Mental Health on Tap - Fresh Thinking for Saving Lives in Rural Australia
Tracks
Grand Ballroom 2 - In-Person Only
| Thursday, November 6, 2025 |
| 10:55 AM - 11:25 AM |
Overview
David Westgate, Westgate & Friends
Presenter
Mr David Westgate
Director
Westgate & Friends
Mental Health on Tap - Fresh Thinking for Saving Lives in Rural Australia
Presentation Overview
The further you go from Australia's capital cities, the less mental health services there are and the more common suicide becomes.
In the Sydney suburb of Parramatta for example, suicide accounts for 6.6 deaths per 100,00 people. In Broken Hill in NSW, it's 28.7.
But while not every country town has a psychologist, thankfully they all have a pub or a club. And there lies the beauty of this idea.
Such venues are traditionally associated with mental health issues, not solutions. But traditional thinking rarely leads to innovative ideas and Mental Health on Tap is definitely innovative. And simple.
It is a combination of brilliantly written beer coasters with QR codes, a no-nonsense website, and direct links to articles and advice from Australia's leading mental health organisations including the Black Dog Institute, Lifeline, Suicide Call Back Service, 13Yarn, Healthdirect Australia and RU OK? to name but a few.
Here's how it works:
Imagine a mum sitting in a country pub waiting for a friend. She's worried about her son who seems depressed. A beer coaster catches her eye and she picks it up. It's as if it was written for her.
She scans the QR code and is taken to the Mental Health on Tap website where she finds straightforward content. She taps on a link that takes her directly to an article from the the Suicide Call Back Service, ''Supporting someone who may be suicidal".
For the first time in weeks, she feels a sense of hope.
While it is innovative, Mental Health on Tap is also evidence based and has the support of organisations such as Mindframe and Roses in the Ocean.
This is the thinking that I will cover in detail should I be given an opportunity to present at this year's Rural Mental Health Conference.
In the Sydney suburb of Parramatta for example, suicide accounts for 6.6 deaths per 100,00 people. In Broken Hill in NSW, it's 28.7.
But while not every country town has a psychologist, thankfully they all have a pub or a club. And there lies the beauty of this idea.
Such venues are traditionally associated with mental health issues, not solutions. But traditional thinking rarely leads to innovative ideas and Mental Health on Tap is definitely innovative. And simple.
It is a combination of brilliantly written beer coasters with QR codes, a no-nonsense website, and direct links to articles and advice from Australia's leading mental health organisations including the Black Dog Institute, Lifeline, Suicide Call Back Service, 13Yarn, Healthdirect Australia and RU OK? to name but a few.
Here's how it works:
Imagine a mum sitting in a country pub waiting for a friend. She's worried about her son who seems depressed. A beer coaster catches her eye and she picks it up. It's as if it was written for her.
She scans the QR code and is taken to the Mental Health on Tap website where she finds straightforward content. She taps on a link that takes her directly to an article from the the Suicide Call Back Service, ''Supporting someone who may be suicidal".
For the first time in weeks, she feels a sense of hope.
While it is innovative, Mental Health on Tap is also evidence based and has the support of organisations such as Mindframe and Roses in the Ocean.
This is the thinking that I will cover in detail should I be given an opportunity to present at this year's Rural Mental Health Conference.
Biography
David Westgate is a city slicker, but knows a bit about the bush and a lot about mental health. He worked in advertising for 35-years while suffering from a roller coaster of a mental illness known as bipolar 1.
Since then, he has worked as a corporate speaker for the Black Dog Institute, master Mental Health First Aid trainer, facilitator for Lifeline and sits on an advisory panel for Australia's largest life insurer, TAL.
He has spoken to farmers, miners and truck drivers, on cattle stations, country bowlos, and even the Wallumbilla Branch of the Country Women's Association.
