This week, local Sunshine Coast program StandBy Support After Suicide, marks 20 years of service in supporting those bereaved or impacted by suicide loss.
StandBy hosted its annual forum StandBy Connect 2022 at the Novotel Twin Waters Resort with its national workforce, partners and guest speakers from Australia’s suicide prevention sector in attendance to connect and reflect on the 20-year journey in suicide postvention.
StandBy was established in 2002 to meet the need for a coordinated response to suicide.
The very beginnings of the program were born before then however, from a need to support a local Sunshine Coast family, after a double suicide on the anniversary of another suicide in the same family.
Youturn, being one of very few community agencies at that time, was invited to develop and lead a community-based program dedicated to supporting people and communities following suicides (Noosa Suicide Bereavement Project).
Former chief executive officer of Noosa Youth Service and United Synergies (now Youturn) Sue Scheinpflug said the story of how StandBy came to be, and then replicated into other communities, is truly unique.
In 2006 the project was renamed to StandBy Response Service and received evaluation funding to ascertain whether it could be replicated across different communities (Canberra, Brisbane, and Cairns).
In 2017, StandBy Response Service was renamed to StandBy Support After Suicide, which included a new logo and rebranding and a pathway toward national coverage.
This last year, 2021, has seen StandBy expand from servicing 11 Primary Health Networks (PHN) to all 31 PHN regions across Australia, a huge achievement, enabling StandBy to work towards providing all Australians with universal and equitable access to postvention support.
An organisation rich in its history, achievements and people, StandBy is a program of Youturn Limited, Youturn chief executive officer Dr Tanya Bell said 20 years is an exceptional milestone.
“I feel privileged to share in this 20-year celebration and recognise that I do so, standing on the shoulders of others that have come before me, with all the staff that have shared in this incredible journey over the past two decades,” Dr Bell said.
“As a community organisation we are focussed on providing local solutions to local problems.
“Our StandBy program is a perfect example of how a local crisis was a catalyst for a national transformation in how we support those bereaved or impacted by suicide.
“Our program has continued to evolve, and I am excited to be leading this organisation when we start to create the next chapter in StandBy’s history.”
From limited funding opportunities and resources in the early years, to becoming Australia’s leading provider in suicide postvention today, there has been an unwavering commitment to collaboration, continuous improvement and evaluation.
StandBy national general manager Karen Phillips has been at the helm for 10 of StandBy’s 20-year journey and is proud that the organisation has reached such an important milestone.
“StandBy’s story is a great story, a locally grown product that is now a national program, it has been an interesting journey. Whilst we have had funding certainty and great bipartisan support from the Commonwealth Government, which we’re extremely appreciative of, there has been moments we have sailed close to the wind in terms of receiving funding certainty,” Ms Phillips said.
“When I first came on board, we used to say StandBy covered 30 per cent Australia’s population, and 70 per cent of the Australian land mass, now we can say we cover 100 per cent of the population and 100 per cent of the Australian land mass.”
StandBy operates nationally by engaging with expertise within local communities to deliver the most effective and culturally suitable support for each individual circumstance.
Locally tailored community workshops and education programs are provided to increase awareness of suicide and suicide bereavement to help enable communities to support one another alongside the free Australia-wide 24/7 support line 1300 727 247.
