“We are working at a pace to make a real difference but in the end it will come down to governments recognising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide is a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. If you are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged 15 to 35, nearly one in three deaths will be a suicide, We have the capacity to radically reduce the suicide crisis within less than a decade but we need the political will to underwrite this.”

Leading suicide prevention researcher Gerry Georgatos.

Answers that have the potential to halt WA’s Aboriginal “suicide crisis” in less than a decade have already been pinpointed, says leading suicide prevention researcher Gerry Georgatos.

Now, greater commitment and adequate funding were needed to begin the move forward.

But he warned if the current “piecemeal approaches” to suicide prevention were not replaced with the well-researched evidence-based strategies now on offer, then the crisis was likely to “increase and worsen”.