"Suicide in Kalgoorlie"

Last week my cousin took his own life in Kalgoorlie after suffering for years with depression while working on the Mine in Kalgoorlie.  

He first went to Kalgoorlie 14 years ago to work in the Mines. Over the course of the 14 years that my cousin stayed in Kalgoorlie, he admitted himself into Kalgoorlie Hospital multiple times for help only to be turned away.

My cousin admitted himself on 2 occasions to Kalgoorlie Hospital for feelings of suicide. He was asked on both occasions if he had a suicide plan and if he knew how he wanted to kill himself. When he explained he didn’t have a plan, but he didn’t want to live anymore, the doctor at the time told him to get more sleep, gave him some sleeping pills and said they couldn’t help him further.

If this is not a lack of patient care from Kalgoorlie Hospital, I don’t know what is. I believe it’s impossible that someone admits themselves into a hospital for wanting to commit suicide and they are told to go home and get more sleep.

There was also no follow up from the hospital with my cousin to see how his circumstances were.

He was made to work in conditions that no one should have to work in, especially someone who suffered from depression. 12-14 hours of darkness, 50 degree temperatures and in my opinion, treated horribly by co-workers and his bosses.  

No health assessment was conducted to establish if he was mentally fit to work in the Mines. No health assessment was offered during the years of him working in the mines.  

How can you, the government allow people to be employed by Mining companies, to work ongoing in Mines without any mental health assessment? Without any mental health support? How can you have Mining towns not equipped to help people, workers with mental illness, depression and suicidal?  

I want the Work Health and Safety (WHS) policies reviewed for Mines, not just in Kalgoorlie but all over Australia. We are supposde to be a country who looks after our people, our workers and yet there is no proper established WHS policy for miners, no mental health support, yet everyone knows the increase in suicide rates on mines and everyone talks about it in the papers, but no one does anything but talk! 

I believe there should be a restriction on how many years someone is allowed to work on a Mine without a mental health assessment. All hospitals should be educated and equipped to help workers with mental health issues. It should be compulsory for workers to attend on-going mental health assessments.  

Despite the parliamentary inquiry, the state's FIFO (fly-in fly-out) community claimed in March that conditions have actually worsened for the state's workers.  

The father of a FIFO worker who took his own life five years ago, told PerthNow - hardly anything has changed. If anything, it's worse, he said.  

I don’t want just an email reply from you to say sorry about what happened to my cousin, I want something done. Everyone goes on TV speaking about transport improvements, natural disasters, rivalries in parliament.... no one focuses on mining and mental health issues, the increase in suicide rates on mines. No one does anything.  

Please. You can’t put a price on helping someone, saving someone’s life. These young men leave behind families and friends who will forever suffer from their loss. This is a huge problem that I am begging you to help with.  

How can Australia be ranked in the top 40 countries with the highest suicide rates, when we are supposed to be one of the best countries in the world to live in?  

Please don’t disregard this. Please do something.