- Strategic issue - Prevention and Early Intervention.
- Rationale - Suicide is a leading cause of death among the general population, and people with mental illness are at even greater risk. Suicide rates are a commonly used global indicator of the mental health of the community.
- Endorsement status - Endorsed by AHMAC Mental Health Standing Committee, February 2011.
- Date last updated - January 2011.
National Mental Health Performance Framework
Data collection details
Indicator details
- Description - Proportion of the population for whom suicide was the cause of death.
- Numerator - Number of people who have died by suicide over five year period.
- Denominator - Estimated residential population.
- Computation - (Numerator ÷ Denominator) x 100.
- Calculation conditions
- Coverage/Scope - All deaths registered as suicide.
- Presentation - Rate per 100,000 population.
- Disaggregation - State/Territory, age, sex and indigenous status, subject to sample size.
- Is specification interim or long-term? - Long-term.
- Reported in - Similar indicators are reported in the Report on Government Services, and the COAG National Acton Plan Progress Reports (Indicator 4 'The rate of suicide in the community'). Top of page
National Mental Health Performance Framework
- Tier - Tier I – Health Status and Outcomes
- Primary domain - Deaths.
- Type of measure - Outcome.
- Level at which indicator can be useful for benchmarking - State/Territory.
Data collection details
- Data source(s)
- Numerator - ABS Causes of Death.
- Denominator - ABS Estimated Residential Population.
- Data source(s) type
- Numerator - Register.
- Denominator - Census.
- Frequency of data source(s) collection
- Numerator - Annually.
- Denominator - Annually.