Battle against suicide is not a 9-to-5 job, says Wyatt

Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt says a “nine-to-five” mentality is unworkable in the fight against youth suicide.

Minister for Indigenous Health Ken Wyatt. Picture: Kym Smith

Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt has told organisations paid by the federal government to prevent youth suicide that a “nine-to-five” mentality is ­unworkable.

Mr Wyatt told ­organisations such as Headspace and the ­National Indigenous Critical ­Response Service last month that he worried too much government funding was spent on adminis­tration and not enough reached children at risk in regional and ­remote areas.

Mr Wyatt met a small group of government-funded organisations in Perth on January 25 after eight indigenous children took their own lives in the first nine days of January.

The West Australian government is responding to those deaths while also poring over the findings of an inquest into the ­suicides of 13 indigenous children and young people in the far north Kimberley region over a 3½-year period.

Coroner Ros Fogliani’s report itemised failings in child protection and mental health. It also called for a voluntary version of the Coalition’s cashless welfare card and blanket alcohol restrictions across the region.

Mr Wyatt is now working with the McGowan Labor government to work out which suicide prevention programs in WA are effective, and which are not. The minister has appointed nine indigenous youths in remote WA towns as mental health ­ambassadors, and they will be trained to spot a child at risk.

“Aboriginal organisations in the regions are going to have to look at more flexible hours ­because the children who take their own lives don’t tend to do it between nine and five,” Mr Wyatt said.

He has also given BeyondBlue $2.3 million to train teachers in the northern Pilbara and Kimberley regions as part of Be You, a program that shows adults how to spot a child in trouble, when to ­intervene and who to go to.

Premier Mark McGowan said yesterday that “children killing themselves is so horrific it’s almost incomprehensible”.

But he cautioned Mr Wyatt against saying more money should go into on-ground ser­vices, not administration.

“There’s barely a child protection worker I’ve ever met or a community teacher or education assistant who is not committed to helping kids,’’ he said.

“I know they do their best, but we do need to think about what we can do differently.’’