Life Promotion and Suicide Prevention FNQ — January 2026 Newsletter
Welcome to 2026!
December marked a strong and purposeful close to the year, with collaboration, connection, and collective thinking continuing right through to the final weeks. Across Cairns and Hinterland, Torres and Cape, partners showed up with generosity, curiosity, and a shared commitment to strengthening life promotion and suicide prevention in our region.
We hope everyone was able to take a restorative and refreshing break, and that the new year has begun with a sense of renewed energy. With a full program of work planned between January and June, we’re looking forward to building on the momentum created in December and continuing this work together in the months ahead.
December at a glance
In December, we:
Undertook a Referral Design Workshop, prompted by the systems-level question “What if we were all system navigators?”. The session brought together diverse partners to explore common pain points in navigating support and to test early design ideas focused on shared responsibility, clearer pathways, and more human-centred approaches to referrals.
Held Coffee & Connections at Billy’s Coffee, creating informal space for collaborative members to reconnect, strengthen relationships, and continue conversations across Cairns and Hinterland, as well as Torres and Cape.
Hosted the Cape York Suicide Prevention Forum, bringing together regional, First Nations, and system partners to share insights, align priorities, and explore practical responses to local challenges — including early conversations about supporting communities during periods when services are less available.
Strategic Indigenous Solutions (SIS) hosted the First Nations Collaborative, with strong attendance and rich discussion. These gatherings continue to provide culturally safe space for shared learning, leadership, and collective problem-solving, grounded in local knowledge and relationships.
Commenced planning with Roses in the Ocean to undertake a series of lived experience critical shifts conversations. This work will roll out across January and February, with a staged and supported process designed to centre lived experience voices — more on this soon.
Hosted CORES Suicide Prevention and Intervention training for 27 domestic and family violence frontline workers, strengthening confidence and capability in recognising, responding to, and supporting people experiencing suicide distress.
Facilitated a design workshop with 25 DFV frontline workers to name and explore the interface between domestic and family violence and suicide, creating space to better understand complexity and identify opportunities for improved responses across systems.
Looking ahead: January to June
January to June is shaping up to be no different — with significant activity planned across both the Cairns and Hinterland and Torres and Cape regions. The focus will be on deepening collaboration, progressing design and lived experience work, and continuing to support place-based, community-led approaches to life promotion and suicide prevention.
A note of appreciation — and alignment
As the dust settles following the release of the Joint Regional Wellbeing Plan (2025–2028), Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) have been out and about engaging communities across northern Queensland — making space for conversation, questions, and local perspectives on what the plan means in practice.
We want to tip our hat to NQPHN and the four Hospital and Health Service partners for developing such a holistic and community-informed plan. It reflects what many communities raised during consultation, and it strongly resonates with the realities we see across the region.
The plan sets a clear vision — Right support, right place, right time — underpinned by four priority areas that closely align with the work underway across Life Promotion and Suicide Prevention FNQ:
Workforce development and capacity, including strengthening peer and lived experience roles
Integration across mental health, AOD and suicide prevention, with clearer pathways and stronger collaboration
Prevention and early intervention, focusing on upstream support and reducing stigma
Empowered communities leading coordinated service delivery, with strong local, First Nations and youth leadership
We’re proud to see this alignment and to position our work as contributing meaningfully to the plan’s intent — particularly in advancing collaboration, early help, lived experience leadership, and community-driven solutions.
We look forward to using the Joint Regional Wellbeing Plan as a key reference point in the months ahead and will continue to reflect on its priorities as we progress this work together. More to come as we unpack sections of the plan in the weeks ahead.
See you in February!