Beyond Blue has been providing supports and services to people in Australia for 20 years.
We are Australia’s most well-known and visited mental health organisation, focused on supporting people affected by anxiety, depression and suicide. We don’t ever take this position for granted nor do we rest on our laurels.
The generational defining events of 2020 have required us to be innovative and agile in responding to the needs of the communities we serve.
Beyond Blue should be the first place every person in Australia turns to when they have a mental health issue.
—Blue Voices member
Beyond Blue works with the community to improve mental health and prevent suicide, so that all people in Australia can achieve their best possible mental health.
Through our Beyond 2020 Strategy, we are working across three strategic priorities:
- Promoting mental health and wellbeing so people have greater knowledge, feel safe to talk openly about their issues and are supported to ask for help when they need to.
- Being a trusted source of information, advice and support so we can all better understand how to maintain our mental health and take steps to recover from mental health conditions.
- Working together to prevent suicide by playing a lead role in the national effort to prevent suicide through research, information, advice and support, and advocacy.
We ensure community is at the heart of everything we do. Our success is dependent on our deep commitment to actively listen to, understand, partner with and respond to community experience and needs. By learning from and working with community, Beyond Blue can better reach and support people who need us, and adapt to the evolving mental health needs of people living in Australia.
We are the ‘Big Blue Door’ for many in the community: a safe and reliable place for millions of people to access information, advice and support, no matter where they are on the mental health continuum – whether they’re well and want to stay that way, unwell and need support, or in recovery and want to reconnect with others and give back.
Our aim over the coming years is to streamline access to, and the responsiveness of, our ‘Big Blue Door’. We will build a better online platform and we will better connect with people in the community. No matter how people connect with Beyond Blue, we want everyone to have access to relevant products and services that offer information, advice and support they need.
How we do it
We envisage an Australia where people have the knowledge, skills and confidence to maintain their mental health and have strategies on hand to respond if they are struggling. To enable this, we actively connect people with evidence-based products and services to support improvements in mental health literacy, greater knowledge of prevention and management techniques, and increased confidence to act when they need to.
We leverage current and emerging technologies to provide the community with easy-to-access information and tools, developed in partnership with the community, sector and leading experts. We’ll continuously evolve to ensure this information, advice and support are available to those in the greatest need, recognising that social determinants are significant contributors to anxiety, depression and suicide.
We envisage an Australia where communities work together to create non-stigmatising, respectful and supportive spaces that support good mental health. To enable this, we provide communities – families, neighbourhoods, educational settings, workplaces and online communities – with evidence-based products and services to support the development of mentally healthy communities and through events and speakers to inspire and motivate others. We have a focus on improving the mental health literacy of adults, so they have the knowledge and skills to help children and young people achieve their best possible mental health.
We envisage an Australian society that provides the structural supports and policies that support good mental health and prevent suicide, and provides equitable, safe and affordable access to the right type of support at the right time. To enable this, we work with others to contribute to the mental health and suicide prevention knowledge base through mixed-method research and the translation of findings into practice. We gather insights from the community and evidence from research and practice to influence our policy positions and advocacy efforts.