Forum co-ordinator Sebastian Rosenberg said survivors and families told mental health workers, police, council workers and clergy gathered at the Albury Performing Arts Centre they were often left to carry the blame with little or no support.

“This has been raised before but perhaps not as well articulated as it was today,” he said.

“They said they largely felt unsupported and felt as though the burden and responsibility of managing the person who was suicidal fell to them and that they needed help to cope.

“What came out here today was that they often felt blamed and at the same time felt inadequate.

“Their stories are a compelling case for why we need to do better here.”

Mr Rosenberg, senior lecturer at the Brain and Mind Institute of the University of Sydney, said it was the largest turnout of the nine regional forums held to date.

“And probably had the best spread of people,” he said.

“It had public mental health workers, survivors, families and a range of people from the wider community including police and the clergy.

“It is not just mental health workers that need to be aware of the issue — this is for the community.”

Mr Rosenberg said he would submit his report to the NSW Mental Health Minister Kevin Humphries in the coming months.

He says it will carry the messages from Albury and regional NSW with direct calls for actions.

“It is easy to spruik rhetoric and far harder to come up with concrete actions,” Mr Rosenberg said.

“But we have been scrupulous in looking for good practice and identifying programs that work well.

“In the end there has to be a greater level of services, greater access to care and better access to suicide prevention services in every region of NSW.

“What I have seen so far is a patchwork — programs going OK in some places, sometimes in some parts of some places and in other areas there are large gaps.”