Warning: This article contains references by name to people who have died by suicide.

An Indigenous family in Western Australia has urged greater outreach by mental health services in the state after losing two young members to suicide in just seven weeks.

A 16 year-old girl died on 8 April, and her cousin Donald Woods Jr, aged 24, on 28 May. Both lived in Albany, in WA's Great Southern region.

Donald's mother Corina Maxton told National Indigenous Times that young people struggling with mental health issues were less likely to pro-actively contact services, and outreach, checking in with at-risk youth, could make a significant difference.

"The young people know the services are there but they will not access them," she said.

"The services should try to make contact, and a lot more people would access them that way. My son was depressed and I was telling him to see these people, and he would say 'I know I need it mum, I will ring later, I will go down there on payday', it always got put off.

"If they made a call to them or came knocking at the door, that would get the ball rolling and he would have got the help he needed."

Ms Maxton had urged her son to see a GP and explore what options were available to him.

"I kept trying to tell him, go to the doctor, you can get the referrals and point you in the right direction, he would say 'I will mum, later'," she said.

"He had only been out of jail 18 months. When people get released, they get a handful of brochures - but they struggle to integrate back into life.

"Even when they are out, there needs to come someone to come knock on the door, check on them."

Ms Maxton said the family had previously lost another member shortly after they came out of prison.

"It is just coming up on one year since we lost a family member who died... who had been out (of prison) a few months," she said.

"It just seems like if the services touched base, the services would probably be accessed a lot more."

She said her son had been pessimistic about his prospects of finding work.

"I tried to motivate him to find work, but he believed that with his criminal record he would not get employment. There were things he wanted to do, but he found it hard to get motivated.

"The first six months being out he was good, re-connecting with his young sons who are six and seven years old. He did two years in prison, and the first place he went when he was released was Perth to visit his sons.

"He came back (to Albany) because he hadn't lived at home for about eight years. He was getting used to being at home.

"While he was in jail the relationship had ended (with the boys' mother). He was trying to discover himself, trying to work out himself. He had been in a relationship and had kids at a young age, and now he was on his own and trying to figure it all out."

Ms Maxton said that since Donald Jr had served his full two-year sentence, there was no ongoing follow up with the department of Corrective Services to track his rehabilitation.

"There were no check-ups, no follow up (after he got out). He did the full time with no parole, so had no link with Corrective Services at all, no one coming to see how he was coping six months on or 12 months on after being released," she said.

"He had just turned 24. He was happy, loved his kids, he had a lot of family to come and socialise with him at home. He would get out a little bit but he didn't know how to get what was inside him out, how to talk to somebody about it. I tried."

She said Donald Jr had come out of jail with no driver's license, no identification papers and had to rebuild his life almost from scratch.

Speaking about her late niece, Ms Maxton said schools need to be on alert for signs a student is struggling with their health or wellbeing.

"With (my niece), when the absences from school started to appear more, the schools should get mental health to come in. Check on the young ones when they are slipping out of school, because that is when the depression is kicking in," she said.

Megan Krakouer of the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project met with the Woods family this week and offered her support.

"There are services down here for suicide prevention, but no one has been out here to see the family," she told National Indigenous Times.

"Support and outreach is needed. Our people are dying at rates never seen before, there is a mental health crisis in the greater southern region of WA.

"It's not just Albany, Mt Barker, Katanning, we had a young person attempt suicide Monday night, from another family. We had a meeting Tuesday (in Albany) on this issue and 50 families showed up."

Mental Health Commissioner Lindsay Hale told National Indigenous Times the Commission funds the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) and non-government organisations to provide mental health and alcohol and other drug (AOD) services across Western Australia, with services covers prevention, community support and treatment programs.

"The Commission also funds local and regional programs to provide specific support and options for people in the Great Southern region. All services funded by the MHC are required to be culturally secure and offer priority services to Aboriginal people," he said.

The Commissioner noted the Palmerston Association, a not-for-profit alcohol and other drug service provider in the Great Southern, which employs a suicide prevention coordinator; WACHS Great Southern Mental Health Services, a specialist service that provides mental health assessment, treatment and care for consumers in the Great Southern region; and the Southern Aboriginal Corporation, a service providing community-based prevention activities, and emotional and social support for Aboriginal communities.

"About $9.8 million was committed in the recent budget announcement for the continuation of the WA Suicide Prevention Framework 2021-2025. This funding supports the ongoing delivery of essential postvention services, including Children & Young People Responsive Suicide Support (CYPRESS) and the Schools Response Program – a partnership between the Department of Education, Youth Focus Inc, Department of Health, and the Child, Adolescent Mental Health Service.

"An additional commitment of $9.8 million over four years has been made to develop and implement region-specific Aboriginal suicide prevention plans. This program, which is delivered to WA's three school sectors (State public schools; the Association of Independent Schools Western Australia; and the Catholic Education of Western Australia), aims to ensure school-aged youth experiencing mental health issues, demonstrating at-risk behaviour, or experiencing grief from suicide have access to required services and support. This includes activities and outcomes related to the prevention, intervention, and postvention of suicide and self-harm," Mr Hale said.

He said the Commission works in conjunction with the Education Department for the provision and coordination of the Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Training course in schools, for teachers and other professionals, which "aims to increase knowledge and understanding of suicidal behaviour to increase participants' capacity to respond effectively to those in need".

A spokesperson for the Justice Department of WA said the department is working with Non-Government Organisations engaged through service agreements to provide "State-wide culturally competent and gender appropriate rehabilitation and reintegration services to prisoners, according to need".

"Reintegration services are voluntary and primarily focused on planning for re-entry into the community. Reintegration service providers engage with prisoners six months prior to release and provide support up to twelve months post release for adult offenders reintegrating to the community from prison," they said.

The Justice Department spokesperson said reintegration services provided include a range of re-entry and accommodation, parenting and family support services.

"Whilst in custody, the Department provides a number of programs to support prisoners with a comprehensive plan to ensure they are prepared for successful re-entry into the community," they said.

"The Department's Transitional Managers are able to assist Prisoners to obtain copies of their identification documents prior to them being released from Custody.

"When prisoners with major mental illness are released to freedom, responsibility for ongoing treatment and care is transferred to community mental health services... In regional areas, prison mental health staff liaise directly with community mental health services to make referrals and handover relevant documentation."

The WA Education Department's Deputy Director General of Student Achievement, Jim Bell, told National Indigenous Times that schools "have an important role in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people, and work together with parents, families and the wider community to help ensure students attend school and access the learning programs and additional support available".

"As part of the support available for students, all public schools have access to valuable resources and a range of services through the Department. This includes assistance from school psychologists, chaplains and support workers, social and emotional learning programs, and alternative learning arrangements where required, such as the School of Isolated Distance Education and the School of Special Education Need: Medical and Mental Health," he said.

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Mental Health Emergency Response Line (MHERL): 24/7 support for people experiencing a mental health emergency and if required, referral to local mental health services 1300 555 788 (metro) and 1800 552 002 (regional).

In a crisis call 13YARN (13 92 76).

Other services are Lifeline on 13 11 14, or beyondblue on 1300 224 636 for free counselling.

Anyone concerned about their own or another person's alcohol or other drug use can call the Alcohol and Drug Support Line on 9442 5000 or 1800 198 024 (regional).

For confidential, one-on-one assistance from a qualified mental health and alcohol and other drug counsellor between 7.00am and 10.00pm call the Here For You helpline on 1800 437 348.

In a life-threatening emergency call 000 or visit your nearest emergency department.