Live4Life, Media Release, 16 September 2025

Innovative youth mental health and suicide prevention program, Live4Life, was first conceived and developed in the Macedon Ranges in 2010 — a groundbreaking response to a reported increase in anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide amongst young people in the rural communities of the shire. 

Today, thanks to Live4Life, over 10,000 people in the Macedon Ranges have now been equipped with the skills and knowledge to support themselves and one another. To understand the first signs of mental ill-health. To know what to do, how to help, who to go to. 

In the 15 years since the program began, 9,292 young people have received evidence-based mental health education in the Macedon Ranges and 864 adults in the community have been trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid^®. 

Live4Life centres young people themselves in an evidence-based prevention strategy. In the Macedon Ranges, for the first time ever, it brought schools and a broad range of community organisations together to provide a network of mutual support.

Co-founder of the Live4Life program, Pauline Neil, first became aware of the prominence of youth suicide and mental health issues when she was working for the Shire Council in 2008 and sitting on the ‘Local Safety Committee’ chaired by Victoria Police. “Live4Life was designed from the outset with an awareness that rural and regional areas need a whole-of-community approach — and it had to put young people at the heart of the process. We equip young people with the knowledge and tools to support themselves and their mates, while schools, councils, and community groups unite to provide real backup. That’s what sets Live4Life apart. And makes it effective,” she explained.  

Talon Gostelow was a volunteer in the Macedon Ranges program and sees it as life changing. “Over the last five years of involvement with Live4Life I’ve been: a Crew member, Crew4Life, freelance support, and now, Crew Champion. Not just the program, but because of the conversations, stories, and opportunities, I’ve learned so much. Something I’ve learned for certain is the value of a preventive model on our society,” he says.

To date, across all Live4Life communities, over 33,500 young people and 3,331 adults have received mental health education, an incredible 1799 young people have volunteered as mental health ambassadors in the Live4Life Crews, and 147 community members have been trained as Mental Health First Aid instructors.

In announcing the Macedon Ranges milestone, Live4Life CEO Bernard Galbally said, “Thanks to the foresight and leadership of the Macedon Ranges Shire Council in 2010, the growth of the Live4Life program into 14 other local government areas is today an exemplar of how local government can set in motion long-lasting, generational change in youth mental health and suicide prevention. The MRSC, the schools involved, Sunbury Cobaw Community Health and Benetas Macedon Ranges Health — all deserve huge congratulations. The impact this has had on improving the lives of young people — not only in this shire, but across Victoria and, now expanding to the rest of the country — is a legacy to be proud of.” 

That legacy continues to be recognised at the highest levels, with Live4Life and communities implementing the program winning Suicide Prevention Australia’s National Communities in Action Life Award last year. Live4Life was also recognised in the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System as an example of a local organisation driving change in young people’s lives and is one of only a handful of evidence-based programs listed on the Victorian Department of Education’s ‘Mental Health Menu’ from which schools can choose to spend their Mental Health funding. Live4Life is identified as a key initiative in the recently released Victorian Suicide Prevention and Response Implementation Plan. 

Live4Life Macedon Ranges is implemented in local secondary schools, Gisborne Secondary, Sacred Heart College and Braemar College, with the support of organisations including Sunbury Cobaw Community Health and Benetas Macedon Ranges Health. The Lead Agency is Macedon Ranges Shire Council.