Submission to the Victorian suicide prevention and response strategy
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recommended that the Victorian Government develop a new suicide prevention and response strategy. The strategy will take a whole-of-government and community-wide approach to better prevent and respond to suicide. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Division in the Department of Health issued a discussion paper as a starting point for collaboration and co-design of the new Victorian suicide prevention and response strategy.
Financial problems combine and interact with other contributory factors across all areas as a driver of suicide risk. Financial counsellors well understand from their practice that financial difficulties, debt, and hardship are important contributors to suicidality amongst the many groups of people they work with.
Drawing on financial counselling client experiences, our members’ professional observations and FCVic’s work with communities, our response to the discussion paper outlines key insights financial counselling can contribute to the development of a suicide prevention and response strategy, and includes several recommendations.