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A Report Into Youth Suicide in the Northern Territory

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A Report Into Youth Suicide in the Northern Territory LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY 11th Assembly Select Committee on Youth Suicides in the NT Gone Too Soon: A Report into Youth Suicide in the Northern Territory COMMITTEE REPORT Presented and ordered to be printed by the March 2012 Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory March 2012 Contents Contents Chair’s Preface......................................................................................................................... ii Committee Members .............................................................................................................. iv Committee Secretariat ............................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. v Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................ vi Terms of Reference .............................................................................................................. viii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ x Recommendations ............................................................................................................... xiii 1. CONDUCT OF THE INQUIRY ............................................................................... 1 2. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 2 2.1.1 Definitions ............................................................................................................................... 2 2.1.2 Reason for Inquiry .................................................................................................................. 3 2.1.3 Overview of Findings .............................................................................................................. 4 2.2 Statistical Overview of Youth Suicide in the NT............................................................ 7 2.3 Issues Current and Emerging ....................................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Risk and Protective Factors .................................................................................................. 16 2.3.2 Infrastructure ........................................................................................................................ 27 2.3.3 Suicide and Mental Health Awareness Education ................................................................ 30 2.4 Government Policies and Funding ............................................................................... 35 2.4.1 Federal Government Policies and Funding ........................................................................... 35 2.3.2 NT Government Policies and Funding .................................................................................. 46 2.4 Programs and Services .................................................................................................. 59 2.4.1 Types of Services ................................................................................................................. 59 2.4.2 Service Delivery Issues ........................................................................................................ 66 2.5 Data Collection and Research ....................................................................................... 73 2.5.1 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................... 73 2.5.2 Research ............................................................................................................................... 78 3. ACTION ............................................................................................................... 82 3.1 Building Strong, Healthy and Resilient Communities ................................................ 85 3.1.1 Challenges of Geographic Isolation ...................................................................................... 86 3.1.2 Building Community Resilience ............................................................................................ 93 3.2 Identifying and Helping those at Risk ........................................................................ 117 3.2.1 Gatekeeper Training ........................................................................................................... 119 3.2.2 School Counselling and Guidance Services ....................................................................... 122 3.2.3 Youth Engagement Police Officers ..................................................................................... 124 3.2.4 Youth Diversion Programs .................................................................................................. 125 3.2.5 Young Offenders and the Criminal Justice System ............................................................ 135 3.2.6 Telephone Counselling and Online Strategies .................................................................... 139 3.2.7 Youth Friendly/Youth Specific Mental Health and Counselling Services ............................ 140 3.3 Helping the Bereaved and Stopping the Contagion ................................................. 145 3.3.1 Social and Cultural Perceptions of Suicide ......................................................................... 146 3.3.3 Organisational Capacity to Respond to Suicide .................................................................. 155 3.3.4 Community Based Responses to Suicide ........................................................................... 163 3.4 Smarter Service Delivery ............................................................................................. 174 3.4.1 Coordination and Collaboration .......................................................................................... 175 3.4.2 Community and Place Based Solutions .............................................................................. 186 3.4.2 Funding Issues ................................................................................................................... 189 4. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 192 Appendix A: Submissions received .................................................................................. 194 Appendix B: Hearings and Forums .................................................................................. 195 i Select Committee on Youth Suicides in the NT Chair’s Preface Suicide is a tragedy for the individual and devastating for their family, friends and community. The pain for loved ones is immeasurable and enduring. When it is a young person with their whole life ahead of them, the tragedy is heightened. In the Northern Territory, with our many tight-knit communities, the sense of loss and failure can carry across regions. Our youth suicide rate is 3.5 times the national average, and the overall rate is twice the national rate. The rates for men have always been relatively high. This alone is cause of great concern, however the Committee heard that the rate for young women, particularly young Indigenous women, has increased in recent years. Girls now comprise up to 40% of all suicides of children under the age of 17. The suicide rate for Indigenous Territorians is particularly disturbing, with 75% of suicides of children from 2007 to 11 in the Territory being Aboriginal and around 50% of all suicides. It was heartening to hear of the excellent work being done around the Territory to respond to youth in crisis, such as the initiatives in Nguiu and Ski Beach where the community rallied to turn around some of the highest suicide rates in the world; the work of the Darwin Region Indigenous Suicide Prevention Network, which took the initiative to fill the gaps in suicide support in the region; and the work of the Mt Theo Program, where the elders of Yuendumu developed diversionary programs to help those of their youth in crisis, to name but a few. The Committee was also impressed by people around the Territory working to build and maintain strong communities, both as professionals and as volunteers. Nonetheless, more needs to be done to address youth suicide. Too many of our youth are falling through the gaps and not getting the help they need. For too many of our youth, there is not enough hope to protect them from the impulse to end their lives. Clearly things need to change if we are to stop losing our young people at their own hands at such a high rate. The greatest priority is to work better with what we have got. The need for greater coordination and collaboration was raised with the Committee wherever it went. It does not make sense to hear that there are too many service providers in places where some people cannot access services. Nor does it make sense to hear of successful and vital programs closing or losing staff because a grant program has ceased or changed its priorities. It is therefore essential that the Government take up the Committee’s recommendations 19, and 23 regarding mapping services and funding across the Territory and establishing a new Suicide Prevention Coordination Committee
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