Lifeline Recovery and Resilience Project

The 2019-20 bushfire season was the worst in NSW history; 26 lives were lost, over 2400 homes completely destroyed, an in excess of 5 million hectares of land was burnt with wildlife losses in the billions. The physical rebuild of the impacted communities is ongoing, as is the mental health recovery.

With that top of mind, the Lifeline Recovery and Resilience project was designed with the aim of building optimal recovery and resilience against future disasters and to provide support to bushfire-impacted communities in ten LGAs across the North Coast and the New England regions of NSW. Our community capacity building activities tapped into established groups that already had a civic commitment, such as Service Clubs, Sports Clubs, schools, libraries, local Councils, Men’s Sheds, CWAs, Aboriginal organisations, Chambers of Commerce, businesses and mental health service providers. We identified, recruited and trained two Coordinators and a group of Community Advocates as our local on-the-ground team in each LGA. Through our tailored training workshops and by way of multiple presentations and ‘casual’ conversations, the team provided a warm referral pathway to Lifeline’s crisis support and other mental health services, and raised awareness of mental health and suicide prevention.

As outlined in the 10 Years Beyond Bushfires Report (University of Melbourne, March 2021) ‘having good connections’ reduces the ‘compounding impacts of major life stressors’, as group membership provides a ‘strong protective factor in terms of mental health outcomes’; and this was our philosophy throughout the project.

To provide mental health recovery support to bushfire-impacted communities across the following 10 Local Government Areas (LGAs).

The project took place between July 2022 and February 2024, just over 18 months.

1. Normalising conversations about mental health: Throughout the project, the team identified multiple ‘windows of opportunity’ for safe conversations around mental health and suicide prevention and Lifeline’s recognised and trusted brand helped normalise the conversations. This was also made possible through the Advocates’ regular and reliable presence at events and training sessions ensuring communities were supported. Various resources were developed including our fridge magnets, postcards and wallet cards (with QR Codes), 13 YARN crisis support resources, pop-up banners and flyers – and this collateral is a lasting legacy in communities and continue to be accessed.
   
2. Increased confidence and readiness by the team and the training participants (connectors) to assist other members of their community: Specific information was collected throughout the project and included ‘occasions of service’ or conversations/referrals and touchpoints, training participants, training sessions and pre and post training feedback. Reports indicated increased confidence and readiness of the team and their local connectors resulting in them being better equipped and skilled to assist their community. We delivered 179 training sessions and trained almost 2,500 people ready to assist someone who may be at risk of suicide or who may be struggling with the ongoing after effects of the bushfires.
   
   Additionally, ‘on the day’ safeTALK evaluations showed increases in skills and confidence with the following overall improvements: ‘readiness to assist someone at risk of suicide’ improved by an average of 49%; and the ‘ability to assist someone at risk of suicide’ improved by an average of 50%.
   
3. Increased resilience by the targeted communities in the face of subsequent bushfires and other disasters: the University of New England (UNE) evaluated the project using the Re-AIM framework, an internationally recognised evaluation tool. The information was gathered in three ways: a regular survey completed by the team on a monthly basis (activities, challenges/successes and their own wellbeing); a community participant survey which focused on community members perception of their resilience; and two focus groups which took place at the end of 2023 and early 2024. The report noted that although the project was of a limited duration, the "data demonstrated a population of resilient individuals who appreciated learning the role and function of Lifeline and embraced ways of talking safely with other distressed people in their community".

Mind Your Mates participant: “This was a great presentation that I think every workplace should get the opportunity to participate in. More people need to know / be aware of the signs and how they can help and support people when suffering from any mental problems or illnesses.”

Accidental Counsellor participant: “An insight for me was it’s ok to be honest and set boundaries and still be able to give hope.”

safeTALK participant: “A key learning for me was knowing the appropriate steps to take when talking to someone sharing suicidal behaviours and invitations."