Lived experience
People with lived experience of suicide provide valuable insights into suicide prevention initiatives. The personal knowledge and understanding of their journey can guide prevention planning, approaches and education and contribute to improved care and enhanced safety to reduce suicide attempts and deaths. People with lived experience can provide hope and support to those at risk of suicide through deep understanding, shared experiences and strategies.
People with lived experience of suicide are those who have experienced suicidal thoughts, survived a suicide attempt, supported a loved one through a suicidal crisis, or been bereaved by suicide.
Value and respect for the diversity of experience
The Indigenous experience
The lived and living experience of suicide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people inherently differs to that of non-Indigenous people. Differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures, such as how mental health concerns is conceptualised and perceived, intergenerational trauma and power imbalances play a role in shaping the Indigenous experience of suicide.
Lived experience recognises the effects of ongoing negative historical impacts and or specific events on the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It encompasses the cultural, spiritual, physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of the individual, family or community.
Lived and living experience insight
Those with lived experience can contribute to and enhance community understanding of suicide and its impacts. They are strong advocates to include in all aspects of suicide prevention planning, design and delivery. Lived Experience helps reduce stigma and improve knowledge and understanding within the Australian public. It is important the unique insights of those with lived or living experience are recognised and valued in suicide prevention efforts.Those with lived experience of suicide are involved in many suicide prevention activities, such as advisory groups, event speakers, research, policy, service design and delivery and as peer workers supporting others with suicidal thoughts or behaviours, and those bereaved through suicide.
Where can I go to find out more about working with people with lived and living experience or to get involved as a lived experience worker?
Roses in the Ocean is a lead organisation representing those with lived experience of suicide in Australia. They provide information and resources for people with lived experience of suicide, organisations and government to support and partner with each other.
- Guiding principles for partnering with people with lived experience – guide staff and organisations for engaging and partnering with people with lived experience of suicide in suicide prevention activity.
- Lived experience of suicide informed and inclusive culture change suite of resources - best practice for service providers, organisations and government in engaging, integrating and partnering with people with lived experience of suicide.
- Capacity building workshops - workshops for people with a lived experience of suicide, organisations and government to develop their confidence and expertise to integrate and partner with each other.
- Lived experience collective - lived experience champions with the expertise and skills to bring their lived experience as a voice of change in all aspects of suicide prevention.
National Mental Health Commission
- National Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce Development guidelines – developed as part of the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, these guidelines provide principles for employers to create a thriving Lived Experience workforce and embedding it as part of their core business.
The Black Dog Institute
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre – through a National Lived Experience Network, the Centre elevates the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lived experiences and links them to organisations to contribute to the development of culturally safe, trauma-informed services, care, and programs.
- Framework for the engagement of people with a lived experience in program implementation and research – developed by Australian National University as part of the Lifespan suicide prevention trials.
South Australia Lived Experience Leadership and Advocacy Network (LELAN)
- Online training – Lived Experience Development, Governance and Education (LEDGE) – learn how to use your lived experience of mental distress to impact decision making in the mental or social services sector with this free training.
- Workshops and events – online and face-to-face training opportunities for those with lived experience and organisations to understand and partner with each other.
"Suicide is as complex and unique as people. The underlying contributing factors to someone experiencing suicidal thoughts or crisis are vast. It is a tragedy that people experience such pain, a crisis of self, that the only option they feel is left to them is to end their own life. We all have a responsibility to reach in to others around us when we notice they have a lot going on in their life, when we get a sense that life is tough for them and offer the gift of listening deeply, validating what they are experiencing and walking alongside them as they work out what the best support and way forward for them is. People who support loved ones through suicidal crisis and after an attempt need our support to navigate the unknown and those bereaved through suicide need everyone to understand that their grief is complex and life long. People with lived experience of suicide are uniquely positioned to support others in emotional distress and crisis by connecting through the mutual understanding of shared experience."