Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Preventing suicide is one of Australia's great national challenges. We know that eight people die by suicide every single day and that suicide is the leading cause of death for young people aged under 44. Today is Blue Heart Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about youth suicide. It's part of a campaign by an organisation called Youth Insearch, which is headquartered in the Hills District in Sydney. Since last year's Blue Heart Day, approximately 450 people aged under 25 will have died by suicide.

Youth Insearch is responding to this crisis. Since 1985 it's helped almost 32,000 young people. It began when a counsellor recognised that one-on-one counselling alone couldn't fix the growing scourge of suicide. Relationships, culture change and relational support are what's needed. Youth Insearch provides counselling, as well as weekend workshops and peer support, to young people. Participants have the opportunity to know that they're not alone in their experiences and receive support in a whole range of ways. Last year, 91 per cent of Youth Insearch participants who felt suicidal prior to attending a program no longer felt suicidal by the end.

On this day, Youth Insearch is launching End Youth Suicide, a social media campaign to raise awareness of youth suicide and to fund their work. Across Australia people are wearing a blue heart pin and sharing Youth Insearch posts on social media using the hashtags #endyouthsuicide, #youthinsearch and #rebuildingyounglives. In the words of Youth Insearch: let's spread hope—one heart at a time.