Did you know?
Suicide among Australia’s Indigenous population is significantly higher than the general Australian population. Estimates suggest that, in some years, the suicide rate for Indigenous people in specific communities is as much as 40% higher than that of the Australian population as a whole.
Over the past 30 years the rate has increased, with young Indigenous males being the most at risk. It is likely due to a number of factors which often combine to further magnify the risk for suicidal behaviours and self-harm. Some of these include:
- exposure to environmental factors like poverty, low socio-economic status, poor employment prospects, living in rural communities with limited access to services;
- the continuing trauma and loss over past discrimination, dislocation and mistreatment as well as death of family, community members and friends;
- loss of cultural identity and social isolation which is known to cause a person to lose their sense of purpose and meaning in life
- the disproportionate amount of Indigenous inmates in the Australian prison system
To find out more about suicide rates in the Indigenous community and how they can be prevented, click on the link below:
https://earlytraumagrief.anu.edu.au/files/Suicide-prevention-in-Indigenous-communities.pdf
By Rose Svosve