Indigenous suicide toll in Victoria hits 121 in five years, prompting calls for cultural healing centres

A symbolic arrangement of 121 empty chairs on the steps of Victoria's parliament underscored the Indigenous suicide count for the last five years, all occurring after the March 2021 final report of the royal commission into mental health. The report called for Aboriginal self-determination, social and emotional wellbeing initiatives, and the creation of two cultural healing centres, yet the state government has yet to fund these facilities.

VACCHO chief executive Jill Gallagher criticised the lack of implementation, noting that the government has not acted on many Aboriginal-specific recommendations. Community advocate Nikki Foy, who lost a brother to suicide, stressed the need for culturally appropriate services, citing a $36.2 million four-year cost estimate for the centres. Both mental-health minister Ingrid Stitt and opposition spokesperson Emma Kealy addressed the issue, but neither pledged financing, while the Coalition pledged to dismantle the treaty body Gellung Warl if elected.