Resource Tag: AUSTRALIA

Background: We study the impact of suicide-exclusion periods, common in life insurance policies in Australia, on suicide and accidental death rates for life-insured individuals. If a life-insured individual dies by suicide during the period of suicide exclusion, commonly 13 months, the sum insured is not paid. Aims: We examine whether a suicide-exclusion period affects the timing of […]

Introduction: Mental healthcare systems are primarily designed to urban populations. However, the specific characteristics of rural areas require specific strategies, resource allocation, and indicators which fit their local conditions. This planning process requires comparison with other rural areas. This demonstration study aimed to describe and compare specialized rural adult mental health services in Australia, Norway, and […]

Introduction Correlates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among a large cross-section of trans and gender diverse populations in Australia were examined. Methods A national survey was conducted that included 1466 trans and gender diverse participants aged 18+ years. Multivariable regressions identified factors associated with recent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Results Overall, 62.4% reported […]

Indigenous Australians have a holistic conceptualisation of health, mental health and wellbeing, outlined by the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) framework. SEWB is affected by multiple, interconnected elements over the life  course. Mental health and suicide prevention programs that are framed using SEWB recognise that emotional wellbeing is comprised of a balance between 7 domains […]

Background Suicide is a major issue affecting communities around the world. Community-based suicide prevention approaches can tailor activities at a local level and are recognised as a key component of national suicide prevention strategies. Despite this, research exploring their effects on completed suicides is rare. This study examined the effect of a national program of […]

Suicide rates in rural communities are higher than in urban areas, and communities play a crucial role in suicide prevention. This study explores community-based suicide prevention using a qualitative research design. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups asked participants to explore community-based suicide prevention in the context of rural Australia. Participants recruited ((n = 37; ages 29–72, Mean = […]

Males are at higher risk of death by suicide than females in Australia, and among men, blue-collar males are at higher risk compared to other working males. In response, MATES in Construction developed a workplace suicide prevention program for the construction sector in 2007 that has been widely implemented in Australia. In the current project, […]

Young people living in regional and rural areas of Australia are at an increased risk of suicide and have unique barriers and facilitators to seeking mental health support. As such, specific mental health and suicide prevention programmes that are tailored to young people within their communities are required. Despite this, peer-reviewed literature on such interventions […]

There has been limited longitudinal investigation to date into the association between bullying, self-harm, and suicidality in Australia and the impact of specific demographic differences on this relationship. This is despite the continued rise in the incidence of bullying, self-harm, and suicide. As such, the current study draws on data from the Longitudinal Survey of […]

Objective Workers of the Australian entertainment industry exhibit disproportionately high rates of impaired psychological wellbeing and suicidal behaviors, with such rates being exacerbated by the negative impact of working long and odd hours (Work Scheduling Impact; WSI). Nonetheless, stable and secure social support networks may buffer the risks associated with such systemic difficulties. Methods The […]

Objective In the United States, there was an increase in calls to helplines following media reporting of Robin Williams’ suicide. We aimed to determine whether this was the case in Australia. Method The helpline services Lifeline and Beyond Blue provided us with weekly data on calls received for 2013–2015. We conducted interrupted time series regression […]

Introduction: Suicide is a leading cause of death among young people (aged 15-24 years), and as such, identifying targets for early intervention is essential to reducing this risk. Using baseline data from a school-based universal suicide prevention trial, we investigate factors associated with different types of suicidal ideation in secondary school students with implications for youth […]

In many Western countries, including Australia, construction workers have been identified as being at elevated risk of suicide compared to other workers. A variety of suicide prevention initiatives have been implemented and expanded to reduce suicide in this occupational group; however, the net effect of these is unknown. Using 19 years of national suicide data, this […]

Suicide Prevention Australia has released findings from its third annual State of the Nation in Suicide Prevention survey. This year’s survey gathered information from 283 respondents from the suicide prevention sector about key issues for the sector and the community to inform Suicide Prevention Australia’s National Policy Platform and advocacy work.

Background In Australia, the collaborative involvement of stakeholders, especially those with lived experience in mental health and suicide prevention, has become important to government policy and practice at Federal and State levels. However, little is known about how governments translate this intention into frameworks of co-creation for policy, funding programs, service improvement, and research and […]

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in Australia. In 2020, 3139 Australians are known to have died by suicide and of these, more than three-quarters were male. Among Australian males in 2020, suicide was the 10th leading  cause of death (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020a). A substantial proportion of males who die […]

Introduction To examine demographic and psychosocial correlates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among a large cross-section of sexual orientation populations in Australia, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, and asexual (LGBQ) people. Methods A national survey was conducted involving 5,174 cisgender LGBQ participants aged 18+ years. Multivariable regressions identified factors associated with recent suicidal […]

Suicidal ideation is a major risk for a suicide attempt in younger people, such that reducing severity of ideation is an important target for suicide prevention. Smartphone applications present a new opportunity for managing ideation in young adults; however, confirmatory evidence for efficacy from randomized trials is lacking. The objective of this study was to […]

Mental health support is something that people of all genders may need at some point in their lives. Nearly 1 in 5 people in Australia will experience some form of mental health condition in the next year, a number that is  expected to be even higher for trans and/or gender diverse people. This guide is […]

Importance  Identification of potential indirect outcomes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the pediatric population may be essential for understanding the challenges of the current global public health crisis for children and adolescents. Objective  To investigate whether the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and subsequent effective public health measures in Australia were associated with an increase in admissions to intensive […]

Background: In July 2018, Lifeline Australia launched Australia’s first short message service (SMS) crisis support service. Lifeline Text aims to reduce psychological distress and increase coping and social connectedness among help seekers, particularly those who prefer text-based communication. Aims: We aimed to independently evaluate the pilot SMS service over a 240-day period. Method: The service evaluation used operational data, pre […]

Despite being highly prevalent, adolescent mental health problems are undertreated. To better understand the mental health treatment gap, we assessed the prevalence and correlates of help seeking, including perceived need for care and access to that care. Data were drawn from Young Minds  Matter (YMM) survey—the second Australian child and adolescents survey of mental health […]

Background: Australia’s Mindframe guidelines provide media professionals with advice on ways to safely report on suicide. Aims: We aimed to examine the extent to which Australian newspaper articles on Robin Williams’ suicide conformed to the Mindframe recommendations. Method: We searched Factiva for relevant articles appearing in Australian newspapers during the 5 months following Williams’ death on August 11, 2014. We retrieved […]