Tragic toll: Tassie towns hit hard by fatal mental health crisis

A number of major external factors are believed to be behind Tasmania’s growing mental health epidemic. Now, there’s another.

A community approach is key to supporting Tasmanians struggling with mental health issues, says the state’s peak network for suicide prevention.

Natural disasters combined with a lack of mental health services and job opportunities have made rural and regional areas across Australia hot spots for suicide, national experts say.

Analysis of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data from 2015 to 2019 reveals all but one of the 20 deadliest postcodes for suicide are all in rural Queensland, Western Australian, the Northern Territory and Tasmania.

Relationships Australia Tasmania CEO Michael Kelly, who is chair of the Tasmanian Suicide Prevention Community Network, said suicide had a significant and profound impact on the Tasmanian community, in both the country and the city.

Tasmanian communities need to tackle suicide at a local level.

“It’s important that we all work together in order to prevent suicide across the state,” Mr Kelly said.

Mr Kelly said at the heart of the Tasmanian approach was enabling communities to tackle suicide at local level.

This included individuals, workplaces and sporting clubs.

“There are so many people across the state in early intervention, intervention and post intervention,” he said.

Mr Kelly said isolation could contribute to mental health issues for people living in rural areas, so it was important that people reached out to those they may be concerned about.

News Corp Australia this week launches Mental Health 360, bringing together mental health experts and those touched by it first-hand.

Panel experts include former Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry, Sydney University’s Professor Ian Hickie, child psychiatrist Professor Jon Jureidini, Chirs Turton who lost his son Dan to suicide, Kids Helpline CEO Tracy Adams and country music star and Rural Adversity Mental Health Program ambassador Melinda Schneider.

Together with Peter Stefanovic from Sky News and senior journalists Sue Dunlevy, Ben Pike, Natasha Bita and Kathy McCabe, Mental Health 360 dissect what is arguably the biggest issue impacting Australians.

Orygen executive director and 2010 Australian of the Year Professor Pat McGorry said the statistics “are so shocking – it’s like a war zone”.

“There’s more than 15.500 people who have died in that five year period,” the Mental Health 360 panel expert said.

“If the cause of death were something different – like drownings or car accidents – it would be in people‘s faces and on the front page.

“But because of the taboo, and that it is not spoken about freely, it’s muffled conversation, tinged with shame still. Suicide is still a largely hidden death toll.”

If this story has raised any issues for you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.