Indigenous suicide at 'crisis' numbers

Indigenous suicide at 'crisis' numbers after youth lose their cultural identity

Elders say government funding needed to help them bring troubled youth back into arms of community

Oliver Laughland

The loss of cultural identity is a major factor in explaining the high rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the government should focus on a more “community-centred approach” involving local elders to address the “crisis proportions” of Indigenous suicides, says a new report.

The report features interviews with 30 elders throughout Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland and documents their solutions to prevent self-harm, particularly among younger Indigenous Australians, as part of the Culture is Life campaign.

The federal Department of Health says Indigenous men aged 25-29 are four times more likely to take their lives than non-Indigenous men, with a rate of 90.8 deaths per 100,000. Indigenous women aged 20-24 are five times more likely to take their lives than non-Indigenous women, with a rate of 21.8 deaths per 100,000.

Overall the rate of suicide among Indigenous Australians is twice that of non-Indigenous Australians.

In an introduction to the report, Professor Pat Dudgeon, co-chair of the Aboriginal mental health and suicide prevention advisory group, said there was “no single, clear diagnosis” for the high rates of suicide in young Indigenous Australians, but said the report made clear that stronger connections to culture were vital to reducing them.

“For Indigenous people, cultural identity is the foundation of who we are. Despite years of assimilationist policy and the loss of so many of our customs and languages, Aboriginal people have demonstrated extraordinary cultural resilience,” Dudgeon writes.

“Our elders have been fundamental in this process. They are our wisdom-keepers. They have seen the changes so dramatically incurred in their lifetime. They are the vital bridge between the modern world and Aboriginal culture.”

The elders quoted in the report document how establishing a closer connection to culture and country has helped turn around some of the young Indigenous Australians within their communities.

“One day on country everything changed. Some of them young people said they don’t like it, but we kept them out in the homelands for a few months. I think that’s a good idea when you got troubled young fellas. Keep them out there for two to three months,” writes Joe Brown, an Indigenous elder from the Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia.

Other elders say the cultural work they have been doing needs more government funding.

“People are becoming isolated from culture,” says Lorna Hudson OAM, an elder from Derby in Western Australia. “For the government to work better, they need to listen to the cries of our community people. I know a couple of efforts have been made before requesting funding and requesting support, but the government has turned away.”

In May 2013 the Labor government implemented a national strategy targeting suicide in Indigenous communities with $17.8m funding over four years.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/15/indigenous-suicide-at-crisis-numbers-after-youth-lose-their-cultural-identity