Suicide prevention

About this topic

Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy for family, friends, kin and communities. Although suicide and intentional self-harm are complex issues, they can be prevented. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare respectfully acknowledges those who have died or have been affected by suicide or intentional self-harm.

Suicide and intentional self-harm behaviours arise from a complex web of personal, social and historical factors (Dudgeon et al. 2017). Experiencing the sorrow and loss of family and community members in short succession can mean being in a constant state of grief and mourning (Silburn et al. 2014).

Suicidal behaviour can appear in clusters—this is a rapid increase in the number of suicides in a few months or years, or within a certain geographical area. Exposure to suicidal behaviour may be a factor contributing to increased suicides.

Historical factors may also contribute to suicide. Suicide among First Nations people is considered a post-colonisation phenomenon that markedly increased in prevalence from the 1960s (Hunter & Milroy 2006; Silburn et al. 2014). Understanding the ongoing effects of colonisation and the importance of culture is important for individual and communal healing (Silburn et al. 2014).

Effective suicide prevention requires a multi-sector approach that includes health, education, employment, welfare agencies, law-enforcement agencies, housing providers and non-government organisations (AIHW 2020). Programs and care can be delivered to:

• a whole community (regardless of their level of suicide risk)
• those at imminent risk of suicide
• those who need follow-up after a suicide attempt (AIHW 2018).

In 2020, all Australian governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations worked in partnership to develop the National Agreement on Closing the Gap- external site opens in new window (the National Agreement), built around 4 Priority Reforms. The National Agreement also identifies 19 targets across 17 socioeconomic outcome areas. One of these targets directly relates to suicide prevention, monitored annually by the Productivity Commission.

Postvention services support people who have been exposed to or bereaved by suicide. These services aim to help reduce distress and the risk of suicide (AHA 2014).

The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP) develops evidence for effective suicide prevention strategies for First Nations people and communities (Dudgeon et al. 2019). The CBPATSISP research shows that effective suicide response is multi-layered. It includes prevention for individuals, tailored responses for high-risk groups, and multi-level suicide prevention activities for individuals, families and communities. These activities include:

• raising community awareness of mental health and suicide
• addressing substance use and employment issues
• promoting healing in families by strengthening social and emotional wellbeing.

Suicide prevention strategies are more likely to succeed if they are co-designed and implemented with First Nations community leadership. Communities understand the lived experience of community members at risk of suicide and are best placed to design suicide responses (Dudgeon et al. 2019).

Key statistics

The following data are from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Data from these jurisdictions were considered to have adequate levels of Indigenous identification in mortality data at the time the data were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Data from 2020, 2021 and 2022 are not final and may be subject to revision.

In 2022, 212 First Nations people died by suicide (an age-standardised rate of 29.9 per 100,000 population). Suicide was the fifth leading cause of death among First Nations people, and the 17th leading cause of death for non-Indigenous Australians (ABS 2023a). It was the leading cause of death for First Nations people aged 15–44 years and third leading cause of death for First Nations people aged 1–14 (ABS 2023a).

In 2022, suicide accounted for 4.6% of all deaths of First Nations people while the comparable proportion for non-Indigenous Australians was 1.6% (AIHW 2023) (Table SP.2).

From 2010 to 2022, the age-standardised rate of suicide among First Nations people fluctuated, from a low of 18.9 per 100,000 population in 2012 to a high of 29.9 per 100,000 population in 2022, based on preliminary data. This was a greater fluctuation compared to rates for non-Indigenous Australians over the same period (AIHW 2023) (Figure 1; Table SP.2).

Data from 2018–2022 show that the suicide rate was highest among First Nations people aged 35–44 (52.3 per 100,000 population), 25–34 (48.4 per 100,000) and 15–24 (41.0 per 100,000) (ABS 2023a) (Figure 2; Table SP.3).

In the period 2018–2022, the age-standardised rate for First Nations males was 41.5 per 100,000 and 14.1 per 100,000 for First Nations females (ABS 2023a) (Figure 3; Table SP.3).

Data from 2018–2022 by state or territory show the annual age-standardised suicide rate was highest in Western Australia (38.1 per 100,000) and lowest in New South Wales (22.8 per 100,000). For non-Indigenous Australians, suicide rates were lower than for First Nations people in all 5 states and territories (ABS 2023a) (Figure 4; Table SP.1).

The following data refer to the annual crude suicide rates among First Nations people, in areas defined as Indigenous Regions (IREG), covering New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Note:

• crude rates are not comparable with age-standardised rates
• certain IREGs in WA, NT and SA have been combined to avoid suppressing data.

Data from 2011–2020 combined show that the rate of suicide among First Nations people varied greatly between IREGs. Kununurra in Western Australia had the highest rate of suicide, with 71.3 per 100,000 persons. The lowest suicide rate was recorded in Torres Strait, with 6.8 per 100,000 (Figure 5; Table SP.5).

The rate of suicide among First Nations males was higher than the rate among First Nations females in all IREGs covered here. The IREG with the highest suicide rate among First Nations males was Mount Isa (90.2 per 100,000), and the IREG with the lowest reportable suicide rate among First Nations males was Sydney - Wollongong (17.5 per 100,000 males) (Figure 5; Table SP.5).

Among First Nations females, Kununurra was the IREG with the highest rate of suicide (62.8 per 100,000), and New South Wales Central and North Coast was the IREG with the lowest rate (5.3 per 100,000 females) (Figure 5; Table SP.5).

The male and female rates are not shown for the Torres Strait IREG, which had the lowest First Nations suicide rate for all persons, because of confidentiality concerns related to the small numbers of recorded suicides (Figure 5; Table SP.5).

Data tables

Download data

Related publications