Intentional self-harm hospitalisations

Last update released by AIHW on Wednesday, 28 August 2024

The following summary is based on data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) from the National Suicide and Self-Harm Monitoring System (the System): Suicide and self-harm monitoring: Intentional self-harm hospitalisations.

The System was established as part of the national effort to address suicide and self-harm in Australia by improving the quality, accessibility and timeliness of data on deaths by suicide and on self-harming and suicidal behaviours.

For guidance on reporting on suicide and self-harm data, please refer to the Mindframe quick reference guide.

What is included in the release?

The updated data released by AIHW includes information on intentional self-harm hospitalisations including:

• Intentional self-harm hospitalisations by states and territories.
• Intentional self-harm hospitalisations by sex and age groups.
• Intentional self-harm hospitalisations by geography (including remoteness areas, primary health networks, local areas and socioeconomic areas).
• Intentional self-harm hospitalisations by Indigenous status.

Technical notes provide more detailed information about the release, including data sources, codes -and classifications, and analysis methods.

What are the key findings?

• In 2022-23, rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations varied across states and territories in Australia.
  • There were close to 24,800 hospitalisations due to intentional self-harm in Australia.
  • NT reported the highest rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations, which was around double the national rate.
  • NSW recorded the lowest rate.

• Rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations from 2008-09 to 2022-23 are visualised and show:
  • Rates in Qld, SA and the NT were higher than the national rate.
  • The most notable increase in rates during this time were recorded in young females (0 -24 years) in both NT and ACT. Rates in NT more than tripled whilst rates more than doubled in the ACT.
  • Overall, increased rates were also noted for young males aged 24 years and below in the NT and Qld.

• In 2022-23, rates of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm vary across genders and age groups.
  • Rates of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm were higher for females.
  • The highest rates were recorded in 2022-23 for females 15-19 years (499 per 100,000 population), followed by females aged 20-24 years (289 per 100,000).
  • The highest rates for males during this time also occurred in the younger population but rates were at least 2-fold lower than those of females of the same age. The highest rate for males was aged 15-19 years (127 per 100,000) and males aged 20-24 years (122 per 100,000).

• In 2022-23, the rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations for First Nations people (295 hospitalisations per 100,00 population) was over 3 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australians (87 per 100,000 population).
• From 2008-09 to 2022-23, rates of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm increased for First Nations females (from 235 to 360 hospitalisations per 100,00 population) and males (from 170 to 228 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).
• In 2022-23, residents of very remote areas of Australia recorded rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations close to twice that of residents in major cities.

What does this mean for policy and practice?

Suicide and self-harm monitoring data is an important contributor to suicide prevention efforts in Australia. Data released by AIHW helps to inform suicide prevention policy and practice, particularly in relation to populations who are disproportionally impacted by suicide within Australia.

Data from this release can inform where and how suicide prevention policies and practices should be targeted, and who they should be targeted at. This data can inform policy and practice by:

• Identifying areas within Australia where populations may be at greater risk of suicide based on self-harm data. This data indicates that policies and interventions should be particularly focused on addressing distress and other risk factors of suicide in certain states including the NT.
• Highlighting the need for targeted suicide prevention approaches for First Nations people within Australia due to the concerning rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations compared to non-Indigenous Australians.
• Identifying age and gender differences for intentional self-harm rates across Australia, which can support focussed interventions. For example, this data highlights the need for targeted approaches for young females to reduce experiences of suicidal distress.
• Analysing data over time to identify patterns or trends in rates of intentional self-harm in different regions of Australia. This data can be used to further investigate and possibly identify suicide prevention policies and practices or other factors that have impacted on changes in self-harm rates in Australia, such as socioeconomic disadvantage and geographical remoteness.

It is important to understand the way this data is reported and collected to best inform its use in practice. The data quality statement provides more information about how variations in hospital admission policy and practices between states and territories could potentially contribute to differences in reporting of this data.