Our lost youth: Nikea Dixon calls for change after Orange boy Kristian Dixon died by suicide

Kristian Dixon was just 17 years old when he died by suicide.

A year 10 student at Canobolas Rural Technology High School, Kristian's body was found in a park not far away from his Glenroi home in November of 2021.

"He was a bit of a character," Kristian's cousin, Nikea Dixon said.

"He would always take the school equipment and write his name or his symbol on everything. So everywhere you went, there was always his name tag written everywhere."

Just three months prior to his death, another family member living in Dubbo had also taken their own life. Both were Aboriginal and both were just 17 years old.

"It's pretty raw in our family still," Ms Dixon said.

"There are still a lot of family members grieving over what has been happening. It would be good to try and change that cycle."

While Ms Dixon knows that the family member's death hit Kristian hard, she does not believe it was the only contributing factor in his death.

"It wasn't something that nobody saw coming," she said.

"Hearing stories afterwards, he mentioned to a lot of kids that he felt like harming himself and people would just say 'nah, nah, there's nothing wrong with ya'.

"I don't think anyone took him seriously that he was going to do something. He did say he was going to harm himself to a few people, but nobody took that onboard."

Kristian's death wouldn't be the last time that Ms Dixon watched a family member try to take their own life.

They managed to save the person's life on that occasion, but Ms Dixon worries about what feels like a rise in cases.

"It seems to be happening more regularly these last few years. It's a hard topic for some people to cope with, but it's happening too much," she said.

Education is something Ms Dixon believes heavily in and it is something that she believes is needed to prevent the loss of more lives in the future.

"I know sometimes we go down the line of algebra and that kind of thing that's being taught in the classroom, but let's do some basic living skills and life skills," she said.

"Let's get to education on suicide prevention and domestic violence and everything like that so that we can help these young children and our future generation, to grow up.

Ms Dixon said that places like Lifeline provided support to her daughter, who was witness to the suicide attempt in February.

"It is about that education on who to go to when they are needing that support," Ms Dixon said.

"Lifeline jumped straight onto it and saw (my daughter) and had a chat and continually checked in with her. That way she could open up to someone that wasn't always me.

"I don't know how we move forward from this so that it doesn't happen to someone else, but we do need to change something."

As far Ms Dixon is aware, Kristian didn't actively seek out help from health services in the months leading up to his death. Easier access and a higher visibility of these types of services is a change she would also like to see.

"I know with a couple of other suicides that have happened within the Indigenous community, where they've gone to the health services and haven't got that support," she said.

"It's really hard. Families are calling out for help and not getting it and you've got kids calling out for help from other children and not even going to their parents."

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, suicide accounted for 5.5 per cent of all deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples while the comparable proportion for non-Indigenous Australians was 1.9 per cent.

Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.