Wednesday, 21st May National Suicide Prevention Conference 2025

• Sold Out - You must have pre-registered to attend

25 Years of Mental Health First Aid

Join us for a special breakfast fireside chat with the founders of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), Betty Kitchener AM and Emeritus Professor Tony Jorm. What started 25 years ago as a simple yet powerful idea – creating a mental health equivalent of physical first aid – has grown into a global movement, with more than 8 million people trained through a network of over 60,000 instructors worldwide.

Hosted by Dr Jakqui Barnfield, this fireside chat is a chance to reflect on the impact of MHFA in equipping individuals and communities to recognise and respond to mental health problems, creating circles of safety and support across Australia and beyond. We will also look ahead to the future of MHFA education, and how it can be delivered at scale and leveraging technology to build the capacity of all Australians.

Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate 25 years of MHFA, hear firsthand from founders Betty and Tony, and connect with others who share a passion for improving mental health literacy and reducing stigma through education.

Betty Kitchener AM
Betty is the co-founder and past inaugural CEO of Mental Health First Aid International. Having experienced recurrent episodes of major depression, she brings an important consumer perspective to her work. A recipient of numerous awards, Betty has facilitated the spread of the Mental Health First Aid Program across Australia and to over 23 other countries.

Emeritus Professor Tony Jorm
Tony Jorm co-founded MHFA with Betty Kitchener in 2000 and establish MHFA International in 2011, serving as inaugural Board Chair. He has led MHFA trials and the development of guidelines and manuals. A professor at the University of Melbourne, his research focuses on empowering public action for mental health prevention and early intervention.

• To Meet Them Where They Are: Using Digital Advertising for Suicide Prevention - Sandersan Onie

Panellists:

Dr Jakqui Barnfield - Mental Health First Aid International

As the Executive Director, International Programs, Quality and Research at Mental Health First Aid International, Jakqui provides leadership to the research, curriculum, quality and international secretariat teams to support and develop high-quality, evidence-based MHFA programs in Australia and internationally across 35 countries.

With more than 20 years of experience in senior mental health, nursing and operations roles, Jakqui has worked in tertiary and primary health services, the community and university sectors, and digital mental health. She serves as a member of a university human research ethics committee as a subject matter expert and as a member of a committee of management of a Bush Nursing Service. Her expertise spans clinical governance, digital mental health service delivery, corporate governance, and transformational leadership. As a mental health nurse and passionate advocate for mental health and wellbeing, Jakqui believes in the premise that mental health education and training hold the key to connected and healthy communities.

Mr Colin Seery - Lifeline

Appointed to Lifeline March 2019

Colin has held leadership positions in the health sector for more than 20 years. Previously Colin was Chief Executive Officer of Healthdirect Australia and prior to that he held senior executive positions with the National Safety Council of Australia, the Hospital Benefits Association and Sano Consulting.

Colin has worked across a broad spectrum of health sector issues including governance, policy development, stakeholder engagement and advocacy.

He also spent seven years in management positions at the Sydney Swans Football Club, where he was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2002.

Qualifications:

• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Bachelor of Applied Science
• Diploma of Education
• Graduate Australian Institute of Company Directors.

• A conversation into the journey of how lived experience now guides postvention services. - Jo Langford
• Raising awareness & supporting the community:  thinking outside the box - Jennifer A Waltmon

• Lessons learnt from evaluating Youth Aftercare Services in Australia - Sharon SMB Marra-Brown
• Regional Outcome Review Initiative (RORI) Enhancing Care Together - Naomi Capper and Alison Asche
• The impact of family and relationships in suicide and its prevention - Nick Tebbey and Briohny Kennedy

• A prospective study of suicide and self-harm among young carers - Tania King
• Developing and evaluating a cultural connection suicide prevention program for First Nations young people - Mandy Gibson
• Co-designing a safe haven cafe for young people as an alternative to ED - Samantha Speirs

• Together Towards Tomorrow: Empowering First Nations Voices in Suicide Prevention - Lewis Bird
• Torque It Out: Regional Initiative for Adult Male Suicide Prevention in Brisbane South PHN   - Jade Burgmann
• Evaluating How Kai-Fella Addresses Masculinity and Loneliness to Improve Help-Seeking in Young Australian Males - Bradley Roberts

• Understanding Stigma - An Investigation into the Help-Seeking & Help-Offering Attitudes of FIFO Workers - Jordan Jackson
• The Apprentices Unearthed Project - Kurt Piron
• Understanding non-suicidal self-injury: Empowering emergency department nurses to build compassionate practice - Penelope Hasking and Amanda Aiyana

• Development of the Side-By-Side Pasifika holistic community suicide prevention program - Inez Faingaa-Manu Sione
• Fostering hope through collaboration and centering first nation’s voices: A universal approach to suicide prevention - Kate E Clements and Tahlitia McGinness
• Healing Through Culture: Transforming Suicide Aftercare for Indigenous Communities in Central Australia. - Alice Campbell-Jones

• Psychosocial Hazards in the Northern Territory Construction Industry & accreditation across the Northern Territory - Nicholas Thompson, Rebecca Loudoun and Andy Chapmen
• Enhancing suicide prevention through digital tools: AI, chatbots, and continuous support platforms - Sally-Anne McCormack
• Suicide Prevention with Virtual Reality - Freya Lingard and Craig Fletcher

