Murrumbidgee Regional High School: Two suicides but ‘too few wellbeing staff’

Two student suicides in a year at a regional high school have rocked its community yet a former psychologist says the school remains chronically short-staffed in the area of student wellbeing.

Two student suicides in a year at one regional high school have rocked the Griffith community.

Yet a former psychologist at Murrumbidgee Regional High School said the school remains chronically short-staffed in the area of student wellbeing.

The school lost one current and another former Year 12 student to suicide in 2021, according to Griffith psychologist Lachlan Forster, who said neither student had necessarily made contact with the counselling service.

“In both those cases, I don’t think that neither of them had necessarily made direct contact with the school counselling service, which because it’s obviously a voluntary service,” Mr Forster, 32, said.

“But I think just in the instance like that alone shows that the area itself is having a lot of mental health concerns.”

Psychologist Lachlan Forster Murray and State MP and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers member Helen Dalton. Picture: Andrew McLean

Mr Forster last year moved from Sydney to the state’s southwest to work between the high school and Griffith East Public School.

Principals and staff at both schools soon petitioned the Department of Education to ­increase his pay and improve his conditions, however Mr Forster claims the department refused to pay him in line with his skills and experience.

He has since taken another psychologist role in Griffith.

Mr Forster blasted bureaucrats “sitting in Parramatta” for failing to do enough to attract psychologists to the regions.

Mr Forster said Murrumbidgee Regional High School is “probably four to five team members down” when it comes to student welfare.

A NSW Department of Education spokeswoman said the school has a full-time counsellor, while Griffith East Public School currently has a school counsellor at the school one day a week.

Murray MP and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party members Helen Dalton said the state government is “refusing to really recognise that there is a mental health crisis in the bush”.

“We need to have a dedicated mental health unit at the new Griffith Base Hospital, and they’re refusing to do that,” she said.

“We also need to offer a higher rate of pay to psychiatrists or psychologists to work in rural schools and give them the same conditions and job security as school counsellors employed by the Department of Education.

“We need two counsellors in every high school and that was promised by (former premier) Gladys Berejiklian in 2019 just before the election.”

The NSW Department of Education said $290 million had gone to student mental health since 2015 to support students’ wellbeing and mental health support and resources for students at NSW public schools.

“We have over 2000 specialist staff providing wellbeing support to schools, including school counsellors, school psychologists, student support officers, behaviour specialists and Wellbeing Nurses.

“Additional wellbeing resources for all secondary schools is provided through funding for 350 student support officers so that every high school in NSW will have both full-time psychology support and a full-time student support officer.”

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Originally published as Murrumbidgee Regional High School: Two suicides but ‘too few wellbeing staff’