Herald Sun - A proven suicide beater

Opinion piece by Bernard Galbally published in the Herald Sun, Saturday 19 April 2025

Live4life Crew Camp, bringing together young mental health ambassadors from across rural and regional Victoria 2024

Mental ill-health and suicide among young people is an urgent national problem — and it is alarmingly acute in rural and regional areas.

ABS figures show that the suicide rate in regional Australia is more than 50% higher than in major cities. The over-representation of these communities is an escalating crisis which demands action.

It is a problem worldwide. An article in The Lancet Psychiatry in August 2024 made no bones about how critical it is: “Mental ill health, which has been the leading health and social issue impacting the lives and futures of young people for decades, has entered a dangerous phase.” 

It is welcome that both major parties have promised significant funding for youth mental health services. However, there are two problems to these ‘solutions’. 

The first is the very serious issue of workforce shortages. We do not have enough trained clinicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists to fill existing positions. Who is going to staff the additional services that both parties are saying they will fund? This issue cannot be fixed overnight. 

And there’s another problem. Nowhere was there any mention of prevention measures. Despite significant investment over the last 15 years, we have not seen any improvement in mental health outcomes. We need other ways of making an impact. We need to stop and consider what measures can ensure all Australians — especially young people — have the knowledge and tools to look after their mental health in their day-to-day lives. 

Currently, prevention makes up less than 1% of national mental health funding. Yet study after study points to prevention as where we can make the biggest, most immediate impact and achieve a better return on investment.

Crisis response alone is not working. We can’t keep picking up the pieces and letting young people fall through ever-widening gaps in an already over-stretched mental health system. We can do better. We need to be investing in preventative initiatives with proven outcomes. 

Programs like Live4Life are doing this right now which independent evaluations show is effective. 

Effective prevention starts with mental health education. Evidence shows that improving the mental health knowledge of secondary school-aged students (and also of adults who support them) builds community resilience.

At a fraction of the cost of shoring up mental health services, we can give young people and their communities the skills and knowledge to support themselves and one another.

Bernard Galbally is CEO of Youth Live4Life, a registered charity responsible for the award-winning, youth mental health and suicide prevention model, Live4Life. Implemented in 14 rural LGAs across Victoria and Tasmania, Live4Life is the only program of its kind designed specifically for rural and regional communities, where it has delivered evidence-based mental health education to over 29,900 students, and trained more than 3,000 adults in Youth Mental Health First Aid® — all without placing extra burdens on existing mental health services.