Former senior official says police and health staff should have helped Canberra woman before her suicide

A former senior health official has admitted that staff should have heeded the pleas for help from the family of a young Canberra woman before her suicide.

The award came on the last day of a coronary inquest into the death of 23-year-old Brontë Haskins.

Ms Haskins died in hospital in February 2020, several days after she attempted suicide.

The ACT Coroner is considering whether responses from police and mental health workers were appropriateand how the system could be improved.

Ms Haskins’ mother, Janine, told the Coroner’s Court that she was haunted by her final conversation with her daughter, when they argued over the phone.

She said she had been desperately trying to help her daughter.

the inquiry told how Mrs. Haskins had recently been in jail but he was on bail in the care of his mother.

However, the apartment below her parents’ house was not the haven the family hoped it would be.

As Ms. Haskins’ mental health worsened, she became delusional and believed the flat to be a gas chamber.

Janine Haskins called the police and health services for help but said her concerns for her daughter were dismissed.

The mental health worker who took her call told the inquest that the delusions could have had many causes.

He stood by his actions and said he could not have taken further action without speaking to Brontë Haskins.

The court heard that the case was assigned a low priority and there was no follow-up.

However, near the end of the hearing, former senior mental health worker Bruno Aloisi admitted that not prioritizing the case was a missed opportunity.

He said the call for help should have been followed up.

Ms Haskins had suffered from substance abuse and mental illness, something her mother said authorities did not take seriously enough.

“In simple terms, the services contracted to help Brontë totally and utterly failed her. Our family is upset, to say the least.” Mrs. Haskins said.

“The ACT community should address the needs of substance users, [mental health] consumers and, in particular, people who suffer from comorbidity problems, without judgment or stigmatization”.

Mrs. Haskins has asked for changes that she thinks might have helped her daughter.

“Decriminalization of illicit substances … harm minimization for substance users should be supported,” he said.

“Drug dealers are the criminals, spreading despair for their selfish and greedy profit.

“We insist that strong recommendations be made to improve the services that failed our beautiful Brontë.”

Brontë Haskins’ parents hugged each other and cried as the investigation came to an end.

Coroner James Stewart acknowledged the toll the woman’s death had taken on her friends and family.

The investigation is unlikely to deliver its findings until the middle of the year.