Vic: Youth suicide rates decrease for second consecutive year

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-2000
Vic: Youth suicide rates decrease for second consecutive year

By Ilsa Colson

MELBOURNE, Dec 11 AAP - The number of young Australians committing suicide has fallen
for a second year in a row but campaigners say more resources are needed to further reduce
the toll.

Victorian-based youth suicide prevention organisation, Here for Life, said Australian
Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures showed that 380 Australians aged between 15 and 24
had taken their own lives in 1999.

The figures compared with 446 in 1998 and 510 in 1997.

"For the second consecutive year now we've seen the youth rates decrease which translates
into about 150 lives saved, and that's wonderful news," Here for Life executive officer,
Andrew Kay, told reporters.

He put the decrease down to greater community awareness and increased acknowledgment
of the problem among young people, including a greater understanding of when and where
to seek help.

But there was no room for complacency, he said.

"It seems to be that the message is getting through to young people, but (among) the
wider population within Australia, the rates continue to climb, which is a grave concern."

The overall rate of suicide in Australia rose from 2,096 in 1989 to 2,492 in 1999,
putting Australia among the countries with the highest suicide rates in the world.

"Looking at the trends over the last five years, more must be done with the adult population,
particularly males 24 through to 45," Mr Kay said.

More money was also required to maintain the momentum in bringing down the youth suicide
rate, he added.

The federal government has so far committed $88,000 for Here for Life to take 65 AFL
players, as well as a range of female athletes, to 800 schools around Australia promoting
the suicide-prevention message.

However, Mr Kay said a more effective initiative would be to make life skills programs
an obligatory part of every Australian school's curriculum - at a cost of about $1.5 million.

Of the 380 Australians aged 15 to 24 who took their own lives in 1999, 71 were female,
the ABS statistics showed.

While the overall national result was a decrease in this age group, slight increases
were recorded in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT.

AAP imc/clr/hu/de

KEYWORD: SUICIDE NIGHTLEAD

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