A Mental Health Movement Changing how Society Understands and Responds to Mental Health and Suicide
Led by lived experience.
Grounded in trauma-informed, evidence-based care. Taking a human-first approach. Always.
Because How we Respond Matters
Awareness around Mental Health is great, but it just isn't enough. Knowing that mental health matters doesn't mean people know what to do when it counts. LUMAURA goes further — giving people the understanding, the skills, and the confidence to respond with compassion, not hesitation.
The result: safer conversations, stronger communities, and a future where no one has to face their struggles alone.
Why This Work Matters
1 in 5 Australians will experience mental ill-health this year. 9 people will lose their lives to suicide today. Within the next 10 minutes, someone in Australia will attempt to end their life.
These aren't just statistics.
They're someone's child, partner, parent, sibling, best friend, colleague, or neighbour. They're the people we love, the people we work alongside, the people we laugh with, and sometimes, the people we never realised were struggling.
When a life is lost, what's left behind is more than a number. It's the empty chair at the dinner table. The message that will never be answered. The birthday that never feels the same again. The family and friends left wondering whether one conversation, one response, or one moment of understanding could have changed everything.
Mental health and suicide aren't somebody else's problem.
They're human experiences that touch every community, every workplace, every school, and every family.
People deserve more than awareness.
They deserve understanding.
They deserve compassionate responses.
They deserve to feel seen, heard, and supported when they're struggling.
Because when someone says, "I'm not okay," what happens next can change everything.
Our Mission, Vision & Difference
Mission
Changing How Society Responds to Mental Health and Suicide
We believe a better understanding of mental health and suicide leads to better conversations, stronger responses, and better outcomes.
That's why we're equipping people with the tools, language, understanding, and confidence to show up with presence, compassion, and care when it matters most.
Vision
A world where mental health and suicide are no longer met with silence or stigma
Where people feel confident to have genuine, honest, and open conversations — and are equipped to respond to others' struggles with understanding, compassion, and care.
Difference
Lived experience is our difference
We truly understand mental health struggles and suicidal crises because we've lived them ourselves. That gives our work a depth of compassion, insight, and human understanding that can only come from being there — allowing us to connect with people on a deeper, more personal level.
Founder/CEO
Lauren McDonough
Lauren McDonough is the Founder & CEO of LUMAURA, a keynote speaker, writer, suicide survivor, bilateral amputee, and lived-experience mental health advocate.
After surviving a suicide attempt at 19 that resulted in the loss of both her legs, Lauren dedicated her life to changing how society understands and responds to mental health and suicide.
Through LUMAURA, she combines lived experience with trauma-informed, evidence-based approaches to equip people with the knowledge, perspectives, practical skills, and confidence to respond in genuinely helpful ways when someone is struggling with their mental health. Her work is grounded in the belief that compassionate, informed human connection can change lives.
Lauren's mission is to help reshape how society understands and responds to mental health and suicide; creating safer conversations, stronger communities, and a future where fewer people face their struggles alone.
How We Create Change
Every conversation has the potential to change a life. Through keynote speaking, panel facilitation, conversation leadership and education, we help people build the knowledge, confidence and practical skills to be able to respond to, and support people who’re struggling with their mental health.
Discover how we can help ↓
Follow Our Journey
What People are Saying
This Conversation Doesn't End Here
It lives in workplaces, classrooms, sporting clubs, community groups, homes, and the everyday moments between people who care deeply but have never been taught what to say.
Every conversation has the potential to change a life when it's met with understanding, compassion, and the confidence to respond in genuinely helpful ways.
If you're ready to build a culture where people feel seen, supported, and safe to reach out, we'd love to work with you