Beyond Blue is committed to working with the community to improve mental health and make it easier for people to feel better earlier, get well and stay well. Lack of services, the tyranny of distance and cost are all barriers to accessing mental health support in rural areas, and this is exacerbated by longer wait times, cost of living and repeated exposure to disasters.

Central to Beyond Blue’s approach to earlier intervention is embedding mental health support into systems, services, and settings. We aim to normalise conversations about mental health and reduce the time between experiencing distress and seeking support. This is especially critical in rural areas, where stigma and service gaps often delay help-seeking.

Beyond Blue has supported sole traders and small business owners through our NewAccess for Small Business Owners service since 2021. The service provides up to eight free and confidential mental health coaching sessions. Over 8,000 Small Business Owners across Australia have benefitted from the service and 7 out of 10 small business owners who take part recover from symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Beyond Blue is committed to raising awareness of the program in rural and remote communities where small business owners are exposed to additional wellbeing risks including isolation, loneliness and reduced access to support and resources.
We will also share insights from our national population level survey Australia’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Check, our Regional and Rural discovery work and our rural and regional research partners.

We will also share Beyond Blue resources that can promote early help seeking - from digital tools, such as the money and mental health toolkit, to community support forums and targeted programs like NewAccess.