Feasibility study for identifying suicide clusters using real-time coronial data

Suicide is a major societal problem. In Australia, there were 3,144 deaths by suicide in 2021 with suicide being the leading cause of death amongst young people (18-24 years).1 The impact of suicides is particularly devastating for families, friends and communities when they occur in clusters. A suicide cluster is  defined as a group of suicides that occur closer together in time and space than expected given the underlying suicide rate.2 Clusters are of significant concern: (a) because they typically occur among young people and Indigenous people, groups in which news of a suicide can spread rapidly and widely; and (b) due  to the potential for each suicide within a cluster to lead to further suicides in the community.