Suicide

Data table

Note

*includes 'Very remote'. Deaths were classified using ICD-10. Rates were age-adjusted using the Australian population as at 30 June 2001. Numbers for 2006 include an estimate of the small numbers of deaths that were registered in 2007, data for which were unavailable at the time of production. Statistical Local Areas grouped according to Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) remoteness categories on the basis of Accessibility/Remoteness Index for Australia (ARIA+ version) score. LL/UL 95%CI = lower and upper limits of the 95% confidence interval for the point estimate.

Source

Accessibility/Remoteness Index for Australia (ARIA+ version, GISCA), ABS mortality data and population estimates (HOIST). Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health.

Commentary

Suicide affects people across a wide range of age groups, and is largely avoidable. It is sometimes associated with mental illness, such as depression, but there are also other reasons why people may decide to take their own lives. It is likely that death from suicide is under-reported, because it is sometimes difficult to know whether a death from injury was intentional or accidental (AIHW, 2006).

In Australia during 2003, the death rate from suicide was 10.2 per 100,000 population (standardised to the OECD standard population). Australia ranked in the middle of 30 OECD countries in terms of its death rate from suicide (OECD, 2008).

In general, death rates from suicide are 3 to 4 times greater for men than for women. This difference is thought to be due mostly to males using more lethal methods than females, as there is less difference in suicide attempts between sexes (OECD, 2005). In Australia in 2005 suicide was the 10th leading cause of death for males but did not rank in the top 20 causes of death for females (AIHW 2008).

The rate of suicide can fluctuate considerably from year to year, especially in small populations.

Over the 5-year period 2002 to 2006 combined, the suicide age-adjusted rate in NSW was 8.7 per 100,000 population. Over that period, people living in Local Government Areas (LGAs) classified as outer regional and remote had the highest rate of suicide (10.0 per 100,000 population) due to a high rate for males (16.3 per 100,000). There was no difference in the rates of suicides for females between those living in major cities, inner regional or outer regional and remote areas.

The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health was established in Orange in 2001. The Centre aims to provide education and training programmes, undertake research and evaluate innovative service delivery models in mental health throughout rural and remote NSW.

[back to top]

For more information

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia's health 2008. Cat. no. AUS 99. Canberra: AIHW, 2008. Available at: www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10585

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Rural, regional and remote health: mortality trends 1992-2003. AIHW Cat. No. PHE 71. Canberra: AIHW, 2006. Available at www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10276.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Health at a glance. OECD indicators 2005. Paris: OECD, 2005.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD health data 2008. Paris: OECD, 2008.

Print version with data

Although this page can be printed directly from your Web browser, a higher quality version of this entire page (graph, table and text) is available as an Acrobat PDF file which can be printed or viewed on screen using free software.

Downloadable files

The data contained in the table on this page are available for download as a CSV file which can be imported into many software packages. The graph is available for download as an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file and as an EMF (Enhanced Metafile Format) file. Files in these formats can be imported into most word processing, presentation and graphics software packages.

Copyright notice

This work is copyright NSW Department of Health, 2006. It may be reproduced in whole or in part, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source. Commercial usage or sale is prohibited.

Suggested citation

Population Health Division. The health of the people of New South Wales - Report of the Chief Health Officer. Sydney: NSW Department of Health. Available at: www.health.nsw.gov.au/publichealth/chorep/. Accessed (insert date of access).

Produced by

Centre for Epidemiology and Research, Population Health Division, NSW Department of Health.

Last updated on 15 December 2008