As a MATES in Construction major funding partner, Country SA PHN CEO Mark Hartigan and team were pleased to attend the MATES charity event at Adelaide Oval on 17 May 2024.
With approximately 450 people in attendance, it was a great opportunity to network with guests including the Hon Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Aged Care who opened the lunch, Hon Chris Picton MP, Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Nadia Clancy MP, Premier’s Advocate for Suicide Prevention and MATES management and trainers.
CEO Mark Hartigan, was pleased to have the opportunity to connect with Minister Butler at the event and was thrilled to confirm further funding to June 2025 to enable this valuable work to continue.
Country SA PHN has funded MATES for five years, growing from a pilot to access the hard-to-reach male cohort and to build the capacity of regional, rural, and remote communities to recognise and respond to suicide.
Country SA PHN in partnership with MATES has expanded the evidence-based model into wider industry settings including agriculture, timber, aquaculture, heavy industry such as smelters and steel works and local government works depots across country South Australia.
MATES has delivered more than 300 suicide prevention training sessions, reaching 4,800 workers in regional South Australia. Keynote speaker Duncan Chessell captivated with his inspiring stories of his global climbing adventures reaching the seven highest summits across the seven continents. He shared the invaluable lessons he has learned from more than 20 years of experience and how some of these skills can transfer into the workplace.
