Greater efforts are needed to prevent suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, men and women living in regional, rural and remote Australia, and among LGBTIQA+ people, according to the experts writing below.
While many of the drivers of distress sit beyond the health system – including relationship breakdown, exposure to violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, bereavement and unemployment – that does not diminish the health system’s critical role in recognising and responding to distress earlier.
The article below, putting forward clear policy recommendations, is in three parts: the first and third sections are by Dr Jaelea Skehan OAM, Director of Everymind, and the middle section is by Professor Pat Dudgeon AM, a Bardi woman, a psychologist and Professor at the Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at The University of Western Australia.
Jaelea Skehan writes:
On the surface, the latest national suicide data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics may seem somewhat positive. The national rate has decreased marginally from 12.2 to 11.6 (age-standardised and calculated per 100,000 people) between 2023 and 2025.
There were also fewer total suicides recorded nationally in 2025 than in either of the two years prior.
These top-line details may indicate that collective efforts to prevent suicides are having an impact – especially given stressors related to cost of living, relationships, housing affordability and loneliness reported by Australians in 2025.
But this veneer obscures a starker and more complex reality that must compel us to redouble these efforts.
This is especially true for First Nations Australians who, for the first time, have recorded an age-standardised suicide rate more than triple that of non-Indigenous Australians (35.7 per 100,000 compared to 10.7 per 100,000).
It is clearer than ever that we are not closing the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Instead, the gap is widening.
Pat Dudgeon writes:
Overall, it’s a major concern that the Indigenous suicide rates have increased rather than decreased over time, despite some of the outstanding efforts that have been put in place.
It is important to note that some of the increased rate might be due to historic under-reporting for First Nations suicide deaths.
In addition, the impact of many new policies, plans, programs and services to turn the situation around for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will not be seen overnight. However, we need to increase our efforts and ensure that our communities are given the resources they need to tackle suicide prevention.
The statistics remain very important as they give us a picture of what is happening and show us where we should be putting our efforts and resources.
So, looking at some of the most important takeaways from this data, we know that:
Indigenous suicide rates are higher than the corresponding non-Indigenous rate in every state and territory, with Western Australia recording the highest rate nationally.
On average, suicide is the fifth-leading cause of death for Indigenous people compared to 16th for non-Indigenous people.
Indigenous male suicide rates have decreased somewhat, but unfortunately Indigenous female rates have increased.
Indigenous suicide is not like non-indigenous suicide. There is a big difference. That is why we have a National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy with Indigenous self-determination at its heart.
We must ponder why Indigenous suicide rates are increasing despite some of the good projects already in place. This is happening despite the work of our excellent peak body Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia, and despite big national programs such as the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (NACCHO), and the Culture Care Connect program.
These are giant steps forwards for Indigenous suicide prevention, and yet the rates have increased.
We can’t underestimate the social determinant issues that surround Aboriginal people, families and communities. Poverty, lack of opportunities, and exclusion continue to contribute to Indigenous suicide. We need more programs that empower organisations and services while also empowering individuals in community.
It would be important for our First Nations peak bodies to get together to discuss what else is needed to address these causal factors along with other elements that will turn these rates around. We need to continue to pass that message on to government.
In the meantime, Commonwealth and State governments, along with Gayaa Dhuwi, must all remain dedicated to implementing the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy so that we can see vital impacts over the coming decade.
Jaelea Skehan writes:
The 2025 data also reinforces what we have known for far too long: people living in regional, rural and remote Australia continue to be disproportionately impacted by suicide, underscoring the urgent need for greater and more sustained suicide prevention efforts in these communities.
For males in both outer regional Australia (28.7 per 100,000) and remote and very remote Australia (28.0 per 100,000), the rate was almost double that for males living in major cities (14.4 per 100,000).
The same regional disparity is impacting females in remote and very remote Australia, for whom the suicide rate is 2.7 times the rate for females living in major cities (14.2 per 100,000 compared to 5.3 per 100,000).
Males once again continue to account for around three-quarters of all suicide deaths, showing that despite ever-growing efforts to raise awareness and to increase access to community connection and support, much remains to be done.
