News and Events

Orygen Institute presents an online event 
A national youth suicide prevention plan: where to start 
Date: Thursday 28 July
Time: 11am AEST
Location: online (via Zoom)

Please join us at 11am on Thursday 28 July as we host an online discussion to explore the potential of youth-focused suicide prevention plans and where we should start.  

Tasmania is the only government in Australia to have developed a youth suicide prevention plan. With this plan about to be reviewed and updated, it is an opportune time to hear what they have learned and consider the direction of youth suicide prevention plans.  

The event will be facilitated by Dr Melissa Sweet, Editor-in-chief at Croakey Health Media. 

Tickets are free but please register via Eventbrite to secure your spot.

Panellists include: 

• Anne Hollonds, Australia's National Children's Commissioner. Formerly Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, for 23 years Anne was Chief Executive of government and non-government organisations focussed on research, policy and practice in child and family wellbeing. As a psychologist Anne has worked extensively in frontline practice. Anne currently contributes to several expert advisory groups.
• Dr Summer May Finlay (CSCA, TAE, BSocSC MPHA, and PhD), a Yorta Yorta woman who grew up on Awabakal country (West Lake Macquarie). Summer has extensive experience in social marketing, social media, communications and Aboriginal health research and policy. She is a Postdoctoral Fellow on a NHMRC funded project with University of Canberra and is a lecturer at the University of Wollongong;
• Joe Ball, CEO, Switchboard Victoria; the ever-passionate and committed CEO of Switchboard Victoria, a leading LGBTIQA+ community organisation based in Melbourne that provides peer-driven support services to LGBTIQA+ people, their families and their communities. Joe is a transgender man and he believes in grass roots solutions to systemic issues. He draws upon LGBTIQA+ history and the wisdom of LGBTIQA+ elders to guide his work;
• Annabel Ramsay, Paralegal at the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) and representative speaker for batyr. Annabel is passionate about self-advocacy, peer-to-peer dialogue and incorporating lived experience into policy design and research. She currently works in civil litigation at the Department of Communities and Justice, but has also worked with a number of organisations including the NSW Mental Health Commission, batyr, the Brain and Mind Centre (BMC) and Orygen on projects including #chatsafe and the National Suicide Prevention Taskforce Report. Annabel is a member of the BMC’s Lived Experience Working Group (LEWG) which sees her provide lived experience expertise as well as strategic and operational advice to assist the research and work of their Youth Mental Health & Technology Team. 
• Associate Professor Jo Robinson, head of suicide prevention research at Orygen. Jo currently coordinates several research projects in collaboration with Australian and overseas universities. She has also been involved in the development of several government-commissioned community resources and has contributed to numerous advisory panels and expert committees on suicide prevention for both the state and federal government.
  
  Event facilitator Dr Melissa Sweet is one of Australia’s most experienced health and medical journalists. Writing about health and medical issues since the late 1980s, Melissa covered the medical rounds for the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Associated Press and authored of a number of health-related books. As founding editor of the Croakey project, she is passionate about new media innovation and public interest journalism. Melissa is also involved in various research and teaching activities, is Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, and recently completed a PhD at the University of Canberra.