ReachOut welcomes Australian Government commitment to suicide prevention for young Australians

31 January 2020

ReachOut, Australia's most accessed online mental health service for young people, today welcomed the Australian Government's announcement of additional funding for its service, as part of a range of suicide prevention funding commitments.

The additional $1.4M funding for ReachOut is for suicide and self-harm prevention measures for young people delivered through online peer support.

The funding will also allow ReachOut to co-design culturally safe online resources for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people focused on social and emotional wellbeing, and to support suicide prevention work in local communities. The work will be undertaken in conjunction with the Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University.

Ashley de Silva, Chief Executive Officer of ReachOut said the additional funding was very welcome, and recognised the important role of online services like ReachOut, and the role the service played in suicide prevention.

Suicide remains the leading cause of death for young people in Australia. We know that online support, and in particular online peer support, can play a significant role in the towards zero target for suicide when it comes to young people.

We are seeing increased demand for our online peer support service which is a safe and anonymous space for young people to share their stories and experiences. We know that there are many barriers to seeking help, and free and accessible online services like ReachOut overcome many of these barriers.

This funding will also allow ReachOut to co-design culturally safe support for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to help this group build resilience, support help-seeking and prevent suicide.

This is a national tragedy. Every life lost to suicide has a devastating impact on families, friends and communities. Every life lost affects our whole country,  Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, said.

The announcement was made today in Sydney at the Suicide Prevention and Recovery Centre in Bondi.

About ReachOut  

ReachOut is the most accessed online mental health service for young people and their parents in Australia. Their trusted self-help information, peer-support program and referral tools save lives by helping young people be well and stay well. The information they offer parents makes it easier for them to help their teenagers, too.

ReachOut has been championing wider access to mental health support since they launched their online service more than 20 years ago. Everything they create is based on the latest evidence and is designed with experts, and young people or their parents. That's why ReachOut is a trusted, relevant service that's so easy to use.

Accessed by more than 2 million people in Australia each year, ReachOut is a free service that's available anytime and pretty much anywhere.