Our governments are not serious about suicide prevention | Neos Kosmos

10.9.17

Our governments are not serious about suicide prevention | Neos Kosmos: We are losing to suicide at least 3,000 Australians each year. More than one quarter of the national suicide toll is comprised of migrants, particularly of relatively newly arrived migrants from language diverse backgrounds. Refugees who have endured immigration detention are at elevated risk to suicide. The suicide rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in 18 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths is a suicide. However because of under-reporting issues and circumstances where there is an inability to gather adequate evidence to satisfy the Coroner of a suicide, I estimate that one in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths is a suicide.
The nation should weep, but more importantly should act, when 80 per cent of suicides of children aged 12 years and less are of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children.
We do not need endless research to identify the elevated risk groups or the ways forward. We know them. We only need to disaggregate. If we do not disaggregate we discriminate, we leave people behind.