The West Australian town of Kalgoorlie has once again been hit by tragedy.
Barely two months after 14-year-old Elijah Doughty was allegedly run down by a motorist, a 37-year-old Indigenous mother of three has died by suicide at the same location.
The site has become a mourning or “sorry site” to locals, although the ABC reports that the woman’s family does not believe her death was in relation to Elijah’s.
Her death is just one in a spate of youth suicides in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder region, with over 150 Indigenous people taking their lives in 2015 alone.
The woman’s friend Dianna Logan told the ABC that Australia’s historical and ongoing mistreatment of Indigenous people prevents them from reaching out for help, making the task of combatting suicide all the more difficult.
“Historically Aboriginal people have had a fear of welfare and police, because they’re only there to take your kids away,” she said.
“They’re not used to talking to strangers, because nobody listens.”
This tragedy comes just days before Health Minister Sussan Ley chairs a special roundtable on Indigenous suicide in the Kimberly this Friday, joined by Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion and Assistant Minister for Health Ken Wyatt.
