The Gold Industry Group (GIG) is pleased to announce a new community partnership with mental health charity LIVIN, aimed at raising awareness of mental health and changing the way the mining industry and society understands, perceives and interprets mental illness.
Gold Industry Group members from The Perth Mint, Gold Road Resources, Ramelius Resources and Cannings Purple.
A recent audit conducted by the Department of Mines and Petroleum into the psychosocial harms in the mining and resources industry found there is much to be done to protect staff. The most significant area identified for improvement was the level of consultation with the workforce on mental health and wellbeing strategies.
Spreading the LIVIN message
The Gold Industry Group is working with its members and LIVIN to raise awareness of mental health and engage workers and the community.
“We are proud to partner with LIVIN in an effort to connect, support and inspire others to speak up and seek help,” said Gold Industry Group Chairperson and Perth Mint Chief Executive Officer Richard Hayes.
LIVIN co-founders Sam Webb and Casey Lyons
“We are looking forward to coordinating a GIG LIVIN Tour with our members and the Goldfields community next month, from 12-19 June.”
The GIG LIVIN Tour will include a free community event in Kalgoorlie on Wednesday 14 June and will involve working with the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to deliver a youth engagement project and a workshop for employees.
With 1 in 4 people affected by a mental health condition in their lifetime, as well as suicide being the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15-44, and Indigenous Australians having the highest rate of suicide in the world, this issue requires the community to work together to support each other and raise awareness.
“In partnership with the Gold Industry Group, we aim to increase mental health literacy by giving people the basic tools and understanding to seek help and to support others in need,” said LIVIN Co-Founder and Survivor contestant Sam Webb.
LIVIN was co-founded by Sam Webb and Casey Lyons in September 2013, in honour of close friend Dwayne Lally and other close friends and family who took their own lives after suffering from a mental illness.
“It’s about LIVIN your life at the top and destroying the stigma attached to mental illness.
"We want men and women to know that they are not alone and ‘It Ain’t Weak to Speak’,” Webb said.
The core of LIVIN’s mission is the mantra 'It Ain’t Weak to Speak,' encouraging and inspiring people to speak up and seek help.
The false perception that mental health issues are a form of personal weakness has meant sufferers are often silent about their challenges — both to avoid the stigma of having a personal or mental weakness, and for fear of being seen as a problem employee that needs to go.
The consequences surrounding this false perception have been devastating and many people continue to suffer, with an increasing number being lost through suicide.
“For too long mental illness and suicide has been perceived as a weakness, but mental illness is no different to other illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. We will change this,” said Casey Lyons.
Through education and the use of fashion, social media and well respected people, LIVIN influences generational change with a fresh new approach to mental health.
Following their audit of 140 resources and mining companies, the Department of Mines and Petroleum said it was important to address physiological risks within an overall safety and health management system.
“It is important that the prevention of work related stressors is incorporated into all health and safety procedures and these results have shown that there is still much to be done in this space as well,” said DMP Resources Safety Executive Director Simon Ridge.
"Risks to psychological and physical health due to work should be viewed in the same manner as other workplace risks.”
Gold Industry Group members championing the tour include The Perth Mint, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Gold Road Resources, Ramelius Resources, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Cannings Purple.