacity to prevent, identify and respond to concerns.

Closing date: 2:00pm, Tuesday 25 August 2026

NAB Foundation Community Grants - up to $25,000

NAB Foundation Community Grants support community-led projects that relate to the following categories:

• Training and planning

• Community Recovery

• Environment and wildlife

• Equipment and Infrastructure

Grant funds can be put towards educational workshops, practical and strategic planning that help communities prepare for a natural disaster. Also, programs to enhance community connection, resilience and wellbeing post natural disaster. This includes initiatives that promote the restoration of damaged vegetation and habitat, and rehabilitation of injured wildlife. Funding can support the procurement of tools, equipment and infrastructure improvements that help communities withstand natural disasters or recover in their aftermath.

Round 2: Open from 17 August to 14 September 2026

The updated Conversations matter resources are designed to help the many people who want to support someone they care about but worry about saying the wrong thing. These free, evidence‑informed, plain‑language guides support people to have safe, confident conversations about suicide in real‑world situations.

Whether someone is worried about a friend or family member, responding to distress, supporting someone after a suicide attempt or navigating the complex emotions that follow a suicide death – these guides offer practical, compassionate direction.

CORES (Community Owned Response to Eliminating Suicide) deliver a variety of training workshops for community members and organisations, including: 

• Suicide Prevention Training,
• Self-Care and Mental Wellbeing Workshops Level 1 and 2,
• Understanding Mental Wellbeing for Effective Communication, 
• Understanding Loss and Grief,
• LGBTIQA+ Professional Development.

Learn more at their website and register for upcoming workshops below!

The LEx Training Hub provides training pathways for people with lived experience of mental health issues, suicide, or alcohol and other drug use by education and empowering them to effectively apply their unique expertise to support others through their own treatment or recovery journeys.

A variety of courses are available, with dates set for the upcoming quarter.

The Lifeline Tasmania Training and Support team deliver evidence-based mental health and wellbeing training that empowers people to support one another, respond to crisis with confidence, and build psychologically safer workplaces.

Click the link below to discover a variety of statewide community workshops and upcoming trainings near you.

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We look forward to hearing from you!

We acknowledge the individual and collective contributions of those with a lived and living experience of mental ill-health and suicide, and those who love, have loved and care for them.

The Tasmanian Suicide Prevention Community Network acknowledges that we live and work on Aboriginal land, land of the palawa/pakana people of lutruwita (Tasmania). We pay respect to Elders past and present. We honour all those who continue caring for country, sharing stories, and upholding rights. 

Here for all Tasmanians