Warning: This report discusses suicide extensively. If you or anyone you know is at risk, please speak to someone at 13YARN (13 92 76), Brother to Brother crisis line (1800 435 799), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), or Lifeline 13 11 14.
Three leading Indigenous health organisations have urged federal, state and territory governments to accelerate their investment in community-led suicide prevention initiatives in the face of another increase in suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), and Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia issued the call for action as ABS data for 2024, released Friday, showed suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have increased to 306 - the highest number ever, an 8 per cent increase on 283 suicides in 2023, and the third consecutive year of a rise in Indigenous suicides.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics data found that while the suicide rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women has fallen slightly for men it has risen by a significant margin. Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who die by suicide, four in five are male.
Western Australia and South Australia had the highest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide rates. NSW recorded the greatest increase in suicides of Aboriginal people, with the rate doubling in the past decade.
There were 70 suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children between 2021 and 2024, a quarter of whom were aged 14 or younger. Of all deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, 21 per cent were suicides.
The trend in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicides contrasts with non-Aboriginal Australians, in whom there has been a slight reduction for both males and females.
The further deterioration means suicide will remain among four of a total 17 outcomes under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap that are deemed "worsening, not on track", alongside child development, child removals and incarceration rates.
Indigenous leadership is the key
A growing body of evidence shows suicide prevention programs designed and delivered within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are most effective in promoting social and emotional wellbeing and are essential to reversing the trend, said leaders from the three peak groups who joined together to comment on the tragic escalation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide.
"Communities must be empowered to develop their own suicide prevention solutions that recognise the needs of community members and support their culture and strengths," said Professor Pat Dudgeon, the Director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention.
Community-controlled organisations were well-equipped to respond to the distinct experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, which included intergenerational trauma, grief and loss, and systemic racism, Professor Dudgeon said, while mainstream providers also needed to ensure their services were culturally safe and responsive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients.
"Across more than 30 communities, our Culture Care Connect program is showing what happens when solutions are designed and led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," said NACCHO Executive Director Monica Barolits-McCabe.
"These community-governed initiatives are building networks of care, strengthening wellbeing, and proving that when we invest in community-led models, the outcomes are lasting and far-reaching. The evidence is clear, our communities already hold the knowledge, capability, and leadership to turn the tide on suicide and create pathways to hope and healing."
First Nations leadership still 'absent from national decision-making'
Gayaa Dhuwi CEO Rachel Fishlock said the latest data is "devastating and reflects a system that continues to fail our people because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership remains absent from national decision-making".
"The Productivity Commission Review of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement has confirmed what communities have been saying for decades: that the current system architecture is not fit for purpose," she said.
"To turn this crisis around, governments must work with us to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing as a core pillar of mental health and suicide prevention reform.
"A dedicated Social and Emotional Wellbeing Schedule within the agreement, governed by the SEWB Policy Partnership, is now critical to hard-wire accountability and ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led frameworks like the Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration are implemented and funded in full. Without this structural reform and long-term investment, we will continue to see our people die at the highest rates in the country."
The ABS noted that improved processes to identify people's cultural background may have contributed to the higher number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicides, which may have been under-counted in the past.
24/7 crisis helpline services available to the community include:
13YARN (13 92 76) - a support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Brother to Brother crisis line (1800 435 799)
Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800)
Lifeline - 13 11 14
