Suicide prevention charity’s government funding axed

A charity that aims to prevent suicides within the construction industry has been told during Suicide Prevention Week that its Government funding has been cut.

MATES in Construction has been told it will no longer receive State Government funding.

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A suicide prevention charity has been told during Suicide Prevention Week that its State Government funding has been cut.

MATES in Construction was informed this week by email that its annual $50,000 funding allocation through the State Government’s Construction Industry Training Board had been axed. No reason was given for the move.

A MATES in Construction spokesman called on the board to reinstate the much-needed cash injection, which had been used to pay for a program called the Life Skills Toolbox.

He said the money also allowed the charity to offer the program free-of-charge to participants but the funding cut meant it would no longer be able to do this.

“It’s basically a three-day (program) that teaches resilience, communication skills, suicide prevention, (provides information on) drug and alcohol misuse and a bit of financial literacy,” the spokesman said. He said employers or employees would now have to be charged $150 per person per course — something he said would likely prove too much of a barrier for participation.

Communications Electrical Plumbing Union spokesman John Adley described the cut as “a huge step backwards” for suicide prevention within the construction industry.

Opposition industry and skills spokeswoman Clare Scriven, pictured, said the work MATES in Construction carried out deserved long-term support.

CITB chief executive officer Marie Paterson said the newly appointed board reviewed its priorities for 2019/20 and stakeholders, including MATES in Construction, were notified of changes this week.

“(The board’s) Annual Training Plan is developed each year and sets out priorities for employment related training to be funded for each sector of the industry,” she said.

Meanwhile, SA Mental Health Commissioner Chris Burns has called for corporations to have trained mental health first aid officers in addition to mainstream first responders for physical problems.

It is now mandatory to have mental health first aid officers in the public service but Mr Burns said private enterprise needed to follow this lead rather than outsourcing their staff’s emotional challenges to consultants. He also believes the community needs to pay trained peer support workers to stop mental health problems spiralling into a crisis needing expensive medical care.

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