Tara Murray
A Victorian coroner has found there needs to be more cultural support for vulnerable south Asian women in Whittlesea following a rise in suicides.
Last year, the Coroners Court set up an investigation into the spike in deaths by suicides in 2018 among south Asian women living in Whittlesea.
In the findings released earlier this month, Coroner Audrey Jamieson acknowledged there was an increase in suicides among south Asian women in Whittlesea during 2018, compared with one similar death between 2009-2015.
Ms Jamieson looked at the deaths of four women after concerns were raised by Mill Park Sergeant Damien Lehmann about the number of suicides in the region. Whittlesea Community Legal Service’s Chris Howse instigated the proceedings.
A number of submission were made to the inquest, raising concerns that women from south Asian countries living in Australia could be affected by several stressors including family violence, extreme financial control and social isolation.
Dowry demands, language and cultural barriers in understanding women’s rights and accessing services, concerns regarding immigration status, and the stigma of divorce in south Asian cultures, were among the other issues raised in the submissions.
Ms Jamieson’s recommendations included a review of support services for the health and wellbeing of south Asian women in Whittlesea, including engaging with service providers and other stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve access to, and engagement with, such services.
She also recommended that Victoria Police allocate family violence investigation units to investigate suspected intentional deaths of women in Whittlesea from multicultural communities where prior family violence or social isolation may be contributing factors.
While family violence was not a factor in all of the deaths investigated, it is seen as a broader public health and safety issue for south Asian women in Australia.
The Crossroads to Community Wellbeing Project Working Group set up by Whittlesea council, Whittlesea Community Connections, Victoria Police, the Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network, Berry Street and Dr Manjula O’Connor is hoping to meet to with the Department of Health and Human Services in light of the coroner’s findings.
Whittlesea council panel of administrators chair Lydia Wilson said the findings were heartbreaking.
“On behalf of the City of Whittlesea, I would like to firstly express my condolences to the families who have been devastated by the deaths of the four women investigated in this report,” Ms Wilson said.
“We will continue to work very hard with local community health organisations, family violence services, Victoria Police and legal services to support vulnerable women living in our community.”
Ms Wilson said the working group needed more funding for culturally specific, community-led programs and services to address the issues raised in the report.
The council is also calling on the state government to fund an Orange Door Access Point in Whittlesea to support people experiencing family violence.
