Where did the idea of a Blank Page Summit on Suicide come from?

The members of Billard Aboriginal Community – the Victor family – suffered the personal tragedies of losing two sons, brothers and uncles of the family – Stephen Jnr and Vincent – to suicide several years ago.

Stevo and Goodie – as they were affectionately known – committed suicide as young men in the Beagle Bay Aboriginal Community in the same room by hanging from the same fan in the same house three years apart.

The boys had their whole lives before them to live to the fullest and enjoy, however they saw death as their only option.

In the coronial proceedings conducted in the Kimberley region in 2007/2008 in relation to the high level of suicide amongst Indigenous people, WA Coroner Alistair Hope reported as follows:

“….. the underlying reasons for the distress and pain experienced by many Aboriginal people in the Kimberley appear manifest and would be obvious to any informed visitor to the region. It is the solutions to the problems which are difficult and complex.”

In the years since the passing of the boys, the Billard Community has focused on developing a strong ‘life base’ for the younger generations particularly centered on education and meaningful work.

Suicide prevention?

In his findings, Coroner Hope recommended that an assessment of resources:

“should include an assessment of the level of skills of local Aboriginal persons with a view to ensuring that as much as possible those persons perform the basic tasks necessary to maintain houses etc to enable the communities to be as self sufficient as possible. Every opportunity to impart life skills and to train local people should be seized.” (page 40)

It is the Victor family’s heartfelt belief that the course of their sons’ lives may have been very different if:

• Stephen and Vincent had been able more readily to undertake targeted training and / or studies (Stephen wanted to be a electrician) geared towards an actual job; and
• the environment around them including the service provider framework had been more equipped to pinpoint the gaps in their motivation and capacity which were unfortunately becoming filled by drugs and alcohol.

In short, there was no clear pathway for these young men which addressed their whole-of-life situation and enabled them to take incremental steps towards strengthening their prospects to build successful lives.

Coroner Alistair Hope’s investigations into suicides in the Kimberley

In 2008, Coroner Hope (pictured above) handed down a 212-page report into the deaths of 22 Kimberley men and women including the death by suicide of an 11 year old boy.

Coroner Hope’s report was not surprising to people who live and/or work in remote communities in the Kimberleys. Many local people have lost loved ones and countrymen to suicide. The failure of families, communities, governments, organisations including Indigenous service providers especially set up to serve the unique needs of local people, to stem the tide of despair resulting in suicide is palpably evident when reading Coroner Hope’s report.

Doubtless there are many Indigenous people in the Kimberley who live happy and rewarding lives. However the stark reality is that there are also many individuals at risk of leading unfulfilled, if not destructive and anti-social lives. They are dependent on governments and service providers every day of the week for their basic needs. The notions of independence, freedom of choice, self-determination and self-care are relatively foreign to them.

This dependent way of life causes an ongoing malaise at a community level which continues to baffle policymakers and exemplify itself chronically in key life indicators comparing Indigenous people with non-Indigenous people: life expectancy (20 years less), school completion and numeracy rates (markedly lower), unemployment rates (significantly higher), imprisonment rates (dramatically higher) and social risks relating to violence against women and neglect and sexual abuse of children (much higher).

Why was it a ‘Blank Page’?

In March 2008 – one month after the findings were handed down by Coroner Hope – the West Australian newspaper published an article -

“The DIA DG Takes the Lead on Coronial Recommendations”

This was a reference to the Director-General (DG) of the Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA).

On 8 April 2008, Stephen Victor Snr wrote to Ms Jackie Tang – Acting Director-General – to ask her for more information concerning the Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA)’s proposed plans.

As of 6 October 2008, Stephen Victor Snr had not received any reply from Ms Tang despite a follow-up reminder to the DIA staff in the Broome office. He was advised that Ms Tang had apparently left her position in the department.

The silence was deafening …

The coronial inquests, the apparent inertia by the WA Government and the lack of response by Ms Tang or someone on her behalf to the personal letters sent by Stephen Victor Snr made the Victor family determined to do what it could to tackle the issue of suicide in the Kimberleys.

The outcome was the Blank Page Summit on Suicide in July 2009.

To symbolise the opportunity for fresh thinking and innovation, Billard Aboriginal Community offered a ‘blank page’ to those who came to the Summit.

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