Northern Beaches Council proudly signed a National Communications Charter today, the latest in a series of actions aimed at reducing suicide rates on the Northern Beaches.

The signing coincides with World Suicide Prevention Day across the globe, providing all nations with an opportunity to shine a light on suicide prevention.

Mayor Michael Regan said the Charter is designed to guide the way we all talk about mental health, social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention with each other and the community.

“Every suicide is a tragedy. It impacts on individuals, families, workplaces and communities and it’s in all our interests to do everything we can to prevent it,” Mayor Regan said.

“The Charter was created to ensure that as leaders in our community we communicate about mental health and suicide in a way that just doesn’t do harm but actually helps reduce stigma and encourages support.

“At Council we take suicide prevention very seriously and are co-ordinating the Northern Beaches Suicide Response Steering Group. This is a collaboration of the key organisations and services working to prevent suicide in our local area.

“This work is critically important to ensuring we identify risk areas, have coordinated support and referral mechanisms in place and all work together to address both root causes and our response activities.

“As the Charter makes clear, by working together, we are able to maximise our efforts and thereby maximise our impact.”

The Charter commits Council to, among other things, use positive, person-centred and respectful language, work together to deliver clear, consistent and coordinated community awareness and advocacy activities and share knowledge about best practice communication and resources.

Council has also developed an online hub of information, services and events for people seeking information about suicide prevention.

Council officially signed the National Charter today, Tuesday September 10, in the Dee Why Civic Centre.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can talk to Lifeline on 13 11 14