Indiana Sheenan, 15, remembered after suicide as mum calls for mental health support

A southeast Queensland mother, reeling from the suicide death of her primary school daughter, has called for better government funding for mental health care as she endures a “horrendous pain” no parent should ever have to experience.

Indiana Sheenan, 15. Picture – GoFundMe.

A Logan mother has demanded better government funding for mental health care after losing her 15-year-old daughter to suicide, saying it’s a “horrendous pain” no parent should have to experience.

Laura Sheenan, of Marsden, said she never thought she’d find herself raising money for her 15-year-old daughter’s funeral however Indiana Sheenan, known as Indy, died around midnight on Sunday, September 24, at Wellington Point.

Police said her death was still under investigation.

Her mother said Indy was seeing various mental health professionals.

“Indy was accessing help but we didn’t know the depth of it and how bad it was,” Mrs Sheenan said.

“No one could have known.

“We already miss her so much.

“This has got to stop. I don’t want to bury any more children. It’s insane.”

She said there was not enough mental health services to cope with demand from young people struggling with mental health.

“And they’re too expensive and waiting lists are too long … mental health services for a child should be free and immediate. I don’t see how it’s even a question.

“Indy was someone who could access those services and it still didn’t save her … so what hope do other children have if they’re parents can’t afford it or they’re on a waiting list?

“I personally know there are families out there fighting to not have their child be the next Indy … fighting against the monster that is mental illness and they’re getting no help.

“How many of our children have to die before the government fixes the system?”

Queensland Mental Health Commissioner Ivan Frkovic offered his condolences and said serious mental health concerns in young people had risen in recent years.

“No parent should ever have to experience the loss of their child, and I offer my sincere condolences to the parents of this young person for their loss,” he said.

“It’s impossible to comprehend the distress these parents are going through and that of the young person’s friends, school and the broader community.”

Mr Frkovic acknowledged suicide as the leading cause of death among young people in Australia.

“Since the pandemic, we have seen increases in depression, anxiety, eating disorders and distress among young people. This has increased pressure on support services and increased wait times,” he said.

He said government's response to the increasing pressure on services included a dedicated funding stream for mental health through the Mental Health Levy, which he said injected a record $1.645 billion into services over five years under the Better Care Together plan.

He said there was also ongoing work to increase access to affordable services for children and young people by both the state and Commonwealth governments.

“This includes the expansion of Headspace services and new Head to Health Kids services, which provide either bulk-billed or low-cost access under Medicare for children and young people,” Mr Frkovic said.

“While we are increasing clinical services for young people in distress or crisis, we must also do more to intervene early to prevent the mental health and wellbeing of young people from deteriorating.

Indiana Sheenan, 15. Picture – contributed.

“The new Every life suicide prevention plan also focuses on building mental wellbeing and resilience in young people and intervening early before they become distressed or reach the point of crisis.”

He said it also helped parents and carers source information and support for their child.

He said additionally, $106.7 million in funds had been injected into the Student Wellbeing Package over three years to facilitate state school access to wellbeing professionals.

“Suicide is complex and usually the result of multiple factors, whether school pressures, bullying, unemployment, family breakdown or dysfunction, alcohol and drug issues, racism or disadvantage.

“Solutions are equally complex and need to consider the broader context in which distress occurs in young peoples’ lives, and where children and young people seek help.

“Most people who die by suicide don’t have a mental illness, rather they’re going through situational distress or crisis,” Mr Frkovic said.

“We also need supportive and protective communities wrapped around our young people, to identify when they aren’t okay and to check-in on them and offer support.”

A Queensland Health said an additional initiatives included new acute response teams to provide assessment and community follow-up services to children and young people in mental health crisis, including suicidality; dedicated clinical in-reach into all headspace centres to improve access to multidisciplinary treatment and care; and additional clinical staff at existing Assertive Mobile Youth Outreach Service.

“Funding has also been allocated for a preliminary business case to assess options for the establishment of new adolescent (13-17) and young adult (18 – 24 years) beds and adolescent day programs across Queensland.

“We are also partnering with the Commonwealth Government to spend $78.5 million over four years to provide universal access to Aftercare services for people following a suicide attempt or suicidal crisis.”

Through her grief, Mrs Sheenan detailed how difficult her daughter’s death had been on their family.

“We tried our best to get her help,” she said.

“It’s horrendous … to lose a child at all is the worst thing a parent will ever go through, then to lose them like this adds to it.

“I am very numb and have been crying a lot. It’s been a very emotional time.

“The other kids are struggling too,” she said.

“They are all different ages and have different levels of understanding.

“Her friends have been upset but the school has done a great job with handling it all.

“In our (extended) family alone, in the last four years, we’ve lost three teenage girls to suicide and I have two close friends with daughters who also (took their lives) at about 13.

“I think we need to talk about mental health and suicide more as a society.

“It shouldn’t be so taboo. Yes, I agree teenagers and media shouldn’t glamorise suicide but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t not acknowledge it as a whole.”

Mrs Sheenan, who was on a disability pension, said Indy and her large family was living between her place in Logan and their grandmother’s at Wellington Point and Indy attended Wellington Point State Primary School.

To help raise funds for her daughter’s funeral, Mrs Sheenan created a GoFundMe page.

“We’ll never be able to help her pay for her wedding, graduation or formal so I really wanted to do this,” she said.

“I know times are horrible for everyone financially so please don’t feel pressure to give, but even just a dollar or two would help if you possibly could.”

Indiana Sheenan, 15. Picture – contributed.

She said her daughter was intelligent, beautiful and funny.

“And really strong … she’d been through a lot and was struggling with her mental health,” Mrs Sheenan said.

“She was our little hero and a role model to her seven younger siblings.”

Indy volunteered as a (defence force) cadet and enjoyed reading fantasy books in her spare time.

“She was very proud to be a cadet and really enjoyed it,” Mrs Sheenan said.

“For her future she’d said she wanted to go into the army and was also considering a career in forensic science.

“She loved Marvel movies and reading fantasy books. She spent a lot of time with her friends and family.

“Indy enjoyed playing Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto too.”

Following her daughter’s death, Mrs Sheenan said she has felt incredibly loved and supported by her community.

“The community and school are being incredibly kind and the detectives have been amazing,” she said.

“She was just an amazing girl and I can’t believe she did this and that she’s gone.”

Queensland Health was also contacted for comment.

You can donate to help the Sheenan family here.

If this story has raised any issues contact:

Lifeline: 13 1114

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

Kids Helpline for Parents: 1300 30 1300