- National suicide data
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
- National Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring System
Suicide among refugee and humanitarian entrants and other permanent migrants
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 among refugee and humanitarian entrants and other permanent migrants.
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.
When exploring suicide data, it is important to remember that behind the numbers are people, families and communities impacted by suicide in Australia. The reasons people take their own life are complex, and often there is no single reason why a person attempts or dies by suicide. By increasing our understanding of data alongside the lived experience of distress, we will increase the opportunity to save lives.
For guidance on reporting on suicide and self-harm data, please refer to the Mindframe quick reference guide.
Released by AIHW on Wednesday, 22 November 2023
This update to the National Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring System includes a new page focused on suicide among refugee and humanitarian entrants and other permanent migrants. These data are drawn from a broader AIHW project investigating the health and welfare of Australia’s refugee and humanitarian entrant populations that entered the country during or after 2000. The analysis uses a linked dataset that includes the Settlement Database from the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Causes of Death dataset.
This update provides some insight into suicide among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australians. CALD communities and refugees are identified as priority populations in the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement. Refugee and humanitarian entrants and other permanent migrant Australians included in this analysis are part of the broader CALD community in Australia. However, these data are limited to those who have moved to Australia from another country (first-generation migrants) and should not be considered representative of broader CALD communities.
Specific variables included in this analysis are migration status (grouped as ‘Humanitarian entrants’, ‘Other permanent migrants’ and ‘Rest of the Australian Population’) and time since arrival (grouped as <5 years, 5-10 years, and >10 years). Deaths by suicide between 2007 and 2020 were examined.
Key findings:
First generation humanitarian entrants and other permanent migrants experienced lower rates of suicide compared to the rest of the Australian population.
- The age-standardised suicide rate for humanitarian entrants (6.7 per 100,000) and other permanent migrants (4.0 per 100,000) was lower than for the rest of the Australian population (12.6 per 100,000).
- Deaths by suicide were higher for males than females across all three migrant groups (see graph below). The largest difference was among humanitarian entrants, with the rate for males (11 per 100,000) being more than 3.5 times higher than for females (3.0 per 100,000). Among the rest of the Australian population, the rate for males was approximately three times higher than for females.
Rates of death by suicide for first generation humanitarian entrants and other permanent migrants increased with time since arriving in Australia
- Deaths by suicide increased for both humanitarian entrants and other permanent migrants as time since arrival in Australia increased.
- Humanitarian entrants had higher suicide rates compared to other permanent migrants at each period since arrival. However, when taking into account the error bars, the differences between these groups are small.
