Suicide prevention: a national priority
The death of our people by suicide is deeply felt across the Defence community. Our thoughts are with the families, friends, teammates and colleagues of our people who have died by suicide.
Suicide, suicide attempts and self-harm behaviours are serious, complex and confronting issues that impact all Australians, including current and former personnel of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). There is no simple or single solution to suicide.
Supporting ADF mental health and wellbeing
Defence is committed to ensuring that ADF personnel have access to the right support, at the right time, especially those who are vulnerable or at risk.
Defence spends approximately $69 million per year to provide education and awareness programs, and provide access to mental health treatment and rehabilitation programs, for serving ADF personnel.
ADF personnel experiencing concerns with their mental health or thoughts of suicide have a broad range of mental health support services available to them. This includes a network of dedicated mental health professionals at health centres located at major Defence bases that can provide or facilitate support both on-base or off-base.
Defence has established a Mental Health and Wellbeing Branch to focus and strengthen Defence’s approach to preventive mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
The Branch’s role will be to deliver the policies, strategies and systems that improve the mental health and wellbeing of our people across the Defence enterprise.
Defence has had a Suicide Prevention Program since 2002 and released our current Mental Health Strategy in October 2017. An updated strategy is currently in development.
Defence Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2018-2023 (PDF, 3.4 MB)
The Defence Suicide Prevention Program is a comprehensive program that is supported by empirical evidence. It is a systems-based, stepped care approach that is designed specifically to meet the needs of Defence personnel.
The current Defence Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2018-2023 incorporates research on mental health, and reflects learnings from previous reviews and inquiries into the mental health of serving and ex-serving ADF personnel.
Defence invests heavily in Mental Health and Wellbeing research. Previous and ongoing Mental Health Research projects have contributed to Defence’s understanding of its personnel, and provides valuable insights into how mental health and wellbeing can be appropriately targeted and supported across the ADF.
Defence’s Professor of Military Mental Health is leading a five-year (2023-2027) program of research into the mental health and wellbeing of ADF personnel. The program aims to prevent the onset and persistence of mental health disorders by targeting emerging symptoms of mental ill health, and improve recovery from mental health disorders through evidence-based treatment.
Defence is currently working with the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention and the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention to develop a research framework to assess risk factors for suicide in the ADF.
Development of the new Defence and Veteran Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2024-2029
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Branch will jointly lead the development of the Defence and Veteran Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2024-2029) in conjunction with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy will adopt a proactive and preventive framework structured around the Defence and DVA aligned wellbeing factors.
The wellbeing factors are:
- health
- social support and connection
- education and skills
- employment
- income and finance
- respect and recognition
- home and housing
- justice and safety
- spirituality.
Defence and DVA will consult widely in the development of the strategy including with mental health experts, researchers, peak associations, federal, state and territory governments, ex-service organisations, current serving and transitioning ADF personnel, current Defence Australian Public Service workforce, and veterans and families to ensure lived-experience is included.
Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide
Defence is committed to continuous improvement of our mental health and wellbeing systems and processes.
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide offers an opportunity to learn and further strengthen our approach to improving and protecting the overall mental health and wellbeing of our people.
Defence looks forward to receiving the Royal Commission’s final report at the conclusion of its three-year inquiry.
Defence is cooperating fully with the Royal Commission and responding fully to all requests for information.
Defence will continue to do all it can to support the work of the Royal Commission.
2023 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Suicide Monitoring Report
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported 3,144 deaths by suicide in the Australian population in 2021.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) provides an annual report on deaths by suicide among permanent, reserve and ex-serving ADF personnel. The latest report covered the period 1997-2021 and was released on 21 November 2023. This report showed that, in 2021, there were 69 deaths by suicide amongst permanent, reserve and ex-serving ADF personnel, with rates of suicide and comparisons with the Australian population remaining similar to previous AIHW reports:
- The rate of suicide for males in the permanent and reserve armed forces was about half that of age-matched Australian males.
- Ex-serving males who separate from the ADF voluntarily or for contractual/administrative reasons have a similar suicide rate to age-matched Australian males.
- Ex-serving males who transition out of the ADF involuntarily for medical or other involuntary separation reasons have an increased risk of suicide compared to age-matched Australian males.
- There was no difference between the rate of suicide for females in the permanent and reserve armed forces, compared to age-matched Australian females.
- The rate of suicide for ex-serving females is about twice as high as the rate reported by age-matched Australian females.
Please note: The AIHW report notes that the female ADF cohort is smaller than the male cohort and, in general, suicide rates for females in the Australian population are low, meaning that there is less certainty in the accuracy of the calculated values. As a result, caution should be taken in interpreting this data.
Rates of suicide by service status
Rates of suicide are per 100,000 population per year for the period 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2021, as reported by AIHW on 21 November 2023, and includes members with at least one day of service in the period 1 January 1985 to 31 December 2021.
| Service status | Male rate of suicide | Female rate of suicide |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent | 12.8 | 4.8* |
| Reserve | 13.6 | 4.4* |
| Ex-serving | 31.2 | 15.4 |
* These suicide rates should be interpreted with caution as the number of suicides is fewer than 20. These rates are considered potentially volatile.
Rates of suicide by reason for separation
Rates of suicide per 100,000 population per year for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2021, as reported by AIHW on 21 November 2023. These rates include personnel with at least one day of service in the period 1 January 1985 to 31 December 2021, who left the ADF from 1 January 2003 onwards.
| Service status | Male rate of suicide | Female rate of suicide |
|---|---|---|
| Voluntary separation | 21.5 | 17.7* |
| Involuntary medical separation | 67.1 | 37.7* |
| Other voluntary separation | 35.7 | 17.5* |
| Contractual/administrative changes separation | 17.5* | 0.0 |
* These suicide rates should be interpreted with caution as the number of suicides is fewer than 20. These rates are considered potentially volatile.