As we head towards Movember and Men’s Health Day on 19 November, there is no doubt we should be not just doubling, but tripling down on our male suicide prevention efforts.
At the same time, however, we shouldn’t lose sight of worrying trends for young females.
For the first time in 14 years, more suicide deaths were recorded among girls aged 5-17 than boys of the same age.
The loss of any child to suicide is profound. In 2025, 28 suicide deaths were recorded among children under 14, with girls accounting for almost two-thirds of these deaths. When considered alongside the most recent AIHW data on intentional self-harm, showing a rate of 405 self-harm hospitalisations per 100,000 for 15-19 year old females, the full picture of distress is startling.
Finally, we must also consider the blind spots that still exist in the data. Among the most significant of these is LGBTIQA+ people who are still not identified and, so, remain unrepresented in this annual dataset.
We know that although many LGBTIQA+ people live healthy and happy lives, research suggests they are disproportionately impacted by suicide with risk factors stemming from psychological distress caused by related discrimination, prejudice, abuse and exclusion.
The Beyond Urgent: National LGBTIQ+ Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Strategy 2021-2026, developed in response to the need for urgent action on mental health and suicide prevention for LGBTIQ+ communities, has been a welcome initiative.
But the next steps beyond this must deliver greater and sustained progress for LGBTIQA+ Australians.
What we can and must do
Fully fund and implement the National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy, backed by sustained and increased investment from States and Territories in First Nations-led suicide prevention.
Design suicide prevention for and by rural and remote Australia, rather overlaying metro-centric models on communities with vastly different circumstances, infrastructure and access to support. Progress must reach beyond our major cities.
Make suicide prevention gender responsive. The disproportionate impact of suicide on men demands expanded and sustained action, but we must also respond to concerning levels of distress among women, as well as transgender and gender diverse people (whose experiences are not captured in this data set). Prevention must recognise that people’s experiences can differ by gender and ensure our responses are designed accordingly.
Embed clear suicide prevention priorities in the next National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement, with shared accountability for a whole-of-government and whole-of-health response. Many of the drivers of distress sit beyond the health system, including relationship breakdown, exposure to violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, bereavement and unemployment. But that does not diminish the critical role of the broader health system in recognising and responding to distress earlier.
The data tells us where we are falling short.
Our response must show that we are listening. Underfunded strategies, inconsistent or ill-fitting approaches, and a lack of evidence-based action will only result in further widening of gaps that desperately need to be closed.
A full breakdown of this year’s ABS Causes of Death data relating to suicide can be found at Life in Mind.
Author details
Dr Jaelea Skehan OAM and Professor Pat Dudgeon AM
Dr Jaelea Skehan OAM is an internationally respected leader in the prevention of mental health concerns and suicide. She is a registered psychologist, researcher, facilitator and policy adviser. Jaelea has worked at Everymind since 2001 and was appointed as the Director in 2012.
She has supported the development of government and industry strategies and policies at a state, national and international level. Between 2019 and 2020 she led the National Suicide Prevention Taskforce, supporting delivery of the Final Advice to the Prime Minister on Suicide Prevention.
Professor Pat Dudgeon AM, a Bardi woman from Western Australia, is a psychologist and Professor at the Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at The University of Western Australia.
Her research focuses on Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention. She is the Director of the Kwop Boorn Djenara Centre, which is a continuation of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP), combined with the Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing (TIMHWB) project. She has served on numerous boards, including the National Suicide Prevention Office Advisory Board, NACCHO Culture Care Connect, Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit Australia) and AIPA, and was a National Mental Health Commissioner for five years.
A leading voice in Indigenous mental health, her significant publications include the Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice (2014) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project Report – What the Evidence and Our People Tell Us (2016). She was part of a group of Indigenous psychologists who developed the much used Social and Emotional Wellbeing model.
Support services
Lifeline: 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services
13YARN: 13 92 76
1800Respect: 1800 737 732
The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP)
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
MensLine Australia: 1300 78 99 78
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
QLIFE: 1800 184 527
StandBy Support After Suicide: 1300 727 247
headspace: 1800 650 890
See Croakey’s archive of articles on racism; and on suicide
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