Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to recognise the Push-up Challenge, an event which ran for three weeks in May this year. This challenge aims to increase awareness of lives lost to suicide in Australia and encourage conversations about mental health by asking participants to complete 3,046 push-ups over three weeks—that number, sadly, representing the number of deaths by suicide in Australia in 2018. This year, over 130,000 people across Australia participated in the challenge, doing over 121 million push-ups and, far more importantly, raising more than $5 million for headspace.

I recently met Nick Hudson, a Curtin resident who is the inspiration, brains and grunt behind the challenge. Nick told me about how a push-up competition between a few mates in 2018 evolved into the challenge it is today because of his experience with the depression he suffered as a result of requiring open-heart surgery. In response to COVID-19, and understanding the potential mental impact of our social isolation, Nick and the team decided to run the event earlier this year and used their online community to help build connections between people despite our physical separation. I commend Nick Hudson on his initiative and ongoing commitment. He has used a devastating personal experience to make a difference to others. As hard as push-ups are, and as tough as the challenge was, they are nothing compared to the pain, suffering and impact that suicide causes.

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