A Case Study on Suicide in Australia: Vulnerable Groups and Prevention

This case study examines the critical issue of suicide in Australia, highlighting its prevalence, particularly among young Australians and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The assignment analyzes the rising suicide rates, identifies vulnerable populations, and explores associated risk factors, including developmental changes, mental health disorders, substance abuse, racial discrimination, and unemployment. It reviews government initiatives, such as the National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy, while acknowledging the challenges in evaluating the effectiveness of these programs. The case study concludes with a discussion of the need for improved strategies and the ongoing efforts of organizations like Life in Mind Australia and Orygen to address this pressing public health concern.

Running head: SUICIDE CASE STUDY IN AUSTRALIA
Suicide Case Study in Australia
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The case of suicide is one of the major problems for Australian Government to tackle
in recent times and it is reported that with advancement of time the rate of suicide is
enhancing. Regarding the tackling of this problem in the country, it can be stated that the
government literally fails to manage this issue in a proper manner in spite of forming and
implementing suicide prevention policies in the country (Soole, Kõlves, and De Leo 2014). In
this regard, the report of The Gurdian can be referred. The findings of this report stated that
the rate of suicide may enhance by 40 per cent in the upcoming decade and this report stated
that by the end of 2030 Australia may face 1300 more suicidal deaths if the condition is not
treated properly. In the year of 2006, the rate of suicide in Australia was almost 10.2 per
100,000 people and after that the condition has become worse time to time instead of
improvement. In the year of 2017, the rate of suicide in the country was almost 12.5 in
100,000 that are approximately 3128 people had committed suicide in that year (Taylor
2019). As per this report, if better a strategy is not taken immediately, then the rate of suicide
will reach to 14.8 per 100,000 per population and the approximated number will be 4430
deaths in country. On the current scenario, it can be stated that if this scenario continues, then
the rate of suicide will be 12.7 per 100,000 per population and along with this it should be
mentioned that if a better intervention or strategy is taken then the condition can be managed
and thereby the rate of suicide will almost 10.4 per 100,000 populations (Taylor 2019).
In this essay, the issue of suicide among the Australians is discussed and along with
this the population mostly affected by this issue is also identified. In the later part of the
essay, the initiatives taken to reduce the burden of this problem are discussed in a brief
manner.

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Identification of the Vulnerable Population
From the data of the Australian Government it can be stated that the issue of suicide is
one of the major causes of deaths among the young Australians. Although there is a decrease
in the rate of suicide in the country still it is associated with the deaths of a huge numbers of
young adults under the age group of 15-44 years and it is the leading cause of deaths under
this age group. In the year of 2018 almost 458 young adults under the age group of 25 years
or less had committed suicide and among them 347 were males and 111 were females. From
the data of the government, it can be reported among the young adults committed suicides a
huge number of people belong to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community
(Robinson et al. 2016). The suicide rate for this specific community people under the age
group of 15-24 years is almost 40.5 people per 100,000 and is almost 3 times greater than that
of the suicide rate of the non-indigenous people of Australia. In this particular age group, the
suicide rate of male is greater than that of the rate of the females. In this context, it is
mentioned that the age-standardized rate of suicide among the males under the specified age
group is almost 20.2 per 100,000 people and in case of the female population this rate is
almost 6.4 per 100,000 in 2018. As per the data of The National Centre of Excellence in
Youth Mental Health, it is stated that the rate of suicide among the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander children and young people under the age group of 5-17 years are higher by five
times than that of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people under the same age
group (ABS, 2016). From this report it can be stated that the among the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander male is almost 43.4 per 100,000 population under the age group of 15-
19 years and in case of the 20-14 year age group the suicide rate was almost 74.7 per cent. In
case of the non- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the suicide rate was almost 18.7
per 100,000 under the age group of 15-19 age groups and in case of the age group 20-24 year
the suicide rate was almost 21.8 per cent (Robinson et al. 2016). While discussing about the

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rate of suicide among the females, it can be stated that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander female had the suicide rate was almost 9.9 per 100,000 people under the age group
of 15-19 year and in case of 20-24 year the suicide rate of almost 19.2 per 100,000 people.
On the contrary the non-Indigenous people the suicide rate was 3.2 and 4.0 per 100,000
people among the 15-19 years and 20-24 year respectively (Robinson et al. 2016).
Apart from the age, gender and ethnicity of the people, it is reported that there are a
few risk factors that can contribute to the overall burden of the condition as well. In this
context the issue of remoteness and poor mental health condition can be mentioned
(Chalmers et al. 2014). From the report of the Australian Government, it can be stated that
the issue of remoteness among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people restrict them
to access all the facilities such as education, health care services. The report suggested that
due to the remoteness the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students under the age group
15-24 years fail to meet the National standards and the rate of having highest level of
education among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are very less than the non-
indigenous people under the same age group (McGorry et al. 2014).
Description of Planning Initiatives
In terms of individual risk factors for this specific age group that is under the age
group of 15-24 years, it can be stated that there are a few specific factors that are associated
with the suicidal behaviours of this specific age group people in Australia.
As a part of this, the first factor is the developmental change that is associated with
the adolescence period of the young adults. In this time period, structural changes in the
brain occurs and as a consequences of this the adolescent age group people may face issues
regarding impaired decision making, lack of problem solving skills, emotional disturbances
and all of these factors promote the suicidal thoughts among the youths. Moreover, as per the

