Teenager becomes the fifth indigenous youth to kill themselves in just a WEEK – as community leaders say suicide is now 'normal' for Aboriginal children
- Five Aboriginal youths aged 15- 23 have taken their lives in a week
- 2019 death toll among indigenous Australians stands at 32 after spate of deaths
- Advocates fear suicide is now 'normalised behaviour' and a 'humanitarian crisis'
A fifth indigenous teenager has killed himself in the space of a a week, as community leaders fear suicide has become normalised in isolated communities.
The Townsville teen travelled to Brisbane to visit family at the weekend before committing suicide on Sunday.
His death comes on the back of four other indigenous youths aged between 15 and 23 who took their own lives across a two-day period last week.
Indigenous advocate Gracelyn Smallwood told The Australian the tragedy is that 'suicides among our young people have become normalised behaviour'.
The soaring rates of Aboriginal youth suicide described as a humanitarian crisis (stock image)
Ms Smallwood, a nursing and midwifery professor, also said Australia had the highest rates of youth suicide among indigenous populations in the world, and believes the Government isn't doing enough to put an end to it.
The current trends have seen the worst affected areas shift from the Kimberley region in West Australia to north Queensland, where the latest spate of suicides have taken place.
There have been at least 32 Aboriginal suicides in Australia so far this year.
Five young Indigenous girls took their own lives across Australia in January (pictured Rochelle Pryor, from Perth, took her own life after a cry for help on social media)
A 15-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman took their own lives in Townsville last week.
A 19-year-old male and 20-year-old man died in separate incidents in Mount Isa in the state's north-west just a day earlier.
Wollongong University's public health expert, Peter Malouf described the outbreak as a 'potential epidemic', while other researchers say it is a humanitarian crisis.
'Factors that contribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth suicide are complex and multilayered,' he said.
'These include drug and alcohol use, personal relationships, bullying, isolation both cultural and community, trauma and systemic racism.
Four Queensland Aboriginals aged 15- 23 took their own lives within two days last week, including two young men in Mount Isa (pictured)
'There is increasing evidence the internet and social media can influence suicide-related behaviour.
'The growth of social media has presented a new set of challenges for suicide prevention.'
About a third of the current 2019 death toll of indigenous Australian's have been children, including two 12-year-old girls who took their lives earlier this year.
They were among five teenagers aged from 12 to 15 who committed suicide in a nine day period in January.
Indigenous children aged between five and 17 die from suicide at five times the rate of non-indigenous children, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Figures show one in four people who took their own lives before turning 18 were Aboriginal.
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