ABORIGINAL & INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS: Aboriginal suicide rates 'at crisis point'

SKYROCKETING suicide rates among Aborigines in Western Australia have prompted a call for the closure of some remote indigenous towns. Sixteen Aborigines have committed suicide in the Kimberley since February, along with five Aboriginal men in the town of Narrogin, the Kimberley Aboriginal Legal and Cultural Centre said.

In a final submission to an inquest into five Aboriginal deaths in the town of Oombulgurri, KALACC said suicide rates among young Aborigines had reached a crisis point and the viability of towns must be considered. Of the dead, one 15-year-old boy was found hanging outside a house, and a 15-year-old girl, who was in a relationship with a 22-year-old man, also hanged herself.

Age 4 Jul 2008