SA only state without a suicide register … but its on its way
South Australia is the only state without a suicide register to monitor trends and develop targeted services and preventions.
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South Australia is the only state without a suicide register – a key part of a recently launched national Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring Project aimed at gathering more timely data to inform policy.
From this month, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia will all have suspected suicide registers in place.
The suicide registers provide real-time data to governments, services and communities to better respond to suicide and self-harm instead of relying on official data which has an 18-month time lag.
The Sunday Mail today launched a mental health campaign calling for better monitoring and reporting.
The Australian Medical Association in SA is urging the state government to set one up as soon as possible in light of the pandemic’s anticipated mental health impacts.
AMA SA vice-president Dr Michelle Atchison said a suicide register gives timely data to inform health and policy decisions.
“Data informs decisions, and good data means good decisions,” she said.
Last month Australia’s first public website monitoring the numbers of death by suicide through these registers and incidents of self-harm was launched by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the National Mental Health Commission.
The AIHW says it’s working with SA, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory to help establish registers as quickly as possible.
The Chief Psychiatrist’s Office in SA has received suspected suicide data from the coroner during COVID-19 as a temporary arrangement while a register is developed.
SA chief psychiatrist Dr John Brayley said the SA register’s start date was dependant on a new database including a notification and reporting system.
Dr Brayley said the numbers of suspected deaths by suicide in SA have fluctuated since lockdown in March and are being closely analysed amid concerns of increased crisis phone calls and ED presentations.
He said it was anticipated SA would mimic interstate trends, where data from states with registers is showing there is no evidence the virus has increased the rate of deaths by suicide
“It is an important aid in suicide prevention to have that real time information,” Dr Brayley said. “In the interim, we are closely watching suicide information that we do have access to.”
Health Minister Stephen Wade said the state government wanted to build its capacity to identify and respond to trends, with the goal of preventing suicides.
SA’s most recent suicide figures reveal 212 South Australians died from suicide in 2018 and that the suicide rate had dropped from the previous four years.
The 2019 suicide and intentional self harm data is due to be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics later this month.