• The National Postvention Leadership Group strengthening postvention services through national collaboration   - Amanda Glenwright, Fiona McCallum and Kristen Douglas
• Addressing barriers to effective suicide bereavement support in NSW regional, rural and remote communities - Jemma Hemsted

• Introducing a National Evaluation Framework for evaluation of mental health and suicide prevention initiatives - Alexandra AL Lorigan, Sharon AMB Marra-Brown, Jade JM Maloney, Sarah SW Wayland and Phil Lancaster
• Supporting Defence's changing culture in suicide prevention - Jennifer Harvey, Kylie Druett and Tiyana Gostelow

• Suicide and self-harm data and reporting at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Lucy Ellen, Tania King, Anthony LaMontagne and Matthew Spittal
• Digital and AI Safety in the context of Suicide Prevention - Chris Stone

• Changing the landscape of LGBTIQA+SB suicide prevention - Maya Ellazam and Anna Bernasochi
• Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia: Suicide Prevention Australia conference presentation.  - Rachel Fishlock

• Navigating Suicide Bereavement: A Holistic Postvention Approach Through the Lens of Lived Experience - Walter Eduardo Granetto, Sita Wong, Saori Yamashita, Julia O'Halloran and David Kelly
• Barriers and facilitators to help-seeking in men bereaved by suicide: A qualitative study - Nina Logan

• Promoting alternatives to suicide through provision of compassionate, trauma-informed support and personality disorder treatment  - Jillian H Broadbear, Sathya Rao and Cathryn Pilcher
• From crisis to connection: it takes a village, a compassionate village - Alicia Reid

• Our stories matter: Redefining public discussion of suicide from a lived and living experience perspective - Emma Pryse Jones
• Why we need lived experience at the centre of perinatal suicidal behaviour intervention and prevention - Bonnie J Scarth
• Kids in Crisis - Love, Listening and Not Giving Up Hope - Nicole L Pietsch

• Gatekeeper training for youth suicide prevention: A large-scale evaluation of short- and longer-term effectiveness. - Bridget Kenny
• The impact of mental wellbeing skills groups for young people and families in Western Australia - Paula J Wyndow
• Suicide Trajectories in Australian University Students: Longitudinal Predictors of Suicide Risk Group Membership - Thomas McAlpine

• Reflections on The Importance of The Initial Contact in Developing Suicide Bereavement Care Pathways - Michael Voumard and Abbey Kirkpatrick
• Working for the enemy bringing my lived experience to an organisation that failed me   - Julie Rickard
• Creating open learning spaces: Reflections from Understanding LGBTIQA+SB Lived Experience of Suicidal Distress Training - Ayse Bayramoglu

• The link between Adverse Childhood Experiences and suicide - Chris Stone
• Suicide Prevention Pathways: to mandate or not to mandate? That is the question. - Dave N Thompson and Sandy Terry
• The Defence and Veteran Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, including the Suicide Prevention Action Plan - Kylie Douglas and Robert Jones

• Aboriginal-led support for Aboriginal children, young people, families, and communities A Review of the Evidence - Ken Kira-Dhan Zulumovski
• Suicide prevention and LGBTIQA+SB communities - Joe Ball
• Culturally Responsive Suicide Prevention: A Framework for CALD Communities - Ziyad ZS Serhan

• The connect program enhancing social connections for upstream suicide prevention - Professor Tony Pisani
• Public understanding of suicide: A template analysis applying key theories to open responses - Ruth Tatnell
• Adaptation and feasibility of Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality protocol for youth/parent populations - Jacinta Hawgood and Grace Sholl

• "They just completely erased him": Findings from the Support After First Responder Suicide (SAFeRS) study - Henry Bowen
• Unified Response: Enhancing Suicide Postvention through Collaboration - Angela Sinclair and Sam Phipps
• You CAN ask that: investigating the appropriateness of common outcome measure tools for suicide postvention - Bess Jackson

• Baking it in! How social identity support participation in a workplace suicide prevention program. - Jorgen Gullestrup
• Crisis care continuum on the Gold Coast: a contemporary multidisciplinary approach with Lived Experience integration. - Tom Tsai, Heidy Van Engelen and Amanda Goodsir
• Community Wellbeing Plans utilising Collective impact to provide local solutions to increase safety and wellbeing - Jo Drayton

• You must have pre-purchased tickets
• Please purchase before Wednesday 14 May

Dress Code: Back to the Future

Back to the Future has finally arrived! Join us for a timeless evening at the NSPC25 LiFE Awards Gala Dinner, where we’re celebrating in full Back to the Future style.

Will you channel Marty McFly’s futuristic fashion? Step out as a time-traveling scientist like Doc Brown? Or perhaps you’ll arrive straight from 1885, 1955, or even 2015—hoverboard in hand? Whether you go all out or just add a touch of time-travel magic, we want to see your best Back to the Future looks!

So, grab your sports almanac, power up your flux capacitor, and get ready for a night of nostalgia, neon, and next-level fun.

Because where we’re going… we don’t need roads!