Every Life Matters
A community led Network empowered to reduce suicide in the Whitsundays & Burdekin.
If you need to talk to someone
These lines are free, confidential, and answered by people trained for exactly this. You don’t have to be in crisis to call.
If someone is in immediate danger, call emergency services now.
24 hours, 7 days
Support for people at risk, and advice for anyone worried about someone.
About us
We’re locals working to stop suicide in our own backyard.
We are a community led Network driven to reduce suicide and its impact on our regions. We achieve this through supporting groups from within the community to deliver education, training, and by inspiring conversation and collaboration.
WSPN was formed by a group of professionals and community leaders who could see what was happening around them, and became incorporated in late 2016. Since then we’ve grown to have connections at both local and national levels.
That means training people who are already in the room — coaches, publicans, tradies, teachers, nurses — so that when someone is struggling, the person next to them knows what to say.
Our region
Bowen, Collinsville, Proserpine, Cannonvale and Airlie Beach, plus the smaller mainland and island communities in between — 23,863 km² and around 35,000 people — with Ayr and Home Hill in the Burdekin to our north.
From cattle and mining country to the reef, this region lacks the specialised services found in the cities. That’s the gap this Network exists to close.
“Pristine, stunning, vibrant and picturesque” is how the world sees it. The people who live here also know it as isolated, transient and rural.
NASA Earth Observatory · public domain
How to check in on a mate
You don’t need training or the right words. Reaching out to a friend, checking in, or asking for support doesn’t make anyone weak or a burden. A simple yarn can make a real difference.
Ask
Pick a quiet moment and ask straight out. “You haven’t been yourself lately — are you doing alright?”
Listen
Don’t rush to fix it. Let the silences sit. You’re not there to solve anything — you’re there so they’re not carrying it alone.
Encourage action
Offer to sit with them while they ring Lifeline, or to drive them to a GP. Here’s who’s local.
Check in again
Put a reminder in your phone for a fortnight’s time. The second conversation matters more than the first.
What’s coming up
Every month we put on a free BBQ breakfast in Cannonvale — a feed, a yarn and some genuine local connection, and everyone is welcome. Plus training, awareness days and fundraisers across the region.
Nothing scheduled right now
We’re planning the next round. Our Facebook page always has the latest.
Check Facebook
