Turning Point at the 2024 Australian Public Health Conference

Congratulations to Research Officer Naomi Beard, who this week presented a long oral presentation at the Australian Public Health Conference (APHC).

Ms Beard is attending the conference with the support of a Margaret Hamilton Traveling Scholarship and discussed preliminary findings from National Addiction and Mental Health Surveillance Unit research into demographic, time and geographic characteristics of suicide and self-harm-related ambulance attendances in Queensland in 2021 and 2022.

“Our findings suggest that targeted approaches to suicide, self-harm and mental health problems in a variety of sub-populations are needed,” she said.

Sunday evening between 4pm and 10pm was the most common time for an ambulance to attend a suicide-attempt-related incident.

Of all suicide attempts where an ambulance was called, 44% involved an alcohol or other drug overdose.

“The role pharmaceutical drugs play in suicide attempt-related attendances is notable,” Ms Beard said.

Highlighting a public health crisis

“Over the last 3 and half years analysing suicide and self-harm data and providing that to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, I have watched the number of suicide and self-harm related attendances month-by-month change across the country, with the most notable changes occurring in Queensland,” Ms Beard said.

Tragically, over 3,000 people die in Australia each year by taking their own life, with hospitalisations as a result of intentional self-harm estimated to be 10 times higher.

“When the opportunity came to present at the APHC, the team and I thought this would be an excellent forum to highlight the suicide and self-harm public health crisis occurring across the country with Queensland as our focal point,” Ms Beard said.

According to Ms Beard, attending the conference also offered an ideal opportunity to promote the utility of the National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS) dataset to answer important public health questions.

“Ambulance attendance data is a valuable resource that could be harnessed beyond this research for ongoing monitoring of suicide and self-harm outcomes across Australia,” she said.

Younger Queenslanders experiencing highest burden

“Our preliminary findings suggest younger Queenslanders are experiencing the highest burden of self-harm-related harms resulting in an ambulance attendance,” Ms Beard said.

With suicide the leading cause of death among Australians aged 15-to-24 years, Ms Beard and the research team believe that State and Federal government approaches to suicidal behaviour reduction and prevention need to consider the raft of factors impacting young people’s mental health.

Diverging patterns in geographic characteristics

Preliminary findings relating to geographic locations also show that Queenslanders living in regional and more remote areas are calling ambulances for suicide attempt-related harms at a higher rate per 100,000 people.

“Interestingly, we see a divergence from this pattern in Very Remote areas of Queensland, which showed a lower rate of ambulance attendances,” Ms Beard noted.

This finding is supported by previous research that found that people living in these very remote areas are less likely to call an ambulance and more likely to drive themselves to an emergency department for a suicide or self-harm-related problem.

Tailored and flexible approaches are needed

“Factors relevant to suicide and self-harm-related incidents are likely multifactorial,” Ms Beard explains.

“Age, geographic location, economic factors such as inflation, job loss and job-related stress, rising cost of living, funding of mental health services, and other social factors related to family and relationships could all contribute.”

She believes that more research is needed to help develop targeted approaches to suicide, self-harm and mental health problems in a variety of sub-populations, including those identified as most at risk.

People most at risk include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, middle-aged men, young people, LGBTIQA+ people, ex-Australian Defence members and older Australians.

“A one-size-fits-all approach is not likely to work across such diverse sub-populations and policymakers should consider approaches that are both tailored and flexible,” Ms Beard said.

Ms Beard attended the conference with the support of a Margaret Hamilton Traveling Scholarship.

If this story has raised issues for you, please contact Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36, LifeLine: 13 11 14, 13YARN: 13 92 76, or Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800.

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