Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
MORE than 2000 people suicide in Australia each year, figures show.
Lifeline statistics show 2132 Australians died of suicide in 2009.
That equates to six deaths each day, or one every four hours.
But this figure may be under-reported as data can be hard to validate.
Lifeline says Australia’s suicide rate was 10.2 per 100,000 in 2009, compared with 11.7 in New Zealand, 11 in the USA and seven in the UK.
Men are four times more likely to die of suicide than women, and Indigenous Australians are four times more likely to die by suicide than non-Indigenous people.
Lifeline chief executive Jane Hayden said there was more that could be done to prevent suicide.
“I think that Australians are still unaware that up until age 44, suicide is actually the leading cause of death in Australia,” she said.
“So as individuals we shouldn’t stand back from people we see struggling.
“We should step forward and help listen to people without judging and direct them to their GP and help lines like Lifeline and other services.”
It’s estimated that for every death from suicide, there are as many as 30 people who attempt suicide.
That equates to more than one new suicide every 10 minutes.
Suicide claims more lives each year than transport deaths and skin cancer.
Russia has the highest instance of suicide.