A community led Network
We’re locals working to reduce suicide and its impact across the Whitsundays and Burdekin.
Our mission
We are a community led Network driven to reduce suicide and its impact on our regions. We do it by backing groups already inside the community to deliver education and training, and by getting people talking and working together.
Our vision is simple: a Network with the reach to reduce suicide across the whole Whitsundays and Burdekin.
Our story
It started with people who could see what was happening around them and decided not to leave it alone.
Small towns carry a lot. Mental health, suicide, drugs and alcohol, and the strain of a high cost of living and rising interest rates.
Add the cyclones, floods and fires that keep coming through, and the long tail of the COVID years, and there is a lot landing on families at once. Much of it gets carried quietly. Early intervention is proven to stop small problems becoming serious ones — but out here, access to that kind of care has always been limited.
So in late 2016 a group of professionals and community leaders formed a network to do something about it. WSPN has since built connections at local and national level, working alongside Wesley LifeForce and the Whitsunday Isaac Mackay Suicide Prevention Community Action Planning Group.
Our region
The Whitsundays takes in Bowen, Collinsville, Proserpine, Cannonvale and Airlie Beach, plus smaller mainland and island communities — 23,863 km² and around 35,000 people. The Burdekin, with Ayr and Home Hill, sits to our north.
From the cattle and mining country of Collinsville, to the sleepy outback-style town of Bowen, to the tourist mecca and reef doorstep of Airlie Beach, the region lacks the specialised resources and range of professions found in the cities. That’s the gap this Network exists to close.
“Pristine, stunning, vibrant and picturesque” is how the world describes this place. The people who live here also know it as isolated, transient and rural.
Our goals
Awareness and involvement
To raise awareness about the Network and gain community involvement.
Partnership
To partner with organisations to assist delivery of suicide prevention training, activities, programs and events.
Reducing stigma
To raise awareness about suicide and reduce stigma and its impact on families and community.
A Network that lasts
To maintain a sustainable Network where members are encouraged and supported.
Our values
These are the commitments we hold ourselves to.
Do no harm
We adhere to the highest ethical standards in everything the Network runs.
Integrity and transparency
We act with integrity and transparency in all our relationships, while respecting people’s privacy.
People, diversity and inclusivity
We value people. All of them.
Partnership
We collaborate and partner with anyone else working in suicide and self-harm prevention.
Openness
We maintain a culture of openness, and we stay willing to consider a new idea.
Always improving
We continually evaluate and improve our goals and objectives against our vision and mission.
Our community
This is who we are — locals turning up for each other at breakfasts, footy days, stalls and gala nights across the region. Tap any photo to see it larger.
How can I help?
There are many ways you can help our cause, and in turn our communities. You can start simply by having a conversation, and helping to reduce the stigma around mental health.
Have the conversation
The simplest one, and the one that matters most. You don’t need us involved at all.
Become a member
Sign up to support our mission, goals and vision, and help set the direction of the Network.
Support the work
Donations and local sponsorship pay for training places and for getting out to the smaller towns.
Want to know more? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll happily talk through other ways you can make a direct difference in our community.
Registered charity
Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Network Inc. is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. You can view our registration and financial reporting on the ACNC register.