The phase-out of Australia’s live sheep export industry presents profound social and economic uncertainty for Western Australian farming enterprises. Recognising the increased risk of mental ill-health and suicide within these communities, Holyoake has developed a comprehensive, evidence-informed, and community-led wellbeing training initiative to strengthen individual and collective capacity to navigate this period of change.
Over an 18-month period, Holyoake will deliver a tailored suite of mental health literacy and suicide prevention programs across six regions and 24 identified at-risk communities. Drawing on over 25 years of experience providing evidence-based training in the Wheatbelt, Holyoake will offer Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), Accidental Counsellor, and AgriBalance as a suicide preventative measure during this time of heighten distress and uncertainty. Holyoake’s model prioritises local choice and relevance, moving away from historic approaches of imposing a single solution, each participating community will select the training option most suited to its needs, ensuring engagement, sustainability, and long-term impact.
Participants (farmers, family members, frontline workers, and industry leaders) will gain practical skills to:
Each program combines interactive learning with sector-specific scenarios, acknowledging the unique pressures of farming life and the cultural norms of rural Western Australia. Holyoake’s approach not only upskills participants to respond to psychological distress but also increases their knowledge of the importance of identifying individuals’ innate strengths and helping them identify their protective factors, through enhanced communication, peer support networks, and community connection.
The initiative’s evaluation framework incorporates pre and post-training measures to capture changes in knowledge, confidence, and community capacity. Early indicators from comparable Holyoake programs show significant improvements in mental health literacy, help-seeking behaviours, and self-care practices, with participants consistently reporting increased confidence to support others and safeguard their own wellbeing.
This presentation will share the design, implementation, and emerging outcomes of this sector-specific training model. By empowering farming communities to select, own, and apply the training most relevant to them, Holyoake demonstrates how community-led, evidence-based interventions can mitigate suicide risk, strengthen resilience, and promote hope in the face of industry-wide change.