Duty of care

How we handle difficult stories

This show asks people what broke. That means conversations will touch mental illness, suicide, addiction, violence, grief, prison and loss. Honesty is the point, but it is not worth harming the person telling it, the people in their story, or someone listening.

These are the rules we work to. They apply to every guest, whether they are known publicly or have never spoken about any of this before. Our practice follows Australian Mindframe guidelines for reporting on mental ill-health, suicide, alcohol and other drugs, and for working with people with lived experience.

Why this page matters to me

Content note: depression and suicidal thoughts. Support numbers are directly below.

Don't let the story end here.

When you're carrying that much guilt, you become your own harshest judge, jury and executioner.

I've lived with that darkness for a lot of my life. I know what it's like to sit in the quiet at 3am with a mind that won't shut off, the weight of your own past crushing your chest. You look at the mistakes, the people you've let down, the wreckage behind you — and your head starts whispering the ultimate lie: that everyone would be better off without you. That forcing the end is the only way to make the noise stop.

It's fucking hard. I've stood at that brink more times than I care to admit. And every time, the lie was wrong. The people who love you aren't better off without you. They'd carry it for the rest of their lives.

Your past is part of your story. It doesn't have to be your conclusion. If you close the book halfway through, nobody gets to read the chapters where you turned it around.

I've hit the dirt, had nothing to my name, and clawed my way out of the ashes over and over again. It wasn't pretty. It was brutal and exhausting. Life was never promised to be easy — and don't believe the curated bullshit you see online. Half the people smiling into their phones are fighting their own private war just to get through the week.

Don't quit in the middle of the chapter. Write the second half so that when the real end comes, it's a book you're proud people got to read. Stay in the fight.

— Shane

Lifeline

13 11 14 · 24/7 · or text 0477 13 11 14

Beyond Blue

1300 22 4636 · 24/7

If you're in immediate danger, call 000. Outside Australia, find a local line at findahelpline.com. More services are listed further down this page.

The principles

01

Nothing is a surprise

Before recording, we agree what the conversation will cover and what is off-limits. There are no ambush questions, no producer plants, no material introduced on camera that wasn't discussed first. A guest can name a subject as closed and it stays closed.

02

Stop is a complete sentence

Any guest can pause, take a break, move on, or end the recording at any point, without explaining why. Nothing about that moment is used, and no one is asked to justify it afterwards.

03

Consent is ongoing, not a signature

Agreeing to record is not agreeing to publish. Guests review the cut before release and can ask for a section to be removed. Consent given in the room can be withdrawn after it, up to the agreed cut-off before publication.

04

People outside the conversation are not collateral

Stories involve other people who never agreed to be in them. We don't name or identify third parties in allegations, and we edit around detail that would identify someone who has no right of reply.

05

Method is not content

Where a conversation touches suicide, self-harm, overdose or disordered eating, we discuss the experience and the recovery — not the method, means or location. This follows Australian Mindframe guidance for safe public discussion.

06

No manufactured redemption

We don't push anyone toward a tidy ending or ask them to perform breakdown for the edit. If a story has no resolution yet, that is how it airs. Emotion is not a production goal.

In practice

Before recording

A pre-conversation call covering scope, sensitivities and anything off-limits.
Written confirmation of what has been agreed, sent before the day.
A check on whether the guest has current support in place, and time to arrange it if not.
For a guest's first time discussing something publicly, we recommend delaying rather than rushing it.

During recording

Breaks whenever asked, no cameras running.
A support person may be present on request.
No pressure to answer, and no returning to a question that has been declined.
Recording ends whenever the guest says it ends.

After recording

The guest reviews the cut before release and can request removals.
A follow-up contact after publication, because reaction can be the hardest part.
Content notes at the top of the episode page and in the show notes where relevant.
Support service information published beneath every episode that needs it.

If you need support now

If you are in immediate danger, call 000.

The services below are free, confidential and available to anyone in Australia. We publish the relevant ones beneath any episode that needs them, and we will help a guest find specialist support before recording if they want it.

Outside Australia, find a local crisis line through the International Association for Suicide Prevention at iasp.info.

Questions before you sit down

If anything here needs clarifying, ask before you agree to anything.

Guests, managers and publicists can raise conditions, request the written scope in advance, or ask how a specific subject would be handled. Write to hello@noarmour.org and you will get a straight answer.

Be a guest