Publication deadlines for reporting causes of deaths not yet finalised by coroners and different methods employed by different jurisdictions may have disguised Australia’s true suicide rate
Suicide is a topic of public health, public policy and general community interest. Accurate and timely suicide statistics are needed to measure and monitor this cause of death, to guide the development of prevention programs, and to enable evaluation and research.1 The main source of suicide data in Australia is the national mortality database of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).2 Recently, the ABS data have been used to report reductions in the annual rates and overall numbers of completed suicides since 1997;3,4 another such report, by Large and Nielssen, appears in this issue of the Journal.5
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- 1. Harrison J, Pointer S, Abou Elnour A. A review of suicide statistics in Australia. Injury research and statistics series no. 49. Adelaide: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2009. (AIHW Cat. No. INJCAT 121.) http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10754 (accessed Feb 2010).
- 2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Causes of death, Australia, 2007. Canberra: ABS, 2009. (ABS Cat. No. 3303.0.) http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3303.0Main+Features12007?OpenDocument (accessed Feb 2010).
- 3. Chapman S, Hayen A. Declines in Australian suicide: a reanalysis of McPhedran and Baker (2008). Health Policy 2008; 88: 152-154.
- 4. McPhedran S, Baker J. Recent Australian suicide trends for males and females at the national level: has the rate of decline differed? Health Policy 2008; 87: 350-358.
- 5. Large MM, Nielssen OB. Suicide in Australia: meta-analysis of rates and methods of suicide between 1988 and 2007. Med J Aust 2010; 192: 432-437. <MJA full text>
- 6. Henley G, Harrison J. Injury deaths, Australia 2004–05. Injury research and statistics series no. 51. Adelaide: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2009. (AIHW Cat. No. INJCAT 127.) http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10777 (accessed Feb 2010).
- 7. Walker S, Chen LP, Madden R. Deaths due to suicide: the effects of certification and coding practices in Australia. Aust N Z J Public Health 2008; 32: 126-130.
- 8. De Leo D. Suicide mortality data needs revision [letter]. Med J Aust 2007; 186: 157-158. <MJA full text>
- 9. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Information paper: external causes of death, data quality, 2005. Canberra: ABS, 2007. (ABS Cat. No. 3317.0.55.001.) http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3317.0.55.001 (accessed Feb 2010).
- 10. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Causes of death, Australia, 2007. Explanatory notes. Technical note 1 ABS coding of suicide deaths. Canberra: ABS, 2009. ABS cat. no. 3303.0.) http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/3303.0~2007~Technical+Note~ABS+Coding+of+Suicide+Deaths+(Technical+Note)?OpenDocument (accessed Feb 2010, link updated Apr 2010).
- 11. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Causes of death, Australia, 2007. Explanatory notes. Technical note 2 coroner certified deaths. Canberra: ABS, 2009. (ABS Cat. No. 3303.0) http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/3303.0~2007~Technical+Note~Coroner+Certified+ Deaths+%28Technical+Note%29?OpenDocument#2812172427 18994948 (accessed Feb 2010).
James Harrison is chairperson of the Australasian Mortality Data Interest Group, a member of the World Health Organization Revision Steering Group is leading the revision of the part of the International Classification of Diseases that is used to classify suicide, a member of the National Committee for Standardised Reporting of Suicide, and an external member of the management advisory committee of the NCIS.