S3 E1: Plain language can prevent suicide

Mindarma

Our next guest on the Mindarma podcast is Dean Bayliss, a proud Gomeroi man and CEO of Healing Works Australia.

Dean and he’s team are on the frontline of suicide prevention among First Nation’s People, a community where the suicide rate is nearly two and a half times that of non-indigenous Australians.

Dean brings passion, insight, and humanity to his work. He is guided by his own lived experience of mental illness and an understanding that indigenous communities are the experts and services need to listen, not lecture them.

Healing Works Australia is a three-year-old Indigenous organisation that provides Community Healing Workshops, Suicide Prevention Consulting, First Nations Employee Cultural/ Clinical supervision and Suicide Intervention Skills Training. In recent years, it has focused on supporting communities affected by floods and bushfires.

Dean is also a Coalition of Peaks Independent Representative for the SEWB Policy Partnership Close the Gap and National Network Member for the Black Dog Institute. Dean is incredibly compassionate and insightful and there is no doubt that he is a man on a mission. I’m delighted that in this episode, he speaks to Dean Yates about his journey so far. The two Deans clearly loved chatting to each other! We hope you enjoy the podcast. You can learn more about Dean's important work here.