For well over 100 years researchers, theorists and academics have attempted to understand and explain suicide. Since Durkheim's early explorations in the late 1800's to now, a number of experts have attempted to explain why people die by suicide, yet our ability to predict suicide remains no better than chance. Over the past decades, three major theories of suicide have emerged: Joiners Interpersonal Theory of Suicide, O'Connor's Integrated Motivational-Volitional model, and Klonsky and May's 3-step Ideation to Action model. From these theories, we developed a template (following Brooks et al., 2015) to qualitatively analyse responses to the question 'Why do you think people choose to die by suicide?' We also asked people about where they would look for information to support someone who was suicidal and why, to evaluate how successful awareness campaigns have been to date. In this study, we recruited 629 people (461 women; aged 18-86, M = 36.6) from all over Australia. Responses were mapped onto a template devised based on key theories of suicide to understand how peoples beliefs about suicide align (or do not align) with theories of suicide. The template was developed initially based on the four selected theories, and then revised iteratively based on initial and subsequent application to the data. We will report on the themes that arise out of this analysis, which will highlight where awareness building efforts around suicide have been successful and where they may need to be improved. Awareness of different support services will also be reported to identify further areas for development of public health awareness related to suicide. The findings of this research will be useful in identifying gaps in public understanding, and creating steps for governments and support services to follow in developing better public awareness.