Early exits from the Darwin Hotel

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health & Ageing has tabled Before it's too late, its report on early intervention programs aimed at preventing youth suicide.

The report indicates that -

Suicide is one of the most common causes of death for young people in Australia, accounting in 2005 for approximately 20% of all deaths othose aged between 15 and 24 years of age. This figure is considerably lower than the peak youth suicide rate in 1997, where suicide accounted for 21% of deaths in the ages 15 to 19 and 34% of deaths in the ages 20 to 24. Suicide is the second most common cause of death in young people, after transport accidents, which in some years account for up to 44% of youth deaths.

The rate of suicide for young males is even higher than the general youth rate, and much higher than the rate of suicide in older males – accounting for almost one quarter of all deaths in males between the ages of 15 and 24. Similarly, suicide is much more common in young females than in older females.

The report follows the independent 2010 the Senate Community Affairs References Committee report titled The Hidden Toll: Suicide in Australia, with 42 recommendations calling for -

• an assessment of the social and economic costs of suicide;
• continued and expanded support for the activities of the National Committee for Standardisation of Reporting on Suicides, the standardisation of suicide reporting and improved data collection and reporting;
• enhanced suicide awareness and prevention training for front-line workers (e.g. people working in primary care, law enforcement and emergency workers);
• affordable access to crisis and counselling services, including telephone and on-line services;
• mechanisms to improve the ‘connectedness of services’ and continuity of care;
• long-term awareness campaigns using a range of media, including campaigns targeted at high risk groups;
• more programs and increased program funding for at risk groups; and
• additional Early Psychosis Prevention & Intervention Centres.

The current document

presents an overview of suicide statistics, with a focus on suicide statistics for the 14-25 years age-group. It reviews what is known about risk and protective factors youth suicide and identifies groups of young people who are at increased risk. [It] examines the various theoretical approaches used to reduce suicide rates among young people, with a focus on prevention and early intervention. [It] provides a review of Australian Government youth suicide prevention strategies and the role of research and evaluation in developing a robust evidence-base to inform future best-practice strategies for youth suicide prevention. [It] expands on guiding principles that were outlined in the Committee’s discussion paper, examining them in the context of developing a coordinated, collaborative and inclusive approach to preventing youth suicide.

Unsurprisingly, its recommendations have a 'me too' flavour.

They are -

R1 - that the National Committee for the Standardised Reporting of Suicide consider options for, and the feasibility of, extending the scope of social and demographic suicide data routinely collected and reported on, to include information on -

• ethnicity;
• culture;
• geography;
• educational attainment;
• employment status; and
• socio-economic status.

R2 - that the National Committee for the Standardised Reporting of Suicide consider options for providing increased access to disaggregated suicide data.

R3 - that the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council liaise with the National Health & Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council, government departments (including state and territory government departments) and other agencies with a role in this domain, to develop a priority research agenda for youth suicide, with a view to jointly supporting a coordinated and targeted program of research.

R4 - that the Department of Health & Ageing, in conjunction with state and territory governments, facilitate the sharing of evaluations of existing programs and youth-suicide research across the entire suicide-prevention sector, through the establishment and maintenance of an online program-evaluation clearinghouse.

R5 - that the Australian Government, in consultation with state and territory governments and other key stakeholders, undertake appropriate consultation and engagement with young people to -

• further develop approaches to youth suicide prevention as part of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy;
• development new youth suicide prevention initiatives and programs;
• to evaluate existing youth suicide prevention measures; and
• share information.

R6 - that the Australian Government establish well defined linkages with existing programs addressing issues of cultural, educational, employment, social and economic disadvantage, so that initiatives under the National Suicide Prevention Strategy are recognised as an integral part of a holistic approach to youth suicide prevention.

R7 - that the Australian Government, in consultation with state and territory governments and non-government stakeholders, establish partnerships between departments of education and community-based service providers to ensure continuity of care for school leavers by facilitating referral of students to external counselling services where appropriate.

R8 - that the Australian Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority include social development education and mental health as a core component of the national curriculum for primary and secondary schools.

R9 - that social development and mental health education for older secondary school students include specific components to assist them to be better prepared for moving from school into the workforce or higher education, and aware of the full range of services available to assist them as they transition from child to adult services.

R10 - that teachers receive mandatory training on mental health awareness, including specific training to develop their capacity to recognise and assess suicidal risk.