The Break O’Day Wellbeing Project, a rural, community-led initiative, demonstrates that promoting wellbeing is a powerful upstream pathway to suicide prevention. Break O’Day, a municipality on Tasmania’s north-east coast, has faced persistent challenges of service inaccessibility, ageing demographics, social isolation, and the enduring impacts of suicide across the community.
In 2021, Break O’Day Council, supported by the Tasmanian Community Fund, launched the Wellbeing Project to counter the isolation of COVID-19 and strengthen community resilience. Guided by the Positive Psychology PERMAH (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment, and Health) framework, the initiative combined structured wellbeing education, community conversations, and public events. More than 70 residents completed a Wellbeing Certificate course, contributing grassroots “impact projects” such as neighbourhood connection initiatives and creative community activities. One of these projects sparked the first Festival of Wellbeing, which proved so successful it has since become an annual event, drawing wide community participation and visibility.
The University of Tasmania evaluated the Project (2021–2025) using a developmental mixed-methods design, including 28 interviews, seven focus groups (36 participants), and secondary data analysis. Findings demonstrated that the Project fostered shared language, trust, and confidence to support others, while embedding wellbeing into local systems. Participants reported increased willingness to engage in conversations about mental health and suicide, and Council committed to sustaining the program through policy integration and a dedicated wellbeing coordinator role.
Central to the Project was the incorporation of lived experience. Many participants had been directly impacted by suicide or mental health challenges, and their insights shaped program design, delivery, and evaluation. Their contributions ensured the program was trauma-informed, safe, and considered community realities. Importantly, the Project reframed narratives of deficit and crisis into stories of resilience, capability, and hope. This presentation will highlight three key lessons for the national suicide prevention agenda:
The Break O’Day Wellbeing Project offers a replicable model for rural and regional communities, demonstrating that investing in community wellbeing is a powerful, evidence-informed pathway to preventing suicide. This presentation will share evaluation insights and stories from the community, as a blueprint for community wellbeing initiatives, grounded in the voices and strengths of local people.