Switchboard Victoria has been delivering the world’s first postvention services for LGBTIQA+ people. LGBTIQA+ postvention refers to practices of support and actions which help to facilitate bereavement among LGBTIQA+ people affected by a suicide death. As LGBTIQA+ people can experience specific challenges or face complex situations after a suicide, LGBTIQA+SB communities need and deserve tailored postvention services delivered by peers with lived experience.
LGBTIQA+SB experiences with mainstream services after a suicide have the potential to invalidate LGBTIQA+ identification and/or inhibit someone’s ability to grieve. Dedicated LGBTIQA+ postvention supports our communities to address stigma around suicide, acknowledges that loss may be traumatic and often complex, particularly regarding community interconnectedness, and helps understand and support connections with grief.
Switchboard Victoria’s postvention program includes bereavement support groups, a postvention response team, a community memorial (The Remembering Rainbow), and community and health sector training. Created and delivered by an LGBTIQA+ community-controlled organisation, our postvention services are founded on a lived experience and peer support approach.
This presentation will outline key approaches to LGBTIQA+SB postvention bereavement program and report on the delivery of our services to date. Reflections from our Drop In Groups, 8 week Groups, Creative Sessions, Afternoon tea’s and The Remembering Rainbow memorial, offer a compelling argument for the importance of lived experience and peer knowledge in both the design and delivery of LGBTIQA+ postvention programs.