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study of McGorry et al. (2014), it is reported that youth period is very susceptible for the
onset of mental health disorder and approximately 1 out of 4 youths under the age group of
15-25 years are suffering from the mental health problems and it is a major risk factor for
suicide.
Another factor that is associated with the risks of suicidal behaviours among the
youths is the drug and alcohol abuse. As per the report of Australian Government (2018), it is
reported that the overuse of drug and alcohol is associated with the three leading cause of
deaths among the youths and one of them is suicide. As per this, report, it is stated that there
is a serious and positive correlation in between the suicidal behaviours of the youths and their
drug and alcohol consumption practices.
The social behaviour or practices is another risk factor for the suicide among the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In this regard, it can be stated that the a huge
number of people face racial comments in their life time and as a result they have 2.32 times
higher risks of committing suicide than that of the non-Indigenous people in the
country(Robinson et al. 2016). It is reported that that almost 32 per cent of the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people have reported about the racial comments from the society.
Therefore, it can be stated that the issue of racial discrimination among the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander is a serious associative factor for committing suicide among the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths (Robinson et al. 2016).
Another crucial factor associated with the issue of suicide is unemployment and in
this context it can be stated that due to the unemployment the people may face distress and
this may lead to issue of suicide among the youths of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. According to the report of the Australian Government (2018), it is reported
that a major risk factor for committing suicide is the exposure to trauma and it is identified

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that the due to the direct and secondary trauma exposure the youths face high suicide rate.
Moreover, it is stated that due to these exposure to trauma the cases of anxiety, depression
and suicidal behaviours are also enhancing among the youths of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people in recent years.
Review of Initiatives
For the last 20 years, the Government of Australia forms various suicide prevention
policies for reducing the cases of suicide in the country. In this context, it can be stated that a
National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy was introduced by the government and after that
the government launched various policies such as National Suicide Prevention Strategy
(NSPS), The National Children’s Commissioner Report on Suicide and Self-harm among
Children and Young People (2014) for reducing the suicide rates among the youth population
(Robinson et al. 2016). As from the above discussion it is reported that the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people are more vulnerable to commit suicide hence, it is very
important to design prevention strategy for them. In this context, National Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Suicide Prevention Strategy (2013) is launched by the government and this
particular suicide prevention program has six action areas. Among those areas, building
community strengths and promotion of using services and supports are very important for
preventing suicide cases among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths (Australian
Government 2013). As a part of these policies, the government offers a few services to the
youths. For example, TeleWeb services, Mobile Apps, web-based information and digital
self-help services, social media campaigns are launched by the government in order to
provide support to the youths. In this regard, it can be stated that as a part of these services,
various behavioural therapies (CBT), online suicide prevention plans are delivered to the
youths (Robinson et al. 2016).

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While evaluating the various suicide prevention programs in Australia, it can be stated
that it is very difficult to evaluate these prevention strategies. Therefore, it can be stated that
the proposed suicide prevention strategies may get be successful partially in terms of reduced
levels of distress, anxiety suicidal ideation and depression, still the overall scenario for these
suicide prevention plans are not at all satisfactory. From the overall data of the suicide rate in
Australia it can be stated that in spite of all these strategies, the rate of suicide across the
population has not reduced and surprisingly the rate is enhanced at an exponential rate over
the years (Robinson et al. 2016). In spite of this above disastrous scenario regarding the
suicide prevention among the Indigenous people, there are a few organizations that are
working towards reducing the suicide among the youths in the country. In this context, the
name of the organizations such as Life Mind Australia and Orygen can be mentioned (Orygen
2020; Life in Mind 2020).
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that the issue of suicide among the youth population of the
country is a primary risk factor for the society and government. From the above discussion it
can be stated that the among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the rate of
suicide is much greater than that of the non- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Moreover, the male youths under the age group of 15-24 years are more vulnerable to commit
the suicide. The issue of remoteness can be mentioned and from the report of the Australian
Government, it can be stated that the issue of remoteness among the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people restrict them to access all the facilities such as education, health care
services. The developmental changes that is associated with the adolescence period of the
young adults. Drug and alcohol abuse and social bullying by racial comments from the
people are also associated with the causative factors for suicide. For addressing this, the
government has taken various initiatives such as National Aboriginal and Torres Strait

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Suicide Prevention Strategy (2013). However, almost all the programs have failed to reduce
the rate of suicide among the youths.

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References
ABS 2016. 3303.0 -Causes of Death, Australia, 2015. ABS. Retrieved from-
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3303.0 [Accessed on- 30 March 2020]
Australian Government, 2013. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide
Prevention Strategy. Australian Government. Retrieved from-
https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/1CE7187EC4965005CA2580
2800127B49/$File/Indigenous%20Strategy.pdf [Accessed on- 30 March 2020]
Australian Government, 2018. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescent and youth
health and wellbeing :2018. Australian Government. Retrieved from-
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Chalmers, K.J., Bond, K.S., Jorm, A.F., Kelly, C.M., Kitchener, B.A. and Williams-Tchen,
A.J., 2014. Providing culturally appropriate mental health first aid to an Aboriginal or Torres
Strait Islander adolescent: development of expert consensus guidelines. International journal
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Life in Mind, 2020. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Life in Mind.
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strait-islander-communities [Accessed on- 30 March 2020]
McGorry, P.D., Goldstone, S.D., Parker, A.G., Rickwood, D.J. and Hickie, I.B., 2014.
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Orygen, 2020. About Us. Orygen. Retrieved from- https://www.orygen.org.au/About/About-
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Robinson, J., Bailey, E., Browne, V., Cox, G. and Hooper, C., 2016. Raising the bar for youth
suicide prevention. Melbourne: Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental
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Soole, R., Kõlves, K. and De Leo, D., 2014. Suicides in aboriginal and Torres Strait islander
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public health, 38(6), pp.574-578.
Taylor, J., 2019. Australia's suicide rate to rise 40% if emerging risks such as debt not
tackled. The Guardian. Retrieved from-
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if-emerging-risks-such-as-debt-not-tackled [Accessed on- 30 March 2020]

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