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National Suicide and Self-Harm Monitoring System

The National Suicide Prevention Office, together with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), has established Australia’s first national suicide and self-harm monitoring system.

The monitoring system aims to increase transparency and access to information so that Australians can have a more informed understanding of suicide and self-harm to improve the ways we respond to suicide, helping us to reduce suicide in Australia.

National Suicide and Self-Harm Monitoring System

Safety

Please be mindful of the sensitive nature of the information in the suicide monitoring system and take care of your mental health and wellbeing when engaging with this information. There are a range of options for support available here. 

Responsible reporting

Reporting the information in the suicide monitoring system without reference to Mindframe guidelines or without applying media codes of practice for safe reporting has the potential to cause harm. The principles of the suicide monitoring system advocate the safe and responsible use of the Mindframe guidelines when using, reporting and publishing statistics on suicide and self-harm. 

Latest data releases

The latest update in September 2023 includes the most recent data about hospitalisations and ambulance attendances for suicide ideation, suicide attempts and self-harm behaviours, and presents a new resource, the Australian Youth Self-Harm Atlas. The Atlas supports a better understanding of the suicide behaviours of 12- to 17-year-olds by local areas to enhance the planning of suicide prevention services.

About the suicide monitoring system

The monitoring system brings together data on suicide, intentional self-harm, and suicidal behaviours from a range of data sources and surveys. The data is presented in an accessible way and includes interactive data visualisations and geospatial mapping to illustrate and explore the statistics, as well as explanatory text to assist with interpretation.

The monitoring system content is regularly updated as new data become available. Additional data sources will also be added as they become available.

Principles

To ensure the suicide monitoring system continues to inform improvements in both community awareness and prevention of suicide and self-harm, the National Suicide Prevention Office led the development of a set of principles to guide the decisions about what data is included in the system and how it is accessed. The principles were co-developed with input from the Expert Advisory Group and people with lived experience of suicide. For more information see Principles for the system.

Lived Experience

The National Suicide Prevention Office chairs a Lived Experience Advisory Group to support the suicide monitoring system. Members of this group play an important role in the development and presentation of the data on the website and will continue to provide critical insights into how we can improve the suicide monitoring system to better prevent suicide in Australia.

Here are a couple of our Lived Experience working group members talking about their contributions to the development of the suicide monitoring system.

Expert Advisory Group members

The National Suicide Prevention Office manages an Expert Advisory Group for the suicide monitoring system to support the development, implementation, and application of the monitoring system by providing advice as required.

The membership of the Expert Advisory Group includes representation from suicide prevention experts, academics and researchers, service providers, and people with lived experience.

  • Dr Alex Hains, Chair, a/Head, National Suicide Prevention Office
  • Dr Jaelea Skehan, Member, Director Everymind
  • Mr Alan Woodward, Member, National Mental Health Commissioner
  • Dr Grant Sara, Member, NSW Ministry of Health
  • Ms Nieves Murray, Member, CEO, Suicide Prevention Australia
  • Ms Nicky Bath, Member, CEO, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia
  • Associate Professor Jo Robinson, Member, Head Suicide Prevention Research, Orygen
  • Ms Leilani Darwin, Member, Centre of Best Practice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention
  • Mr Mark Davis, Lived Experience representative
  • Dr Nerida Volker, Lived Experience representative
  • Emily Unity, Lived Experience representative

EAG meetings to date

The Expert Advisory Group has met quarterly between November 2019 and July 2023.

https://www.aihw.gov.au/suicide-self-harm-monitoring

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Acknowledgement of Country

The Commission acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands throughout Australia.
We pay our respects to their clans, and to the elders, past present and emerging, and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, sea and community.

Diversity

The Commission is committed to embracing diversity and eliminating all forms of discrimination in the provision of health services. The Commission welcomes all people irrespective of ethnicity, lifestyle choice, faith, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Lived Experience

We acknowledge the individual and collective contributions of those with a lived and living experience of mental ill-health and suicide, and those who love, have loved and care for them. Each person’s journey is unique and a valued contribution to Australia’s commitment to mental health suicide prevention systems reform.