Youth suicide rates in the Northern Territory are far higher than anywhere else in Australia and seem to be getting worse, a hearing has been told.
The territory's Children's Commissioner Howard Bath revealed the worrying trend affecting indigenous youths in particular, at a hearing of the Select Committee on Youth Suicides at parliament house in Darwin.
Dr Bath, who is convenor of the NT Child Deaths Review and Prevention Committee, said the suicide rate in the NT was far higher than elsewhere in Australia and appeared to be getting worse.
Looking at hanging deaths alone, the rate in the Northern Territory was 18 per 100,000 young people, compared to just one per 100,000 young people in NSW, he said on Monday.
Among young indigenous people in the NT, the rate was 30 per 100,000, a staggering amount, Dr Bath said.
In the 1980s there was no such discrepancy between indigenous and non-indigenous people in the NT, and the youth suicide rate in the NT was about the same as in the rest of Australia, Dr Bath said.
Dr Bath said stories, accusations and re-interpretations would circulate for years in the wake of suicides in some communities.
"These stories may involve bullying, for instance, or allegations of bullying, inter-clan conflicts, sometimes accusations of black magic being involved, sometimes complex totemic interpretations," Dr Bath said.
Feuds and payback attempts could arise in these circumstances particularly in remote areas, which may not occur elsewhere in Australia.
Childhood exposure to violence was also was linked to high suicide rates, he said.
In the Northern Territory, Aboriginal people were hospitalised for assault at twice the rate of Aboriginal people in the rest of Australia, he said.
Aboriginal women were hospitalised for assault at close to 80 times the rate of other women, he said.
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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