Page 1467 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
A joint submission to the Senate inquiry from Lifeline Australia, Suicide Prevention Australia, the Inspire Foundation, OzHelp Foundation, Salvation Army, Mental Health Council of Australia, and Brain and Mind Research Institute of the University of Sydney entitled “Suicide is preventable” discusses the issue of underreporting. The submission argues that the first requirement for effective suicide prevention action is a sound baseline for measuring overall progress and the effectiveness of preventative measures. It notes that studies put the number of suicides in Australia for 2007 at around 2,500, which is around 30 to 40 per cent above ABS data figures, and that the real number of suicides in the country may be approaching 3,000 deaths per annum, or over eight deaths every day.
The submission states that the reasons for the significant underreporting of suicide are complex, but include stigma, religious beliefs and practices, the burden of proof for coroners, a lack of expert investigations and different reporting protocols across states and territories. A recent factor appears to be a decline in the coronial reporting of deaths by suicide over the past decade. Family and relatives also often fear that reporting a death as suicide will jeopardise life insurance or other forms of financial compensation.
The submission notes that the underreporting of suicides presents two major problems for policymakers. First, it means we have no way of monitoring with any confidence that policy and program initiatives are having the intended effect. Second, it is highly unlikely that underreporting is really an issue across all population subgroups. This means we may be directing the already meagre resources for suicide prevention away from high risk groups in the community.
In response to the Senate committee report, I understand the commonwealth has undertaken to improve recording and data collection and will pursue the matter with state and territory attorneys-general. I hope the ACT Attorney-General might be able to advise what the ACT government is doing to assist in meeting the objectives at some time.
Paragraph 1(c) of my motion asks the Assembly to note that suicide is a mostly preventable cause of death. The issue of being able to openly discuss suicide provides an environment where people feel they are able to come forward and ask for help. In many cases people are able to receive the right help early on and be assisted in their recovery.
I have already referred to the joint submission to the Senate inquiry from Lifeline Australia, Suicide Prevention Australia, Inspire Foundation, OzHelp Foundation, Salvation Army, Mental Health Council of Australia, and the Brain and Mind Institute entitled “Suicide is preventable”. The parties to this submission hold a strong belief that suicide is preventable. It states that this is supported by a strong evidence base that access to crisis support, intervention and education through social marketing and direct programs contribute significantly to preventing suicide. This research demonstrates that one-quarter of the population are poorly informed and that there is room for improvement with the use of community-wide education around suicide, and suicide awareness campaigns.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video