{"id":839898,"date":"2026-08-02T13:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839898\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:47:20","slug":"60-minutes-students-suicide-exposes-gaps-in-mental-health-resources-at-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839898\/","title":{"rendered":"60 Minutes: Student\u2019s suicide exposes gaps in mental health resources at schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Losing her 12-year-old daughter is painful enough for Rachelle Owen. What makes it even worse is knowing someone could have helped but did nothing.<\/p>\n

Five years ago – on Mother\u2019s Day, 2021 – Lauren died by suicide, after repeated bullying and difficulties at school.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lauren Rafferty died by suicide five years ago after repeated bullying.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

For her grief-stricken mother, Rachelle, something just didn\u2019t add up. <\/p>\n

And when she took the New South Wales Department of Education to court, she discovered a damning insight into how her child was let down in a way that should have never happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI \u2026 got snippets of the police report that had these school psychologist notes, and I was like: \u2018hang on, this isn\u2019t right. I didn\u2019t know about this. What\u2019s going on?\u2019, Rachelle says.<\/p>\n

Rachelle knew her daughter was struggling, but it turns out the 12-year-old revealed some even darker troubles to her school counsellor: that, alarmingly, Lauren was hearing voices.<\/p>\n

But, unbelievably, the school didn\u2019t tell her mother. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until after Lauren died that Rachelle found out the truth.<\/p>\n

She has one word for it: betrayal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rachelle Owen does not understand why she was not told about her daughter\u2019s mental health problems.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you be a psychologist and sit there with a very unwell child and not do anything about it?\u201d Rachelle says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a psychology degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sets off alarm bells for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The way Rachelle sees it, by not being told what Lauren revealed to her counsellor, she was robbed of a chance to save her daughter.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s just as hard for Rachelle to believe, is Lauren also was not referred to further treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were so many different agencies they could have reported to. They did nothing,\u201d Rachelle says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone hearing voices like that needs to go to hospital. They need medication. They need intervention now.\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t I get a phone call?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lauren\u2019s mother Rachelle wants her daughter\u2019s death to help prevent a worsening crisis happening among school children.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

But finding the answers she needed wasn\u2019t enough for Rachelle. <\/p>\n

She knows Lauren\u2019s death is a tragedy being repeated across the country.<\/p>\n

When Rachelle sued – and reached a settlement – with the NSW Department of Education, she also demanded the right to still speak publicly about what she believes failed her daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rachelle was represented by Shine Lawyers. <\/p>\n

Senior Associate, Natalee Davis, says Rachelle \u201cfought valiantly\u201d to speak about \u201cthe lessons she believes must be learned from what happened\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo amount of compensation can ever make up for the loss of a child,\u201d Davis says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Rachelle, an important part of resolving this matter was ensuring she was not prevented from continuing to honour Lauren\u2019s memory, and she continues to do this by speaking out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lauren Rafferty\u2019s mother Rachelle believes her daughter\u2019s death is not an isolated case.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an important driver in our advocacy on Rachelle\u2019s behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis says cases like Lauren\u2019s are complex and sensitive, not just for families, but also school communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope is that Lauren\u2019s story encourages continued conversations about student wellbeing, early intervention and the support children need when they are struggling,\u201d Davis says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny child\u2019s life lost is one too many.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, it\u2019s something Professor Ian Hickie – from the University of Sydney\u2019s Brain and Mind Centre – sees all too often.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s one of Australia\u2019s most respected mental health and suicide experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Professor Ian Hickie says schools are not adequately equipped to deal with complex mental health issues.\u00a060 Minutes<\/p>\n

As more school-aged children suffer from mental health issues, he believes schools are often the first to recognise troubled students. <\/p>\n

But the danger, he says, is they\u2019re simply not equipped to deal with complex mental health problems.\u201cIt\u2019s a failure to take that information and act on it,\u201d <\/p>\n

Hickie says.\u201cIn my previous role as a National Mental Health Commissioner, most complaints were from parents and families and they were mainly about the failure to share critical information in relation to danger and risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hickie points out school counsellors often find themselves in a difficult position: caught between respecting the confidentiality of the child, and the need to get them help.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo in many of the cases that are looked into constantly by coroners or by other people, you\u2019ll find these failures of communication,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOften because people have tried to take an action or they didn\u2019t believe that the healthcare system was there to help. So they\u2019ve tried to cope with the problem themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachelle Owen couldn\u2019t agree more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI insisted that I\u2019m allowed to talk about my experience,\u201d Rachelle says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not okay. And I\u2019m still here, and I\u2019m not done yet. Not done talking yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd every time I see another child let down by a system that should have protected them, it just hits home with me again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there\u2019s too many.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know need help or support, contact Lifeline on 12 11 14 or via lifeline.org.au<\/p>\n

Watch the full episode of 60 Minutes on 9Now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Losing her 12-year-old daughter is painful enough for Rachelle Owen. What makes it even worse is knowing someone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-839898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}