Suicide rate four times higher in Northern Territory

Young people in the Northern Territory have been taking their own lives at almost four times the national rate, according to figures released by the National Coronial Information Service.

Young people in the Northern Territory have been taking their own lives at almost four times the national rate, according to figures released by the National Coronial Information Service.

The data, spanning 2001 to 2017, shows that on average one person aged 15–24 suicided on each day in Australia since about the turn of the century. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were overrepresented among the 5961 deaths, being 12.9 per cent of that total but just 4.7 per cent of the population in 2016.

Just more than a quarter of the deaths occurred in Queensland, about a quarter in NSW, and about 20 per cent in Victoria. But in population terms, the Territory rate — at 19.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2017 — was sky-high compared with the national figure­ of 5.3 per 100,000.

While the national figure for 2017 was up from 4.1 deaths per 100,000 population in 2009, the Territory figure almost doubled from 11.3 per 100,000 in 2009.

The NCIS compiles data from all state and territory coroners. It releases occasional summaries on particular issues, such as the two-page fact sheet titled Intentional self-harm deaths of young persons in Australia posted online­ on Wednesday. It found while intentional self-harm was only the 14th most significant cause of death in Australia overall, it was the leading cause of death among young people.

Males accounted for three-quarters of the deaths. The greatest number of deaths were of people aged 22–24, followed by those aged 9–21 years and 16–18. The fewest deaths were among those younger than 16.

People who died young from self-harm were nearly four times more likely to be Indigenous than those aged 25 or older. The Indigenous youth victims were more commonly unemployed and female than their non-Indigen­ous counterparts.

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