Newsletter date: 6 September 2015
Contents:
* Media Statement: University News, University of Western Australia: Calls for greater action to prevent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide [featuring Prof Pat Dudgeon, Prof Tom Calma, Adele Cox - a Bunuba Gija woman from the Kimberley & Gerry Georgatos]
* News Analysis: Cowra Community News: Indigenous suicide needs action now - academic [featuring Prof Tom Calma]
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: "It is not like me to cry…" - no more lies, our children should not see suicide as the solution
* WGAR Background to Suicide and Self-harm in First Nations Communities
* Crisis Support - Talk to Someone - 24-hours/day 7-days/week:
Lifeline - Crisis Support and Suicide Prevention: 13 11 14 https://www.lifeline.org.au/Get-Help/
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/
Beyond Blue - Talk it through with us: 1300 22 4636 http://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/get-immediate-support
WGAR News postings on Indymedia Australia: https://indymedia.org.au/newswire
WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News - Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
- Media Statement
University News, University of Western Australia: Calls for greater action to prevent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide
[featuring Prof Pat Dudgeon, Prof Tom Calma, Adele Cox - a Bunuba Gija woman from the Kimberley & Gerry Georgatos]
http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201509037936/research/calls-greater-action-pr...
3 Sep 15: "A leading researcher in the field of Indigenous Mental Health at The University of Western Australia has used the approach of World Suicide Prevention Day to call for united action to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide rates, which remain among the highest in the world.
Professor Pat Dudgeon, who with University of Canberra Chancellor Professor Tom Calma heads up the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP) based at UWA, said suicide rates among the group are double that of non-Indigenous people, accounting for one in 19 deaths.
"This is a national crisis and strong and immediate action is needed, such as a national inquiry," Professor Dudgeon said.
"However, an inquiry or royal commission should not pause or delay initiatives that are already in place, or are about to be put in place."
Professor Calma said that by the mid-1980s, 99 Aboriginal deaths in custody prompted a Royal Commission and that the current Indigenous suicides should prompt similar attention.
"While some attention is being paid by governments, more needs to be done to address the determinants that contribute to the psychological stressors that afflict Indigenous society," he said. ... "
World Suicide Prevention Day http://wspd.org.au/ is on Thursday 10 September. It is also RUOK? Day in Australia.
- News Analysis
Cowra Community News: Indigenous suicide needs action now - academic
[featuring Prof Tom Calma]
http://www.cowracommunitynews.com/viewnews.php?newsid=10091&id=16
"IT’S not us, it’s you. That’s the message from indigenous service providers to the federal Government, says University of Canberra Chancellor and Indigenous leader Tom Calma. As joint head of the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP), Professor Calma is urging the government to develop a multi-party platform to end decades of limited progress for indigenous affairs, particularly around high suicide rates. Professor Calma says the government has been treading water on indigenous affairs, and that grassroots organisations "getting steam up" and seeing results are then "cut off at the knees", Sydney media report. ... "
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: "It is not like me to cry…" - no more lies, our children should not see suicide as the solution
http://thestringer.com.au/it-is-not-like-me-to-cry-no-more-lies-our-chil...
30 Aug 15: " ... If you are an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in this nation and aged 15 to 35 years, one in three deaths in this age group will be registered as a suicide. It is this age group’s leading cause of death. This is an abomination, moral and otherwise, an obvious indictment of our governments. This tragic statistic should galvanise the nation – our governments – into comprehensive responses. Suicide is a humanitarian crisis among Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples however ever so little is being done by one government after another. In many ways our governments are making it worse, ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a suicide prevention researcher with various national and other projects, also a community consultant with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP)
- Background
WGAR Background to Suicide and Self-harm in First Nations Communities
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-to-suicide-and-self-...
(last updated: 18 August 2015)
- Crisis Support - Talk to Someone - 24-hours/day 7-days/week:
Emergency:
For immediate assistance when life may be in danger
Call 000
https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/emergency
Lifeline's 24/7 hotline
13 11 14
Crisis Support and Suicide Prevention services
https://www.lifeline.org.au/Get-Help/
Suicide Call Back Service
1300 659 467
Twenty-four hours a day seven days a week
The Suicide Call Back Service provides free nationwide professional telephone and online counselling for anyone affected by suicide.
https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/
Beyond Blue
1300 22 4636
Depression. Anxiety.
Talk it through with us, day or night
http://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/get-immediate-support
Useful national contact numbers - Suicide Prevention Crisis Contacts
http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Suicide_Pr...
Mens Line
1300 78 99 78
MensLine Australia is a professional telephone and online support and information service for Australian men
http://www.mensline.org.au/
Kids Help Line
1800 55 1800
aged 5 - 25 yrs
http://www.kidshelp.com.au/
- - -
WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
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'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on:
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