Cardinal George Pell was sentenced to six years behind bars, following the sentence, abuse survivors and Pell supporters reacted to the verdict.

The city of Ballarat, west of Melbourne, has affordable housing, great schools and transport links and plenty of jobs.

But for the past few years it’s been grappling with a heartbreaking reality: Its residents are far more likely to die from suicide than inhabitants of any other region in Victoria.

“The national average for deaths by suicide is 11.6 per 100,000 people, per year, but in Ballarat, it’s much higher than that (16.7 per 100,000 people, per year),” said Senior Constable Des Hudson, chairman of the Ballarat and District Suicide Prevention Network.

Only three other regions in Australia have a higher suicide rate (Hobart, Cairns and Mackay).

So why are Ballarat residents at such high risk of self-harm? Hudson points to “a whole range of factors” but for many other residents, the reason is clear: Clergy sex abuse.

For decades, Ballarat was a hunting ground for paedophile priests who were so active in the area it has been labelled the “epicentre” of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

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The recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse found that up to 14 priests in Ballarat had sexually abused children, with at least 130 claims and substantiated complaints since 1980.

This abuse has been the cause of more than 50 suicides over the years, survivor groups claim, and goes a long way towards explaining Ballarat’s high suicide rates.

“Sexual abuse of children leaves permanent psychological damage,” clergy sexual abuse survivor Andrew Collins told Ballarat’s The Courier newspaper. “Having it done by a man of god then being threatened with eternal damnation destroys the child, and even as an adult they will never be normal.

“Victims are 10 times more likely to suicide and — if they survive long enough — will die on average 10 years earlier than their peers.”

Kristy Steenhuis, a Ballarat resident who lost her husband Matt to suicide in November 2005, developed the Prevention of Suicide Network in 2011 after finding a lack of services to support her family after her husband’s death.

The network has brought her into contact with many local residents who are mourning the loss of a loved one to suicide and she says many of them report the same factor as a cause of their suffering.

“It has lots to do with the sexual abuse of children by the clergy,” she said. “It has really impacted local residents.”

Kristy has also identified a high correlation between men who work or worked in a trade and an increase in the likelihood of them taking their own life.

“Why do you think there were so many men going into a trade back then? It was their way to get out of going to school, to escape their abuse,” she said.

Sadly, Kristy says the “manly” nature of trades made the men’s suffering worse.

“It’s an industry where men don’t talk to each other, where there is an idea that they need to be ‘real men’ and they don’t talk about feelings,” she said.

“The amount of men I have seen locally that have worked in the trade industry and taken their own life is astonishing.”

To help the victims of clergy sex abuse in Ballarat there has been a call to create a local Healing Centre or a specific Men’s Health Centre (which Ballarat does not currently have) for the victims and the victim’s families who continue to suffer. There has yet to be any confirmation that this will go ahead.

Ballarat Mayor Samantha McIntosh has stated she supports the idea and labelled it “imperative” in order to move forward.

Lachlan Dodds, a Ballarat urologist, said: “The ripple effect of people who have been abused through the Catholic Church crisis has contributed significantly (to the men’s health issues in Ballarat) … If ever (the Catholic Church) wanted to make a meaningful statement about men’s health in Ballarat then this is their opportunity.”

The good news is that Ballarat is actively working on the issue of suicide through the actions of local activists like Kristy who have led the development of support networks, have pushed for the issue to be a focus for local, state and federal governments and who tirelessly volunteer their time to work within the community to generate awareness for suicide and to destigmatise it.

One such initiative occurring in Ballarat is the Suicide Prevention Network, which has chosen Ballarat as a trial site.

“It looks to pull even more resources together that look to give us a better understanding (into the issue). It will look at statistics and data and how to access treatment and services. (There is a definite) desire to get better at this,” Senior Constable Hudson said.

— If you are experiencing mental health issues or suicidal feelings contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or BeyondBlue 1300 224 636. If it is an emergency please call triple-0.

— Shona Hendley is a freelance writer from Victoria. Continue the conversation @shonamarion