Bereavement & Postvention
Anglicare, Living Beyond Suicide
Living Beyond Suicide offers survivor-sensitive support for families in South Australia over the initial hours and days after suicide. Emotional and practical support is provided by appropriately skilled and trained volunteers to help families navigate service systems and access the assistance they need. Support can be accessed by calling 1300 76 11 93.
Befrienders Worldwide
Befrienders Worldwide aims to provide emotional support and reduce suicide by listening to people who are in distress without judgment. This website provides information for those who are suicidal, helping someone who is suicidal or have been bereaved by suicide. Links to Befrienders Worldwide affiliated support services in Australia are also available.
Bereaved Through Suicide Support Group Inc (BTS)
BTS is a South Australian counselling service for those grieving the loss of someone through suicide. They offer support groups. A 24-hour Bereaved by Suicide telephone support line is also available on 8332 8240. The Anglicare Living Beyond Suicide website also contains a number of useful web links for suicide bereavement issues.
Canberra After Suicide Support (CASS)
Canberra After Suicide Support (CASS) is a self-help group, organised by people who have experienced the consequences of the suicide death of someone close to them.
Good Grief Ltd
Good Grief provides a suite of programs and associated resource materials designed specifically to assist in educating children, young people and adults to achieve balance in dealing with change, loss and grief in their lives.
GriefLink
This website offers general information on grief including understanding what grief is, coping with grief and helping the bereaved. Information on grief after losing a loved one by suicide can be accessed by going to Topics. Note that the links provided with in the site to support services are for South Australia only.
Hannah Modra - 'The Girl Least Likely', Australian Story, ABC TV
This is a tribute page set up in memory of Hannah Modra, a 17-year old Melbourne teenager who tragically took her own life. Hannah's depression and suicide, and the experience of her family in coming to terms with their loss, was the focus of an episode of Australian Story (ABC TV) titled ‘The Girl Least Likely’ which has attracted remarkable responses from both health professionals and the general public; in particular, other teenagers who wrote to Australian Story with accounts of having been encouraged to seek professional help for their own depression, following the screening of Hannah’s story. ‘The Girl Least Likely’ can be viewed online by clicking here.
Head High, Najidah
The Head High - Young People Living Beyond Suicide program, based on the Sunshine Coast, provides suicide bereavement support for young people, by young people.
IM Concepts
IM Concepts offer a Suicide Bereavement Support Group in Woolner, Northern Territory.
Jesuit Social Services, Support After Suicide
Jesuit Social Services run the Support After Suicide program, providing support to people in Victoria who are bereaved by suicide. Individual counselling and suicide bereavement support groups are available. Professional training and development is also available.
LifeForce, Wesley Mission
LifeForce hold annual Memorial Day events to allow this bereaved by suicide to come together in the spirit of comfort and hope. The website also offers factsheets and general information about suicide. Training programs are also available.
Lifeline Australia
Lifeline is focused developing their workforce to provide suicide bereavement services under the Bereavement Support Group Standards & Practice Project. Lifeline runs Suicide Bereavement, Grief & Loss Programs at various centres across Australia. These programs help those dealing with the suicide of someone they know to make sense of what has happened, deal with their grief and learn how to live with their loss. More information, including the Lifeline centres which run the program, can be found on the Lifeline website. Lifeline offers a downloadable booklet, The Survivors of Suicide, which was developed to support people who have lost a loved one to suicide.
MOSH Australia
The main aim of MOSH (Minimisation of Suicide Harm) is to cater for the needs of those at risk of self-harm and suicide and those bereaved through suicide. On these pages you will find news, events and resources to help with the minimisation of suicide harm.
National Association for Loss And Grief (NSW) Inc
National Association for Loss And Grief (NSW) offers grief support groups as well as training and advice on grief issues. Regional chapters are located across the state.
Salvation Army, Suicide Prevention and Bereavement Support
The Salvation Army offer a broad range of suicide prevention and bereavement services. 24-hour telephone counselling is available on the Salvo Care Line (1300 36 36 22) and face-to-face counselling is also offered. Bereaved by Suicide support groups are offered in Sydney and the Gold Coast for those who have lost a relative or friend through suicide. Hope for Life is an online information and training program designed to help concerned people respond to those at risk of suicide, and to those who have been bereaved by suicide. The Salvation Army website also offers a resources and information section which includes definitions, statistics, risk factors and warning signs.
