Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and Leaders have sent out Messages of Hope - and shared their own insights and personal stories - to support at-risk Indigenous youth before of World Suicide Prevention Day this Sunday 10 September.
In Australia the average rate of suicide among Indigenous people is twice as high as that recorded for other Australians. For youth aged 15 to 24, it is 3.5 times higher.
The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP) has released a short video series to allow community leaders to speak directly to struggling young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
The videos feature Elders, Ballardong Wilman woman Aunty Elizabeth Hayden and Menang and Goreng woman Aunty Mia Tjalaminu, and veteran advocate, Menang woman Megan Krakouer, sharing their knowledge on a range of subjects and advice on reconnecting with culture, Country, and family.
Megan Krakouer, who is Project Director of the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project, said that understanding the trauma older generations had survived was essential to helping at-risk youth today.
“We need to centre around the lived experience so they can tell us what their challenges were, what was the circumstance, because if we don’t understand the circumstances there is no way we can put in workable strategies,” she said.
Sharing her own experience as a child of the Stolen Generation, Aunty Mia Tjalaminu urged young people to reach out to Elders for guidance.
Mia was 10 years old when she and her six brothers and sisters were taken from their parents and family and placed in Sister Kate’s Children’s Home in 1962.
She said it wasn’t until 16 years later that reconnecting with her culture and heritage gave her a way forward in her life.
“The reason why I’m actually sharing this with you is that that whole sense of hopelessness that you might feel, there is a way forward but it’s about walking back towards yourself,” she said.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel.”
World Suicide Prevention Day, this Sunday September 10, seeks to raise awareness of the global public health issue to prevent and reduce the estimated 700,000 suicides per year worldwide.
You can view the Messages of Hope here.