In July 2024, Switchboard Victoria launched Changing the Landscape, a national campaign fighting for a future where all LGBTIQA+SB people can access life affirming suicide prevention care when they need it most. The campaign is supported by LGBTIQ+ Health Australia with funding from the National Suicide Prevention Leadership and Support Program.
At the heart of the campaign is the Changing the Landscape Statement, a document created by LGBTIQA+SB people with lived experiences of suicide that outlines the foundational changes required across the health sector. The Statement calls for recognition, LGBTIQA+SB community leadership, and sustainable funding across all parts of Australian healthcare to achieve the highest possible standards of suicide prevention for LGBTIQA+SB people. Over 290 signatories have endorsed the Statement to date, including Everymind, Standby Support After Suicide, R U OK?, Roses in the Ocean, Australian Pride Network, YouTurn, ACON, Transgender Victoria, WAAC (WA AIDS Council), Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA), Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi), Consumers Health Forum of Australia, The Centre for Impact & Change, Diverse Voices and Twenty10.
This panels brings together LGBTIQA+SB suicide prevention sector experts, campaign ambassadors and organisations who have been part of Changing the Landscape to reflect on what the campaign has achieved, what work must come next, and the impact of sector leaders coming together to create change.
Key questions the panel will address include:
Systemic discrimination and social stigma continue to impact the wellbeing of LGBTIQA+SB communities meaning we are more likely to experience higher rates of suicidal distress than non-LGBTIQA+SB people, and in the fabric of our communities we bare the grief of too many LGBTIQA+SB lives that have ended in suicide. Despite the urgent need, our LGBTIQA+SB peer and lived experience community support services are severely underfunded and generalist suicide prevention services often do not reach or appropriately support LGBTIQA+SB people.
Our communities deserve better, and our sector must work together with and alongside LGBTIQA+SB people to build the future we need.