The 16-year-old girl was found unresponsive at a Elanora Heights home, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, on Sunday.
She was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital, but died on Tuesday.
Police declined to confirm reports detectives were investigating sexual choking as a possible factor in the death.
Inquiries are ongoing and no charges have been laid.
Independent MP Zali Steggall mentioned the reports after a national cabinet meeting on Wednesday affirmed a commitment to ending gender-based violence.
She said agreed measures were weak and pushed for more action, including a respectful relationship education campaign.
“My call for a national education campaign has been underscored by the devastating news today of the death of a 16-year-old Northern Beaches girl,” Steggall said in a statement.
“My thoughts are with her family, friends and community at this incredibly difficult time.”
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said there was no safe way to engage in choking.
“I’m sure I’ve said it to you in the past almost 60 per cent of young people report they’ve experienced choking in a recent sexual encounter,” she told ABC Radio on Thursday morning.
“I can’t say anything, obviously, about this tragic situation in NSW ... but in general terms, figures like that just concern me so deeply.”
“There is no safe way of choking someone. Parents have to use this opportunity to talk to their young people.”
A survey of 4702 Australians between 18 and 35 in 2024 found 57 per cent of respondents had been choked during sex at least once.
One-third of those respondents reported it occurring for the first time between 19 and 21.
The study, by researchers from Melbourne University Law School and The University of Queensland, revealed that more women (61 per cent) than men (43 per cent) reported ever being strangled, with a high proportion of people who identified as trans or gender-diverse (78 per cent) reporting ever being strangled.
People said they found out about sexual strangulation through various sources, most commonly pornography (61 per cent), but also through movies (40 per cent), friends (32 per cent), social media (31 per cent) and discussions with current or potential partners (29 per cent).
“We are concerned that the findings suggest that many young Australians may consent to strangulation during sex without understanding that it could seriously injure them,” study co-author Professor Heather Douglas, of Melbourne University Law School, said in July 2024.
“Choking a person during sex can cause brain injury, even when the person remains conscious. The more often people are strangled, the more likely they are to experience brain injury – including memory loss and difficulties problem-solving – and the worse the brain injury will become.
It doesn’t matter if there are no apparent injuries, or whether the person consented, Douglas said.
“Brain injury can also be incremental – getting a bit worse with each choking - and the person may not know they have suffered a brain injury.
“The effects of repeated strangling are insidious and build over time, like the effects of repeated concussions on footballers.”
Douglas said people cannot always rely on having a “safe word” or “safe gesture” to let their partner know to stop a stranglehold. This is because being choked can prevent a person from indicating that they want it to stop.
“Earlier US research found that many people respond to being strangled by freezing, a common trauma response, leaving them unable to move or speak.
“This means the person being strangled might not be able to use a pre-agreed ‘safe word’ or ‘safe gesture’, even if they want it to stop.”
At the time of the report being published, the researchers recommended improved community education about the physical risks of sexual strangulation and about the importance of fully informed consent.
(with AAP)
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
