Natasha Bender
"Natasha Bender is a Community Care Coordinator with The Way Back NSW at Neami National and a qualified Social Worker with over eight years’ experience within suicide Aftercare. She has been part of the program since its early establishment in Sydney and continues to contribute to a highly skilled and passionate team.
Natasha brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work. Having lost her father to suicide and navigated her own experiences of suicidal distress, she is deeply committed to supporting others through compassionate, person-centred care.
She was recently honoured at the NSW LiFE Awards, receiving recognition for Best Practice in the Workplace within The Way Back NSW CESPHN team. Natasha has also contributed to the establishment of the Inner West Suicide Prevention Collaborative and has served on a range of advisory committees focused on suicide prevention and Aftercare.
Her work advocates for open, authentic conversations about suicide, grounded in compassion, respect, and human connection. She is a strong supporter of non-clinical, community-based approaches that reduce stigma and create accessible pathways to care, ensuring individuals feel safe, heard, and empowered in their care.
Natasha will be providing a brief insight into the support that is provided to participants of The Way Back NSW Aftercare program during the "Strengthening Aftercare: Sharing Learnings from Localised, Lived Experience-Informed Models Across Five National Sites"
Outside of work, she is a busy mum to two teenage sons."
Abstracts this author is presenting: