World Suicide Prevention Day: Reaching Out, Holding Hope
- Shane Warren
- Sep 9
- 2 min read
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
10 September 2025
Today on World Suicide Prevention Day, the Vocational Mental Health Practitioners Association of Australia (VMHPAA) joins the global call to raise awareness, break stigma, and build a culture of hope, connection, and prevention.
Every life lost to suicide is a life gone too soon. Behind the statistics are people, families, and communities forever changed. Today is not only a day of reflection, it is a call to act with compassion, speak with courage, and support with presence.
“Preventing suicide doesn’t always require a clinical response, sometimes, it simply starts with showing up, listening without judgment, and reminding someone that they matter,” said Shane Warren, Chair of VMHPAA. “Our vocationally trained mental health practitioners work at this frontline every day, often as the very first safe person someone reaches out to.”
VMHPAA recognises that prevention is everyone's responsibility, and that effective suicide prevention requires a workforce as diverse as the communities it serves. This includes peer supporters, lived experience practitioners, counsellors, community workers, and vocational mental health professionals who are embedded in neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces, and families.
“We can’t talk about suicide prevention without recognising the value of human connection,” added Susan Sandy, VMHPAA Secretary and experienced relationship counsellor. “Vocational practitioners bring practical, heart-led support to people where they are, and often, when they need it most.”
On this day, VMHPAA calls for:
Increased access to grassroots and vocational mental health services
Integration of vocationally trained practitioners into national suicide prevention frameworks
Recognition of the relational and community-based strengths of counsellors, support workers, and peer mentors in prevention strategies
Together, we can reduce the number of lives lost to suicide. Together, we can offer hope.
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Media Contact:
Shane Warren, Chair
Susan Sandy, Secretary
Philip Armstrong, CEO
VMHPAA
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