Cumberland Council pleads for more suicide prevention services for youth

A young woman whose sister took her own life has delivered a heartbreaking plea for more funding to boost suicide prevention services, including in her hard-hit western Sydney community.

On Friday May 13, Jessica Searle was at her Greystanes home with her mum when police issued chilling news about her younger sister, Samantha Gisborne-Colman.

She had died by suicide at Wentworthville train station. She was just 25.

The mother of one had suffered depression and anxiety but failed to get adequate help and was told by a junior psychologist she was too inexperienced to assist her when she sought a psychiatric evaluation for medication adjustment.

Mrs Searle, who also lost her father and primary school friend to suicide, now wants to boost resources and put an end to delays that could be the difference “between life and death”.

“These barriers caused by a lack of collaborative funding and resources were detrimental to my sister and our family,’’ she said.

At a Cumberland Council meeting this week, Mrs Searle, a mum of four boys aged between two and nine, advocated for local, state and federal funding for the mental health crisis.

“It is undeniable that suicide in youth is increasing and these needless deaths could be prevented by timely access to mental health care and support services,’’ she said.

She has supported the motion raised by her aunt, councillor Diane Colman, and fellow Labor councillor Mohamad Hussein, for the federal government to establish a Headspace mental health youth service in the Cumberland area.

Other proposals called on the state government to urgently increase youth-specific mental health services and work with the council to deliver programs.

Citing a Commonwealth Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, Cr Colman said 39 per cent of deaths for Australians aged 18 to 24 in Australia in 2021 were because of suicide.

“It’s clear that there is a crisis in youth mental health in Australia, a crisis of youth mental health in Cumberland,’’ she said.

“Local government areas in western Sydney account for some of the highest numbers of years of lives lost among young people in NSW.

Sisters Samantha Gisborne-Colman and Jessica Searle. Samantha took her own life in May.

Jessica Searle wants more services to help people at risk of suicide.

“Of the 10 LGAs across NSW with the highest number of years lost, six LGAs were located in western Sydney.’’

Cumberland was ranked seventh in NSW.

She said the pandemic had also worsened the suicide crisis. The council unanimously supported the motion and agreed to consult its youth committee about the plans.

“Over 75 per cent of mental health problems occur before the age of 25,’’ she said.

Cr Colman criticised councillor Paul Garrard after he suggested poor parenting led to suicide and that young people should “listen to their parents more, go to bed early, make their beds before they go to school or work and … I’d suggest (they) polish their school shoes”.

“Otherwise they become victims, or make themselves victims,’’ he said.

“And I don’t believe there’s enough being done in some areas in the area of parenting to ensure that young people don’t suffer these issues.’’

Cr Colman said: “Why anyone would seek to trivialise such an important matter is beyond my comprehension. Trivialising it as bad parenting is not very helpful. There’s obviously a great deal more to it than that.’’

She said Cumberland should follow other councils such as Blacktown, which rolled out state government-funded programs including The Youth Suicide Crisis and Aftercare service, managed by New Horizons, to support youths in crisis.

“We need them here, we need them now,’’ she said.

Lifeline: 13 11 14.

MORE NEWS

Wentworthville fire station to get $6 million upgrade

Neighbourhood shops: Hibiscus St, Greystanes