Cherbourg suicide crisis: Elders call for help from welfare organisations

‘People trust the system but it’s not getting us anywhere. It’s like they’re waiting for us to die off.’ The indigenous community pleads for help, as leaders question where millions in support funding is going.

The indigenous community of Cherbourg is pleading for help as it battles a devastating suicide crisis alone, with leaders standing up to question where millions of dollars in funding is going.

Over the past year the tight-knit community has lost more than 10 members to suicide, tearing open new wounds as struggling parents, friends and teachers attempt to heal again after each new loss.

Four years ago Lavina and Jeffrey Dynevor received the world-shattering phone call telling them their treasured and outgoing 16-year-old son took his own life.

The grieving mum said her boy - who loved football, rodeo and motorbikes - was incredibly strong but tragically, this also meant no one could see he was suffering until it was too late.

Reflecting on the night he died, Ms Dynevor said her son came by the house and told his father, “Tell mum not to stay up” since he’d be sleeping at someone else’s place tonight.

Mr Dynevor followed him out to the gate, they said ‘I love you’ to each other and he walked away down the street.

That was the last time they saw their teenage son.

The grieving parents said they received immense support from family, the community and even organisations after their son's death, but they said it ended after the funeral, leaving them to cope with the paralysing loss on their own.

“I think once you bury someone, you're forgotten about. There’s no support after we say goodbye,” she said.

“We do need to learn to live with the pain, but there’s not help with that.”

Suicide was the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children between 2015-2019, with one-third of all child death among Indigenous Australians occurring due to suicide.

While the suicide rate for both men and women has increased over time, males account for about 70 per cent of deaths.

Cherbourg elders Lavina Dynevor, Farron Crawford and Frank Malone at Cherbourg State School. Picture: Dominic Elsome

The couple joined the Cherbourg’s Suicide Prevention and Awareness Network group where they now act as first responders for anyone attempting to take their own life, offering help at all hours of the night to ensure no parent has to endure that same grief.

“I lost my son four years ago to suicide, and I still carry that pain. Me and Jeffery, we do what we do, especially for the children, because we don’t want parents to go through what we’re going through. We’re still learning to live without our son.”

At a forum held by Cherbourg Aboriginal Council, Mayor Elvie Sandow called to account 166 organisations reportedly funded an estimated $190 million per annum to provide services for the Cherbourg community, 67 of which are funded in the area of mental health and wellbeing.

Co-ordinator of culture and language at Cherbourg State School, Sylvia Bond, said members of SPAN were curious to know where the funds are going, saying much of the work being done to aid mental health were coming from the council or out of their own pockets.

“It’s gotten to the point where we literally had cry for help from these agencies because, at the moment, we’re all on our own. We love what we do because it helps us healing, but we get burnt out,” she said.

Ms Dynevor said another hurdle was organisations were trying to address issues with suicide, drugs and alcohol without looking at reason behind them, which was much more difficult to pinpoint.

“These problems are a symptom of a much deeper wound,” she said.

“People trust the system but it’s not getting us anywhere. It’s like they’re waiting for us to die off.”

We don’t want people coming in and telling us ‘this is what you need’, we need people coming in and saying ‘how can we help you?’ and ‘how can we support you?’.

“We need that support, but we need it our way.

Ms Dynevor said at this point suicide has suicide has become normalised for Cherbourg’s children and fears that her other son will grow up with the desensitised mindset.

Ms Bond said an area of concern was one-off grants to help find employment, which dictated what would be available rather than developing programs through community consultation.

“They are forcing young people to take jobs – because that’s what you are, a name and number – which they can’t handle. They’re not looking at their disabilities or mental health problems,” she said.

“A lot of them only last in these jobs for a couple of weeks and others fall into depression.”

Consultation between the Cherbourg community and the support organisations was also lacking and amplifying the problem, Ms Bond said.

“Some of the workers in those employment hubs, I don’t think they’re culturally appropriate. They should always have a community member to work with them that know the families,” she said.

“They either don’t come near us, or they want to take over the whole thing. Either way we get a bad deal.”

Until help is at hand, Ms Dynevor said the first step to reducing suicide in the community would come from within.

“I think the community needs to band together. We need to empower our people and get them to pull together in unity and in love, so that the people in the community know that they are loved and that they are seen.”

Do you need help?

Lifeline 13 11 14

headspace 1800 650 890

beyondblue 1300 224 636

Suicide callback service 1300 659 467

Originally published as Cherbourg suicide crisis: Elders call for help from welfare organisations