A recent report by the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian has revealed that suicide rates among Indigenous children and teens in Queensland are five times higher than that of their non-Indigenous counterparts.
In some remote communities in the Kimberley, youth suicide rates have reached 100 times the national average.
Mental Health and Human Rights Award winner Professor Judy Atkinson has urged teachers to look for signs of concern in students.
And she said erratic behaviour should be dealt with in more effective ways.
“My answer would be to work with the child, to hear what the story is, to do therapy or healing work with the child and see what’s happening in the family," she said.
A Postvention Conference was held at Sydney’s University of New South Wales today for those bereaved by suicide and for those working with the bereaved.
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 or follow @LifelineAust @OntheLineAus @kidshelp @beyondblue @headspace_aus @ReachOut_AUS on Twitter.
