Supporting staff and workplace responses to suicide: Neami National and Bowra & O’Dea Funeral Directors 

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported 3,144 deaths by suicide in Australia in 2021. Many workplaces are touched by suicide in some way—especially those workforces that support high-risk populations or work in certain industries, such as funeral services.   

Bowra & O’Dea Funeral Directors recognised many of their staff were struggling with funerals they were managing for people who had died by suicide, particularly when they conducted several such funerals. Staff found it particularly confronting when they saw similarities with their own family and friends and those that died or were bereaved.  Bowra & O’Dea prides itself on helping clients find the supports they need. But company leaders recognised they also needed to help their staff manage the particular emotional impact of suicide bereavement funerals.   

Bowra & O’Dea worked with Neami National—a not-for-profit organisation providing mental health, homelessness and suicide prevention services—to develop a plan to support their staff. Neami National’s ‘Suicide Aware’ program supports staff and workplace responses to suicide through training, governance and integration. The program is targeted to the unique context and needs of each workplace. It integrates the lived experience of staff with best practice and tools for ongoing improvement, helping workplaces meet their work health and safety obligations to manage the psychosocial hazards of exposure to suicide.   

Neami National noted funeral staff, like many others, can tend to be overlooked in terms of their contribution to helping clients navigate suicide bereavement, as well as their own needs.   

Working together, Bowra & O’Dea and Neami National designed and implemented a bespoke training package to better inform and support staff through their work. An ongoing consultative relationship between Neami National and Bowra & O’Dea involved implementing a workplace wellbeing toolkit and bereavement resources for staff and clients. These tools have been shared with members of the Australian Funeral Directors Association.   

“As part of our commitment to staff wellbeing, we wanted to explore how to support staff in suicide bereavement—not only so that they could support our valued clients, but also their own self-care. The partnership with Neami has been invaluable to our staff. The funeral services industry would also welcome this service. Staff retention in this industry is a challenge and the ‘Suicide Aware’ program supports us with solving it.” Bernadine Brierty, Development Manager, Funeral Services  

An evaluation of the training package found it created genuine benefits for Bowra & O’Dea staff:  

• In a post-training survey, 100% of staff said the training and resources helped them in how they navigate suicide bereavement funerals.  
• 90% responded the training and resources helped them manage the emotional impact of working on suicide bereavement funerals.  

Bowra & O’Dea also learned some valuable lessons:  

• Training should include experiences from staff from all business areas. For example, administration staff, the mortuary team and funeral directors all experienced the impact of suicide bereavement differently. Yet, they could find mutual support and create an environment where they were comfortable and empowered to express their feelings and share resources.    
• Training and education must be ongoing. In particular, new staff must receive training.