Wesley LifeForce provides suicide prevention services that educate and empower local communities, supporting people most at risk. Established in 1995, Wesley LifeForce began as a response to the growing number of suicides in Australia.
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Support and resources offered
We take a comprehensive approach to tackling suicide by working across the areas of prevention, intervention and postvention.
We offer:
- support and resources to community networks helping to prevent suicide
- training in how to address mental health in the workplace
- suicide prevention training workshops for community members and healthcare professionals
- Lifeline telephone crisis support
- postvention memorial services for those suffering the loss of a loved one
Suicide prevention services by Wesley LifeForce
A history of support
Rev Dr Sir Alan Walker, the former Superintendent/CEO of Wesley Mission, aimed to give Australians at risk of suicide a lifeline at their most desperate moment, which led to the founding of Lifeline in 1963 by Wesley Mission. Today we continue to operate Lifeline Sydney & Sutherland.
Wesley LifeForce was established in 1995 by Rev Bob Dunlop, a former Minister of Wesley Mission, in response to the growing number of youth suicides in Australia.
Since then, we’ve provided suicide prevention training to more than 40,000 people in communities across metropolitan, regional, rural and remote Australia. Wesley LifeForce supports 132 Affiliate and Member Networks throughout Australia, which included more than a 3,000 strong volunteer workforce, building capacity in the community and reducing the rate of suicide. And in 2021, our Lifeline Sydney & Sutherland volunteer telephone crisis supporters answered 42,950 calls supporting Australians in crisis.
Wesley LifeForce has undergone extensive evaluation and has long partnerships with The University of Melbourne, Australian Catholic University, Griffith University and The University of New England. The 2021 evaluation of the Networks program by The University of Melbourne showed the introduction of Wesley LifeForce Suicide Prevention Networks reduced the suicide rate by seven per cent.
By partnering with local communities, we provide community suicide prevention workshops that equip individuals to help people at risk of suicide and establish and support suicide prevention networks across the country raise awareness of suicide in their local community. We take a comprehensive approach to tackling suicide by working across the areas of prevention, intervention and postvention.
It’s an approach that is championed under the Living Is For Everyone (LIFE) Framework, Australia’s national framework for suicide prevention, which states that ’suicide prevention is a shared responsibility across the community including families and friends, professional groups, government and non-government agencies.
