Govt Pledges $1M ‘Critical Response’ To Tackle Indigenous Suicide Rates

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In October 2014, an eleven-year-old Indigenous boy from Geraldton, WA, by the name of Peter Little, took his own life.

Nine months after his tragic suicide, his mother, Rhoda Narrier, 37, killed herself, leaving behind three sons.

This distressing and devastating sequence of events has been, in part, the catalyst for a $1 million pilot program in Perth introduced by Indigenous Affairs Minister, Nigel Scullion, in an attempt to provide unprecedented support to Aboriginal families in the awful aftermath of suicide.

The rate of suicide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is alarming, to say the least. 

It’s almost twice that of other Australians, and suicide rates among young Indigenous men is even higher.

In the pilot program, critical-response health workers will meet with affected families to identify their needs, before ensuring suitable services are delivered. It has been reported that the project will aim to better coordinate suicide services and deliver them in culturally appropriate ways.

“The critical response project helps to co-ordinate first-response services and ensure that essential support is provided to individuals, families and local communities dealing with suicide. It will also develop and trial new models of care to build resilience in communities as well as the rollout of mental health first-aid training,” Mr Scullion has stated.

Speaking to the ABC, Critical response advocate Gerry Georgatos has said the project is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.

“The high self-harm rates, the destructive behaviour, the high arrest rates, the high jail rates, the suicide rates, they will continue as a constant narrative,” he has said. Although he has stated that the response team will try to reduce suicides to the best of their ability, the problem isn’t a quick fix.