Young female Australian Federal Police officer ‘takes her own life’ inside the force’s headquarters – the fourth suicide at work in less than two years
- A female police officer has taken her own life inside the AFP’s headquarters
- She is believed to have been a mother and had worked in the AFP for 15 years
- Her death comes six weeks after another senior officer took their own life
- The AFP is facing a parliamentary inquiry into the high rate of suicide deaths
A female police officer has taken her own life inside the Australian Federal Police’s headquarters, the second to do so in less than two months.
The woman is believed to have served about 15 years within the AFP in various roles before she was found dead in the organisation’s Edmund Barton Building in Canberra on Sunday.
Her passing comes only six weeks after another senior officer took his own life inside the headquarters, which is the fourth suicide in less than two years.
A female officer in the Australian Federal Police has taken her own life (stock image)
A spokesperson for the AFP confirmed that a female officer ‘appears to have taken her own life’, with a report for the Coroner currently being compiled.
She was a mother and an experienced member of the AFP, The Canberra Times reports.
A source from within the AFP told News.com.au she had been seeking professional help but was ‘let down by the organisation’, while another said: ‘It’s happened again.’
Another source told the publication the officer was ‘only young as well’.
Her death comes exactly six weeks after Superintendent Richard Roberts went to work in the Edmund Barton Building and was found dead inside. His death was treated as suicide.
At the time, Commissioner Andrew Colvin sent a nation-wide email and video memo to Supt. Roberts’ colleagues, informing them of his death.
He is expected to have to repeat the process in the next day.
A further two members took their own lives at the Melbourne office in 2017.
The young woman’s death at the AFP’s Canberra headquarters (pictured) marks the second death there in the last six weeks
AFP officer Malcolm Scott (pictured) died at AFP’s Melbourne headquarters last November
Other sources within the AFP said the young woman was involved in the was involved in the organisation’s Safe Place reform – an initiative Commissioner Colvin had been fronting amid speculations of bullying.
A Federal Parliament committee launched an inquiry into the high rate of suicide deaths and mental health conditions of those working in emergency services in March this year.
Its findings are due to be released in early 2019.
Two months later, the AFP released a five-year Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which contained an action plan to address concerns raised by the Australian National Audit Office.
The plan includes making access to support easier and clarity in health frameworks.
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