Suicide rate 'a national tragedy': Salvos

The Salvation Army says its targeting people in rural and regional Australia in a campaign to help reduce the national suicide rate.

It says the suicide rate is a national tragedy, with more people taking their own lives each year than being killed on Australia's roads.

The Salvation Army is launching an online training program which aims to show people the potential signs of someone considering suicide.

The project manager of the Hope for Life program, Wilma Gallet, says the program is being launched on the internet so that people living in regional and rural areas can get access to it.

"The training programs shine the torch on issues of suicide and give everybody in the community the skills and knowledge to be able to recognise the warning signs of suicide and the clues that people that may be giving, and then know how to intervene," she said.

Quote: Suicide prevention is like Crime Prevention and can also be taught to students under the headings of Self-Worth and Self-Preservation, in the curriculum of Life Skills. As many people die from suicide as the people who fall over and end up in prison - all because they don’t know how much they’re worth and therefore, how much you are worth which is priceless. Communication, Conflict Resolution, Street-Wise, Provocation, and Social Responsibility are also other methods of addressing Suicide and at the earliest intervention which is best. Yet school principals are against these lessons at school. But the fact is these lessons could be taught by another teacher who is paid for out of the savings from the Victim Industry which is huge.

Some people may have been tuned in to Jenny Brockie SBS and seen the Anger Management courses provided by a private school in Victoria. The fact is Communication and Conflict Resolution also prevent Anger building up and are a part of Conflict Resolution Skills all of which can prevent Suicide, Self-Harm, Domestic Violence, Crime and Vulnerability in the community. They just need to be taught so that those lessons can be passed down the generation. Because up to three generations of people and parents don't have those skills or do they have them to pass on to others. Prevention is better than cure.

Related:

Govt launches veterans suicide study
The government has launched a study to assess how many veterans commit suicide and why. Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said the study would examine a number of specific cases of suicide by ex-service members in recent years to help identify those members who may be at risk of self harm.