Child RK inquest: This WA girl was known to child protection at six weeks old. She killed herself at 14

Warning: This story contains graphic content.

The numbers are sobering.

By 14, a young Perth girl had lived in four group homes, had been hospitalised three times over threatening to kill herself and was bounced between 70 care arrangements by the Department of Communities – all before her death by suicide in April 2022.

Now, a coroner’s inquest is examining the circumstances surrounding the teenager’s death in an attempt to identify any missed opportunities that could have potentially saved the young girl’s life.

The coroner’s court was told on Wednesday that the girl, known only as “Child RK”, came to the attention of the department at just six weeks old.

She was the eldest of her four maternal siblings and was subject to “several” child safety interventions before she was taken int