School captain Monique Tait-Owens launches student mental health council

A Year 12 student rocked by the suicide of her friend and swimming teammate Claudia Neale has declared war on the conspiracy of silence around mental health.

For years Monique Tait-Owens kept a picture on the wall of her relay team after they won the 2014 NSW school swimming carnival.

One of those girls was Claudia Neale, a bubbly swim champion who she admired from a distance and always calmed her nerves during their chats at the edge of the pool.

While Ms Tait-Owens battled depression during Year 8, she never thought her academically and athletically gifted teammate would soon be in a much darker place.

So, when Claudia suicided in August last year following a 12-month battle with mental illness, Ms Tait-Owens revealed “it absolutely broke me”.

“I just couldn’t understand why that would happen to Claudia and not me,” the 17-year-old captain of Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School said.

“We both loved swimming and came from very tight families. It was a pivotal moment where it made me decide that things must change.”

Monique Tait-Owens.

Claudia Neale, who died by suicide August 1, 2020.

Claudia’s death was one of a cluster of nine north shore students who killed themselves in 2020.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell responded to The Sunday Telegraph’s Can We Talk campaign by making mental health training mandatory for all NSW school teachers.

It has also sparked calls for an increase in the number of counsellors in schools to one for every 500 students, an initiative Ms Tait-Owens, mental health experts, the NSW Teachers Federation and others support.

On March 29 she will launch Bridging The Gap — Nepean Valley and Lower Mountains.

It will comprise a team of student captains and vice-captains from the area who will form a student council.

“The council will create awareness within our community of the youth mental health pandemic and the consequences of not bringing about change,” she said.

“It will also be a way for leaders both state and federal to better understand the challenges students face when seeking the services that are currently on offer.”

Monique Tait-Owens (right) with suicide victim Claudia Neale, who died August 2020, and Olivia (second from left).

The student council proposal includes a provision for the LIVINWell Schools program to be rolled out at schools in the area.

The mental health organisation will attend the March 29 launch at Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School.

Ms Tait-Owens said alongside Claudia’s death, her own year-long battle with depression has inspired her to campaign for change.

“I remember the days where I would experience absolute highs and then days where there was absolutely no motivation at all — dark days,” she said.

“My attendance at school wasn’t great at all. I lost the drive to go to swim training after school and I loved my sport.

“Swimming was something that I fell out of love with and did eventually give up that year.”

At the end of Year 9 it was no longer necessary for the Blaxland girl to see her psychiatrist, after what was a tumultuous year.

“I did actually lose lifelong friendship groups and it required a lot of financial support from my family and appropriate research to obtain the required help,” she said.

“It did take months for me to start having consecutive good days.

“And it wasn’t something where you could just snap back to the person you were before you left off.”

Monique Tait-Owens (left) with suicide victim Claudia Neale.

In 2019 there were 25 incidents of self-harm, suicidal intentions or attempted suicide on school grounds in the Penrith, Hawkesbury, Mt Druitt and Eastern Creek areas of Sydney, according to the NSW Department of Education.

The department provides schools the Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) program — a universal, evidence-based mental health and suicide prevention program for young people aged 14-16 years, delivered by departmental accredited instructors.

Since 2017, YAM has been delivered to over 16,000 Year 9 and 10 students in more than 90 high schools across NSW.

Ms Tait-Owens said while students communicated about mental health online via memes and social media posts, the issue was not really discussed at school.

Monique Tate-Owens wants an increase in the number of counsellors in NSW schools. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Claudia Neale’s mother Fiona said it is crucial that students are given a voice.

“By having that conversation among themselves it creates a much safer environment for people to come forward and disclose if they are having troubles,” she said.

Orygen executive director and psychiatrist Professor Pat McGorry said:

“The idea of connecting senior students in the area is a good one.

“It’s a peer navigation model where students have a range of senior students who they can talk to about a problem and then they can be connected with others who can help,” the former Australian of the year said.

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Originally published as School captain Monique Tait-Owens launches student mental health council