The Crossroads to Community Wellbeing Working Group (Crossroads) was established in late 2018 in response to what appeared to be an increase in suicides of South Asian women living in the City of Whittlesea.
In order to establish if the women were of South Asian background and to better understand what had been occurring in the lives of the women in the lead up to their deaths, a request for investigation was made to the Coroners Court of Victoria. This investigation looked into four of the deaths and confirmed that this was a cluster of suicides of women of South Asian background and that some of the women had experienced family violence, social isolation and unmet mental health needs.
Crossroads engaged with local community leaders to develop a comprehensive and culturally appropriate response which led to the development of an Action Plan. The Action Plan included detailed information about the work of Crossroads, the Coroners recommendations, existing programs and services, and identified gaps that provided opportunity for the development of further coordinated support for South Asian women in the City of Whittlesea.
Other supporting documents:
Membership
Crossroads includes representation from:
- Brotherhood of St Laurence
- City of Whittlesea
- DPV Health
- Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (formerly the Department of Health and Human Services)
- Eastern Melbourne PHN
- IndianCare Inc.
- Neami National
- Dr Manjula O’Connor
- Orange Door
- Victoria Police
- Whittlesea Community Legal Centre
Stakeholders and organisations that have provided advice and information:
- AustralAsian Centre for Human Rights and Health
- Berry St
- inTouch
- Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health
- Northern Community Legal Centre
- Victorian Multicultural Commission
- Victorian Department of Health
- Whittlesea Community Connections
If this information has caused you distress help is available 24/7
Lifeline 13 11 14
1800RESPECT 1800 737 732
Harman Foundation multicultural crisis hotline 1800 116 675
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