Aboriginal youth suicide rates in rural Australia continue to soar as four young people take their own lives in two days Soaring rates of Aboriginal youth suicide described as a humanitarian crisis Four Qld Aboriginals aged 15- 23 took their own lives within two days last week 2019 death toll among indigenous Australians stands at 31 after spate of deaths Researcher says suicide rates among young Aboriginal females is on the riseBy Kylie Stevens For Daily Mail Australia Published: 05:35 GMT, 18 March 2019 | Updated: 05:38 GMT, 18 March 2019 Viewcomments A leading suicide prevention researcher has described the soaring rates of Aboriginal youth suicide as a humanitarian crisis. The 2019 suicide toll among indigenous Australians now stands at 31 after four Queensland Aboriginals aged 15- 23 took their own lives within two days last week. A 15-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman took their own lives in Townsville in north Queensland last week. The tragedies occurred with a day of two young men, 19 and 20 dying in separate incidents in Mount Isa in the state's north-west, The Australian reported. The soaring rates of Aboriginal youth suicide described as a humanitarian crisis (stock image) Five committed suicide in just nine days earlier this year, which began with a 15-year-old in Queensland followed by girls aged 12, 14, 15 and 12 in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia. A third of the 2019 death toll were children, including two 12 year-olds, while almost half were female, according to Gerry Georgatos, who heads the federal government's indigenous critical response team. Around 165 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders took their own own lives in 2017, according to official figures. Five young Indigenous girls took their own lives across Australia in January (pictured Rochelle Pryor, from Perth, took her own life after a cry for help on social media) The rates of Aboriginal young females taking their own lives is on the rise, according to suicide prevention researcher Gerry Georgatos (pictured) While the 2018 figures are yet to be released, Mr Georgatos believes last year's death toll was at least 180, including around 50 under the age of 18. 'The suicide crisis for First Nations peoples remains an uninterrupted three-decade-long tragedy and it is a humanitarian crisis, with more children and females lost than ever before,' he told The Australian. He added that poverty was a common factor among those who took committed suicide. Indigenous children, aged between five and 17, die from suicide at five times the rate of non-indigenous children, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics. Figures show one in four people who took their own life before turning 18 were Aboriginal. Four Queensland Aboriginals aged 15- 23 took their own lives within two days last week, including two young men in Mount Isa (pictured) Despite 125 of the 165 deaths in 2017 being male, Mr Georgatos said the rates of Aboriginal females taking their own lives was on the rise, particularly in regional and remote Australia. 'Almost a half of suicides are now female, whereas historically the proportion was around nine to one, male to female, although that had increased in the past years or so to about a quarter being women or girls,' he said. Curtin University senior indigenous research fellow Hannah McGlade said the links between child sex abuse and indigenous youth suicide need to be addressed. Dr McGlade also called on governments to address gender-based violence against indigenous women and girls. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility