The right of self-determination of all people is a fundamental principle in international law, yet within the prevention of suicide for Indigenous Australians, that has been obstructed. Until now.
Recently it was announced that Black Rainbow will become the first peak Indigenous LGBTI body. You want to know why this is important? Let me tell you.
5.2% of Indigenous Australian lives are lost to suicide but as yet, there is no Indigenous organisation driving policy to combat this devastating problem. I estimate that there are between 10,000 to 15,000 same sex attracted Indigenous Australians. Same sex attracted people in Australia are up to 14 times more likely to die by suicide. So as Indigenous same sex attracted Australians, we rank at the highest of the highs in terms of suicide rates.
Related: Indigenous suicide rates in Kimberley seven times higher than other Australians
Our indigeniety is not the cause of these suicides. From my lived and from my professional experience, I can tell you the drivers of suicide for Indigenous people are many, and they are multi-factorial, multi-faceted and multi-layered. Therefore, our suicides cannot be viewed or treated just within the scope of a pathogenic paradigm, or in other words, we cannot medicalise the suicide and thus the person too. As this approach continues, and if we let it continue, Indigenous people will continue to be seen as the bearer of the problem and not the holder of the solution. We need to be more about franchise than empowerment – or at very least invest in both.
As an Indigenous Australian gay male I know that when it comes to the suicide of gender and sexuality diverse people (LGBQTI), our solutions are not pathologised. Efforts instead are made to combat what we call the drivers of suicide ideation and elevated risk of psychological distress. These drivers are bigotry and hatred. It is not our diverse genders and sexualities that cause us distress – it’s the homophobia, transphobia and the social exclusion.
The same goes for us, as Indigenous Australians. It is not our indigeniety that causes us distress. It is the drivers of racism, whiteness and social exclusion. Over many years, I have witnessed the whiteness in suicide prevention and its imagined white supremacist ideology that excludes Indigenous Australians. This year I experienced heterosexism. Heartbreakingly, this was from within my own mob. Heterosexism works on the assumption all people are straight (heterosexual) – because the majority of people are straight, the needs of us whom are diverse in sexuality and gender can unintentionally be viewed as secondary.
But I want to give you an example of whiteness in this space. Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) and its subsidiary, the National Coalition of Suicide Prevention (NCSP) both proclaim to be national representatives, ie for all Australians. But did you know that there is not one Indigenous Australian as part of the executive or leadership of either of them?
There are 30 organisational members of the NCSP, and not one is an Indigenous peak body or representative. That both SPA and the NCSP are cognisant of this exclusion but have done nothing about it is a classic example of systemic racism.
Recently I was told that “SPA doesn’t have representatives of ‘other’ high risk groups either”. Indigenous Australians are first peoples of this country – we are not we are not an “other”. Conflating our plight against colonialism with the plights of all marginalised/high risk groups cloaks the specific needs of Indigenous people and the humanitarian crisis of Indigenous suicide. As stated earlier, 5.2% of Indigenous Australian lives are lost to suicide. We are not another high risk group. We are the highest risk group in the country; 12th highest in the world.
With our new status, Black Rainbow will be able to provide expert advice at the intersection of racism and homophobia and how they affect our lives. We’ll advocate for a more inclusive suicide prevention space. But most importantly, we will seek out solutions to the high rates of Indigenous suicides, using a method not of pathogenesis. This current pathogenic approach is not doing our mob any favours: hetero, homo or trans.
Black Rainbow will take formation in the coming months and soon we will be inviting peak Indigenous organisations to form our own coalition for the prevention of Indigenous suicide.
Related: Health service calls for royal commission into Indigenous suicide rates
If my years on the frontline preventing suicide and tic-tacking 35,000km plus across the remote north west, have taught me anything, it is that self-determination is an essential factor in the fight against suicide.
I hope that together the peak bodies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health can unify and collaborate to address the core drivers of these suicides. Of course, non-Indigenous peak bodies are more than welcome to join, but their function and role will be as advisory members. We may or may not match the cost of having to join the NCSP, because as Indigenous people we know that capitalism is not the friend of the impoverished.
I am laying down the new rules of engagement in Indigenous suicide prevention and they begin with: “Nevermore, will something proclaim to be for us, without us. That stops today”.
Bring on the Royal Commission into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicides.
Dameyon Bonson is a human rights award winner and founder of Black Rainbow.
Indigenous suicide is a humanitarian crisis. We need a royal commission | Dameyon Bonson
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