Tasmanian LiFE Awards
Celebrating suicide prevention champions
The Tasmanian LiFE Awards took place in March 2023, to acknowledge and celebrate the life affirming work in suicide prevention that Tasmanians are doing across the state.
The Tasmanian LiFE Awards are based on the national LiFE framework, which recognises that suicide prevention is a whole-of-community responsibility and promotes collaborative action by all Australians. LiFE stands for Living is For Everyone.
The Tasmanian LiFE Awards are based on the national LiFE framework, which recognises that suicide prevention is a whole-of-community responsibility and promotes collaborative action by all Australians.
This important state-wide event attracts diverse nominations from individual community members, businesses, health service providers, schools and more.
Suicide prevention can take many forms. Previous nominations have included art initiatives to spread kindness, crisis intervention work, goat yoga, sporting club well-being action plans and promoting men’s mental health in Barber shops. Every nomination holds great significance in highlighting the valuable contributions to suicide prevention made throughout Tasmania, as well as the capacity to inspire others about what they can do to help prevent suicide.
This year we received twenty-eight nominations across five categories, with more than half of them coming from the North-West Coast of Tasmania.
The winners are listed below:
SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY - Outstanding Contribution by a Young Person LiFE Award
Jasmine Ellis (Launceston)
Jasmine is a Headspace Advisory Reference Group volunteer and advocates for young queer individuals, using her lived experience to shape Headspace services.
Lifeline Tasmania – Communities in Action for Suicide Prevention LiFE Award
Stronger Together in Circular Head (STICH) (Circular Head)
A community mental health and suicide prevention group in Circular Head, running events, fostering connections, and offering a buddy system for support.
Mental Health Council of Tasmania – Outstanding Contribution to Suicide Prevention LiFE Award
Tracey Martin-Cole (Central Coast)
Tracey is the director of Psychology CAFFE, a group mental health practice seeing clients in Latrobe, Ulverstone, Devonport, Deloraine, Burnie, and Smithton.
Newport & Wildman – Innovative Practice Award
Grumpy Goat Co Care Farm (Circular Head)
The Grumpy Goat Co Care Farm engages at-risk youths in animal therapeutic intervention methods, as well as skills development through farm maintenance, animal care and fence building.
TasNetworks – Best Practice in Suicide Prevention by a Workplace
Simplot – Ulverstone Site (Central Coast)
After Simplot lost an employee to suicide in 2007, they introduced an Employee Assistance Program and developed the Safety Program to support employee mental health.
The awards night was full of positive energy, productive and collaborative conversations, and attendees had the opportunity to celebrate and highlight the local heroes in Tasmania working to prevent suicide in their community.