



How a new trial in Northern Territory could improve Australia's appalling suicide figures


Tim Barlass

Two years ago, former Victorian premier and founder of beyondblue Jeff Kennett, flew to the Northern Territory to give a Christmas talk about depression to the Australian Hotels Association.

At the end of the presentation the compere approached him and said a young woman he knew had taken her life a couple of weeks earlier. Then someone else went up to him and said they had just lost a young man in his early 20s at their workplace.

Soon after Mr Kennett received a cheque for $160,000 from the association to further research into suicide in the Northern Territory which, with 18.1 suicides per 100,000 population, has the highest deaths per capita in Australia.

A closer look showed that more than half of those who tried to take their lives leave hospital and do not receive any support or follow-up treatment, he said. Of those, between 15 and 25 per cent will attempt suicide again.

"That is a lot of people who attempt to take their lives and fail but who will keep trying until they succeed,'' Mr Kennett said. ''So what happens within our system that allows that to occur?

"What happens is the same as when you have a medical problem. [After an attempt] they go to hospital or a doctor because they have cut themselves or [injured themselves], and then they get repaired physically and discharged. The question is why we don't address the core issues that led that individual to take that step to attempt to take their life.

"The issue is whether we can introduce a system that provides continuous care for those people until we can be absolutely sure the things that led them to that place have been addressed satisfactorily. By that I mean putting them in touch with people that can deal with them – work out a schedule every week until we are absolutely convinced as best we can that the things that led to that attempt have been satisfactorily addressed."

Known as The Way Back Support Service, the two-year trial is backed by two leaflets, one for those who have attempted suicide and the other for those supporting them. The former contains personal comments from those who have made an attempt on their lives. Carlo Laruccia writes: ''I've followed the teaching and advice from everyone in my life ... If I've done all of the things they've taught me, how did I end up wanting to take my life?''

The trial has attracted the interest of Western Australia and NSW. The launch comes just ahead of the Lived Experience Symposium in Sydney this month, where ambassadors who have had a personal brush with suicide will try to direct future research to help reduce the 2535 deaths in Australia in 2012, which Jeff Kennett has described as "a national disgrace".

Suicide Prevention Australia chief executive Sue Murray said the collection of data in Australia about suicide is incredibly poor.

"It is non-existent in terms of statistics in terms of attempted suicides and re-attempts,'' she said. ''The work that is being done in the NT will give us some information about people who are at a very vulnerable period in their life and very vulnerable to attempting suicide a second or even third time."

Mr Kennett said the approach to suicide had changed subtly.

"It's the same way it has changed subtly with depression,'' he said. ''When you hear a sportsman or a politician come out and talk about their experiences, it helps remove the veil of silence and secrecy around these illnesses. I have never met any of those who have attempted to take their lives, and some have been quadriplegics and paraplegics, who have regretted that they didn't complete."




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