Michael Elwan Appointed to Suicide Prevention Australia’s National Lived Experience Panel

I am deeply honoured to share that I’ve been appointed to Suicide Prevention Australia’s National Lived Experience Panel. As the national peak body for suicide prevention, Suicide Prevention Australia’s commitment to embedding lived experience leadership is more than symbolic; it’s transformative. It recognises that those who have walked through loss, grief, and survival must have a voice in shaping the future of suicide prevention in Australia.

This appointment is profoundly personal. It carries the memory of every person I’ve lost, every conversation that has fuelled change, and every moment where hope felt like resistance.

Suicide prevention has left a lasting imprint on my life. And if there’s one truth I’ve learned, it’s this: lived experience isn’t anecdotal; it’s expertise. It’s the wisdom of survival, the strength of perspective, and the empathy that systems too often lack.

For years, I’ve worked to transform pain into purpose - ensuring that people reaching out in distress are met with compassion, dignity, and effective support. As a WA State Committee member with Suicide Prevention Australia, I’ve seen how lived experience leadership reshapes systems from within. Now, on the national panel, I’ll continue advocating for approaches that reflect humanity and cultural safety, particularly for people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) backgrounds.

Suicide prevention cannot rely on data and policy alone. It must be co-designed with those who have lived through it. Every framework, every strategy, every reform must be guided by real stories, real communities, and real lives.

To Suicide Prevention Australia, thank you for recognising the essential role of lived experience in transforming suicide prevention.

To those who have shared their stories, stood in solidarity, or carried the unbearable weight of loss - you are why I do this work. And to anyone who feels unseen in their pain: you are not alone. You are heard, valued, and held in our collective commitment to change.

🔗 Learn more about Suicide Prevention Australia’s Lived Experience Panel and see the full list of members

LEXs is Michael Elwan's Perth-based practice, working online across Australia. Services include training and workshops, lived experience consultancy, Social Work Supervision, Lived Experience Leadership Supervision, Frontline Supervision, therapy and keynote speaking. Training and workshops can be commissioned for organisational leaders, practitioners and frontline teams, and carers, families and communities. Explore LEXs services.