Grief is a universal human experience — every Australian will be profoundly affected by loss during their lifetime. Most grief is processed through natural social supports: family, friends, community, and cultural rituals. But some bereaved people need additional support — those who have lost someone to suicide, those who have experienced complicated grief, children who have lost parents, parents who have lost children, or communities devastated by disaster. Grant funding supports the bereavement services, peer support programmes, and specialist care that help Australians navigate devastating loss.
The scale of loss
When grief needs extra support
Most grief is processed without professional intervention. Those who may need specialist support include:
- Complicated grief (Prolonged Grief Disorder — persistent, debilitating grief beyond 6-12 months)
- Sudden or traumatic death (accident, violence, sudden illness — no preparation)
- Suicide bereavement — associated with higher rates of complicated grief and suicide risk
- Child bereavement — children lose parents, siblings, or grandparents
- Bereaved parents — losing a child at any age is among the most devastating losses
- Disaster bereavement — multiple losses, community devastation
- Disenfranchised grief — losses that society doesn't fully recognise (miscarriage, pet loss, relationship loss, addiction-related deaths)
Grief and mental health
Grief is not a mental illness, but it intersects with mental health:
- Bereavement is a significant risk factor for depression
- Suicide bereavement significantly increases suicide risk in the bereaved
- Complicated grief (Prolonged Grief Disorder) responds to specific treatments
There is no dedicated national bereavement support programme in Australia — grief support is largely delivered through:
- Palliative care services (bereavement follow-up for families)
- Mental health services (when grief becomes pathological)
- Suicide prevention funding (suicide bereavement as suicide prevention)
- Cancer Council and disease organisations (bereavement support for cancer families)
Compassionate Friends Australia
Support for bereaved parents — chapters across Australia.
Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement
Research, training, and education in grief and bereavement.
Anglicare / Lifeline / Beyond Blue
Counselling and support including grief.
Red Nose (formerly SIDS and Kids)
Bereavement support for families affected by stillbirth, sudden infant death, and other infant death.
SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Support)
Pregnancy and infant loss bereavement support.
Grief Australia
National grief support and training organisation.
Solace (Suicide Bereavement)
Support for those bereaved by suicide.
Kids Helpline / Griefline
Youth and adult grief support lines.
Canteen Australia
Young people bereaved by cancer (parent or sibling diagnosis/death).
General bereavement counselling
Child and adolescent grief
Children grieve differently from adults — and need age-appropriate support:
- Child grief programmes (Good Grief, Seasons for Growth)
- School-based bereavement support
- Child grief camps
- Peer support for bereaved young people
- Family grief programmes (supporting the whole family)
Suicide bereavement
Suicide bereavement has distinctive features:
- Stigma (often social silence around suicide deaths)
- Guilt and self-blame (what could I have done?)
- Anger and confusion
- Elevated suicide risk in those bereaved by suicide
- Support programmes: SOBS (Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide)
- Lived experience peer support is particularly valuable
Pregnancy and infant loss
Bereaved parents
Losing a child at any age is devastating:
- Compassionate Friends (parent loss at any age)
- Young People bereaved — specific support for parents of young adults
- SIDS/SUDI bereavement (sudden infant death)
- Homicide bereavement (parents of murder victims)
Disaster bereavement
Mass casualty events create unique bereavement challenges:
- Multiple losses
- Traumatic circumstances
- Community-wide grief
- Long-term community recovery support
- Bushfire, flood, transport accident bereavement programmes
Complicated grief
Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is now recognised as a distinct condition:
- Evidence-based treatment (Complicated Grief Therapy — CBT-based)
- Specialist grief therapy training
- Screening for prolonged grief in at-risk populations
Workplace bereavement support
Cultural bereavement practices
Different cultures grieve differently:
- Culturally appropriate bereavement support
- Understanding cultural mourning practices
- Faith-based bereavement support
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural bereavement (cultural protocols, smoking ceremonies, sorry business)
Pet loss
Disenfranchised but significant grief:
- Pet loss support groups
- Veterinary practice bereavement support
- Online pet loss communities
Suicide bereavement as suicide prevention
People bereaved by suicide have significantly elevated suicide risk themselves. Suicide bereavement support is suicide prevention — this framing opens suicide prevention funding for grief programmes.
Child grief as early intervention
Unprocessed childhood grief can have lifelong mental health consequences. Child grief programmes are early intervention for mental health. This framing engages children's and early intervention funders.
Pregnancy loss recognition
Miscarriage and stillbirth are common, devastating, and underserved — many bereaved parents feel their grief is not socially acknowledged. Applications addressing pregnancy loss bereavement fill a genuine gap.
Disaster recovery
Post-disaster bereavement is acute, time-limited, and publicly visible — emergency funders respond. Long-term bereavement support (years after disaster) is harder to fund but equally necessary.
Tahua's grants management platform supports mental health and bereavement funders — with programme participant tracking, grief outcome measurement, peer support data, and the reporting tools that help bereavement funders demonstrate their investment in supporting Australians through devastating loss.