Suicide in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are disproportionately impacted by suicide. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people have a higher suicide rate than non-Indigenous young people. Researchers examined factors that may increase suicide rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
What’s the issue?
Historical and current experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, including continuing settler colonialism, dispossession, genocide and discrimination, have resulted in harms and adverse outcomes for First Nations people across education, housing, the courts system, life expectancy, mental health and suicide.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are disproportionately impacted by suicide, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people suicide rates being consistently higher that non-Indigenous young people.
Despite this disparity, young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people often do not receive appropriate mental health and suicide prevention support.
There has been little research into the mental health or suicide support received by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander who have died by suicide, or research about the independent contributions of these experiences to suicide rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
What was done?
Researchers used data from the Queensland Suicide Register (QSR) on suicides of young people aged 10–19 years during the period 2001–2018 in Queensland.
The QSR sources data from police reports from the Queensland Police Service; and post-mortem examinations, toxicology reports, and coronial findings from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). The QPS reports, NCIS and the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages supply information on First Nations status. The QSR includes information on a wide range of demographic, psychosocial, psychiatric, medical, contextual, and behavioural aspects of suicides.
Researchers used the data to examine and compare:
- Suicide rates for First Nations young people in Queensland over time.
- Treatment pathways (mental health service contacts, previous psychological treatment, suicidality and mental health diagnoses) of First Nations young people who died by suicide in Queensland.
- Suicide rates, demographic characteristics, and treatment pathways for First Nations and other young people (aged 10–19 years) in Queensland for the period of 2001–2018 in Queensland.
The researchers used statistical analysis to understand how different factors could affect suicide.
These factors included:
- Past treatment for mental health disorders
- Sources of treatment
- Previous mental health diagnoses
- Evidence for undiagnosed psychiatric disorders
- Communication of suicidal intent during young person's lifetime and within 12 months prior to death
- Previous suicide attempt(s) during young person's lifetime or previous year
- Exposure to suicide and experiences of bereavement.
What was found?
A total of 679 suicide deaths were recorded for all young people aged 10–19 years between 2001 to 2018 in Queensland. Analysis of the data found:
Suicide rates
- The rate of suicide for First Nations youth aged 10-19 was 4.5 times higher than other young people.
- Young First Nations females had a suicide rate of 5 times higher than non-Indigenous young females.
- First Nations young people aged 10–14 died by suicide at a rate 6.84 times higher than non-Indigenous young people of the same age.
- In the year prior to their deaths, 17.6 % of First Nations young people had attempted suicide, compared to 24.7 % of non-Indigenous young people.
Variables impacting suicide rates
Of First Nations young people who died by suicide between 2001 to 2018:
- 15.7 % had been diagnosed with a mental illness, almost 50% less than non-Indigenous young people who had received mental illness diagnosis before a suicide death.
- Over a third (37.1 %) of First Nations young people had evidence for an undiagnosed mental health disorder prior to suicide according to their family and friends, which was similar to non-Indigenous young people.
- Only 23.9% of First Nations young people who died by suicide had received mental health treatment over their lifetime.
- First Nations young people who died by suicide received mental health treatment 40% less non-Indigenous young people.
- Approximately one in twelve (8.2 %) First Nations young people who had died by suicide had received help from a GP for mental health concerns prior to suicide death.
- Just over half (52.2 %) of First Nations young people who had died by suicide had communicated suicidal intent and just over a quarter and 27.0 % had attempted suicide.
- There was no significant difference in the history of previous admissions to inpatient mental health facilities for First Nations and non-Indigenous young people who died by suicide.
- There was no significant difference in communicating suicidal intent during the year prior to suicide death First Nations and non-Indigenous young people who died by suicide.
- Substance use disorders and psychotic disorders were not significantly different between First nations and non-Indigenous young people who died by suicide.
Why are the findings important?
First Nations young people continue to die by suicide at elevated rates, especially in comparison to non-Indigenous young people, with little evidence of improvement in reducing the rates of suicide or the gap with non-Indigenous young people over the previous two decades.
The research shows that while a high proportion of First Nations young people who died by suicide had evidence of undiagnosed mental illness, only a small proportion received a diagnosis. Furthermore, of those who died by suicide, over 50% communicated suicidal intent.
The research highlights the gaps in service and interventions that would be opportunities to capture signs of suicidality, or present as opportunities respond to factors increasing risk of suicide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
The research suggests that interventions outside of traditional referral and service pathways, such as promoting strength-based protective factors at a community level to prevent progression to suicidality, and assertive community outreach may be better placed to connect with First Nations young people at risk of suicide.