Aboriginal Health Council of WA chief executive Darryl Kickett said the Great Southern town had dealt with a spate of recent suicides, with four people killing themselves in the past three months and six in the past six months.

There had also been three suicide attempts in the past three weeks in the small town, which has an indigenous population of about 300.

Four of the suicides were of young Aboriginal men and two were non-Aboriginals who socialised with local indigenous people, Mr Kickett said.

Families of the six dead Aboriginal men will call for a public inquest into the circumstances of suicides, plus another two in 1999 and 2004, today.

"What is causing these problems and what access do they have to mental health care services?" Mr Kickett said.

Aborigines were not using local mental health services run by the State Government but had used services provided by the South-West Aboriginal Medical Service when they temporarily set up in the town for two weeks, Mr Kickett said.

"They need to maybe have a look at whether an Aboriginal controlled mental health service is set up," he said.

"We need to do something urgently."

Mr Kickett said there seemed to be a copycat mentality in the town and the suicides were having a severe impact on local Aboriginal families.

"There's been three attempts over the last three weeks as well," he said.

"The impact on the family, it's just a ripple effect.

"So you've got parents totally stressed out who are presenting at their local hospital because they can't cope for periods of time, because they can't cope with trying to stop their children from dying or can't cope with their grief.

"There's a copycat syndrome happening down there that needs an urgent response."

Alcohol and cannabis use could be likely contributors to the suicides but Mr Kickett said child abuse could also be a catalyst for the suicides.

"What they are dealing with is very high grief, that grief isn't being addressed and it's turning into suicides or attempted suicides," he said.

A psychologist had said child abuse could be the root cause of the suicide problem, according to Mr Kickett.

"Whether there is grief or whether there is something else that created this overwhelming grief that they can't deal with, that's what we need to find out," he said.

State Coroner Alastair Hope has investigated the links between Aboriginal suicides and the use of cannabis and alcohol in two inquests in the past 12 months.

The first was into 22 suicides across the Kimberley region and last week he released his findings into five deaths in the remote Kimberley community of Oombulgurri, prompting the State and Federal Governments to assess liquor bans and voucher systems to stop alcohol abuse.

Lawyer John Hammond, who was also involved in the Kimberley inquests, is meeting with indigenous families in Narrogin today.

He said last week after Mr Hope's Oombulgurri findings that Aboriginal suicides were a State-wide problem.

For suicide help: call Lifeline 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au or call beyondblue 1300 22 4636 or visit www.beyondblue.org.au

Source: watoday