SANE Australia
SANE Australia provides information about mental illness, suicide prevention and where to get help. SANE’s national Freecall Helpline provides information and advice about symptoms, treatment and support services 1800 18 SANE (7263). They also offer online help. The website includes factsheets, an online bookshop, media releases and advice for media, research bulletins, and information on SANE’s advocacy and awareness campaigns. SANE Australia is implementing a Mental Illness and Bereavement Project, which includes the SANE Bereavement Guidelines and DVD exploring real-life experiences of families bereaved by suicide.
StandBy Response Service, Brisbane QLD, Lifeline Community Care Qld
StandBy provides a 24-hour coordinated response to address the needs of families, friends and associates who have been bereaved through suicide. StandBy responds to people immediately bereaved by suicide or those for whom an earlier suicide bereavement has since become a significant issue. StandBy also responds to school settings, work places, community groups and other types of multiple bereavement experiences. The StandBy Response Service in Brisbane is operated by Lifeline Brisbane and can be accessed by calling 07 3250 1856.
StandBy Response Service, Cairns QLD, Dr Edward Koch Foundation
StandBy provides a 24-hour coordinated response to address the needs of families, friends and associates who have been bereaved through suicide. StandBy responds to people immediately bereaved by suicide or those for whom an earlier suicide bereavement has since become a significant issue. StandBy also responds to school settings, work places, community groups and other types of multiple bereavement experiences. The StandBy Response Service in Cairns is operated by the Dr Edward Koch Foundation, a non-profit community public health and research organisation, and can be accessed by calling 0439 722 266.
StandBy Response Service, Canberra ACT, SupportLink Australia
StandBy provides a 24-hour coordinated response to address the needs of families, friends and associates who have been bereaved through suicide. StandBy responds to people immediately bereaved by suicide or those for whom an earlier suicide bereavement has since become a significant issue. StandBy also responds to school settings, work places, community groups and other types of multiple bereavement experiences. The StandBy Response Service in Canberra is operated by SupportLink Australia and can be accessed by calling 02 6243 3663 or 0432 385 197.
StandBy Response Service, Sunshine and Cooloola Coasts QLD, United Synergies
StandBy provides a 24-hour coordinated response to address the needs of families, friends and associates who have been bereaved through suicide. StandBy responds to people immediately bereaved by suicide or those for whom an earlier suicide bereavement has since become a significant issue. StandBy also responds to school settings, work places, community groups and other types of multiple bereavement experiences. The StandBy Response Service on the Sunshine and Cooloola Coasts is operated by United Synergies and can be accessed by calling 07 5455 3322 or Police/Lifeline for after hours.
Survivors of Suicide Bereavement Support Association Inc. (SOBSA)
The Survivors of Suicide Bereavement Support Association Inc (SOSBSA) is a non-profit support group formed and established for the benefit of those bereaved by suicide. They offer face-to-face counselling, 24/7 telephone support (call 1300 767 022) and support groups.
Southern Community Welfare (SCW)
Southern Community Welfare (SCW) is a community based, non-profit, harm prevention organisation. Since it’s inception in 1995 it has provided professional, innovative, therapeutic services to families and individuals. SCW has a particular focus on serving the community in the areas of risk, resilience and early intervention. SCW offers the Sutherland Shire Support After Suicide Support Group.
The Compassionate Friends
TCF is part of world-wide self-help organisation offering friendship and understanding to bereaved parents, siblings and grand-parents. They offer friendship and understanding to families who are grieving the death of a child of any age, from any cause including suicide. All bereaved family members are welcome. Through this National site you will be able to connect with branches in all States of Australia and gain access to a network of people who can support you through your grief.
Western Australia Government, Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention
Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention (MCSP) website provides access to suicide prevention information for professionals, researchers and community members. The website includes a range of resources including the Australian Suicide Prevention Information and Research Exchange (ASPIRE) database. The MCSP provides focused services to those newly bereaved by suicide via the ARBOR outreach service (call 08 9266 1029 for referral) and offers a downloadable bereavement resource pack. “Gatekeeper” training is available to raise awareness of people at risk and help refer them to professional treatment.
White Wreath Association Ltd
The White Wreath Association is a national organisation which offers support for those bereaved by suicide as well as advocating for changes to provide greater support for those at risk of suicide and their carers. The White Wreath Day is held annually on 29th May and includes memorial services for those lost to suicide.
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