Congratulations to the Bidi Wungen Kaat Centre and LGBTIQA+ Aftercare teams who received awards in the 2026 Suicide Prevention Australia Living is For Everyone (LiFE) Awards.
The LiFE Awards showcase the important work being done across Australia by individuals and organisations to prevent suicide and support those in need.
The Bidi Wungen Kaat Centre - also known as the St James Transitional Care Unit - is a residential mental health service in Victoria Park, Perth, staffed by Mind peer practitioners and a specialised multidisciplinary clinical team from East Metropolitan Health Service.
It was the Western Australian winner of the LiFE Award in the Innovative Practice and Research category, which recognises innovative research and practical initiatives that enhance our understanding and effectiveness in suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.
The Bidi Wungen Kaat Centre team received the award for its life-changing suicide intervention group for residents in its short stay prevention and recovery unit. The intervention group facilitates difficult and honest conversations about suicide and aims to empower residents to develop an understanding of how to support their own mental health when it comes to suicidal thoughts and behaviours. It explores and builds a conversation with participants about how to engage in meaningful strategies to build safety tools and planning, which they can then use within their communities.
By being named the Western Australia LiFE Award winner, the Bidi Wungen Kaat Centre is automatically nominated in the Innovative Practice and Research category at the National LiFE Awards, to be held in Sydney in April 2026.
Mind’s LGBTIQA+ Aftercare program also received a Highly Commended recognition in the Priority Populations category for the Victorian LiFE Awards. This category celebrates innovative service delivery that demonstrates cultural responsiveness, breaks down barriers, promotes inclusion and delivers improved outcomes for those at risk.
Mind’s LGBTIQA+ Aftercare program is a community-based intensive service that provides identity-affirmative support and care for LGBTIQA+ people who have experienced a suicidal crisis. Aftercare provides up to three months of assistance by a peer-led team consisting of mental health peer support workers and counsellors who are also part of the LGBTIQA+ community and understand the issues and challenges faced by the community based on their own lived experience of thoughts of suicide.
Mind congratulates our fantastic peer practitioners and clinical partners for their well deserved recognition.