Overall suicide rates
How do veterans’ suicide rates vary by service status and sex?
For veterans with at least one day of service since 1 January 1985, overall suicide rates between 1997 and 2023 by service status and sex were as follows:
- 13.0 per 100,000 population per year for permanent males
- 13.7 per 100,000 population per year for reserve males
- 30.9 per 100,000 population per year for ex-serving males
- 4.8* per 100,000 population per year for permanent females
- 4.0* per 100,000 population per year for reserve females
- 14.8 per 100,000 population per year for ex-serving females.
Note: * Suicide rates denoted with a '*' should be interpreted with caution as the number of suicides is fewer than 20. These rates are subject to large fluctuations.
How do veterans’ suicide rates compare to the general Australian population?
Compared with the relevant Australian male or female general population, age-adjusted suicide rates between 1997 and 2023 were:
- 48% lower for permanent males
- 45% lower for reserve males
- 25% (or 1.25 times) higher for ex-serving males
- 98% (or 1.98 times) higher for ex-serving females.
The differences between the Australian female population and both permanent and reserve females were not statistically significant and are therefore not presented here (the differences to the general Australian population listed above are statistically significant). While the 98% figure for ex-serving females is larger than the 25% figure for ex-serving males, it should be noted that both are comparisons with the general Australian population adjusting for age and sex. The overall suicide rate for ex-serving females is significantly lower than it is for ex-serving males.
Compared with the Australian male general population, suicide rates by reason for separation between 2003 and 2023 for ex-serving males were:
- similar for those who separated for voluntary reasons
- 153% higher (or 2.53 times) for those who separated for involuntary medical reasons
- 121% higher (or 2.21 times) for those who separated for involuntary ‘Retention not in service interest’ reasons
- similar for those who separated for other involuntary reasons
Data comparing the general Australian population to ex-serving males who separated for contractual or administration reasons, or ex-serving females by separation reason, are not presented here due to the small number of suicide deaths in these groups. See Table S3.1 in Data.
How do suicide rates for ex-serving members compare by service-related characteristics?
This section presents data by service-related characteristics for suicide rates between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2023 among ex-serving veterans who have served at least one day since 1 January 1985.
Figure 10: Overall suicide rates by service-related characteristics, ex-serving members, 1997–2023
This horizontal bar graph shows the suicide rate for ex-serving males and females per 100,000 population per year for the period of 1997 to 2023 by the service-related characteristics of prior service status, age group, service, length of service group, time since separation group, rank group, and reason for separation from the ADF. It also shows the proportion of all ex-serving members by the service-related characteristics.
Source: AIHW analysis of linked Defence historical personnel data–PMKeyS–NDI data 1985–2023.
Notes:
- Due to a change in the way the reason for separation from the ADF was recorded in 2002, analysis by reason for separation is presented only for veterans who separated from 1 January 2003 onwards. These veterans comprise 45% of the total ex-serving population with at least one day of service since 1 January 1985.
- Due to the small number of suicide deaths, females who involuntarily separated for ‘Retention Not in Service Interest’ reasons were aggregated with the ‘other involuntary separation’ group for suicide rate analysis.
- Deaths data for the years 2021, 2022, and 2023 contain preliminary data and are subject to change as part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revisions process. For example, some deaths currently coded as ‘undetermined intent’ could later be determined by a coroner as ‘intentional self-harm’ (or vice-versa).
- Confidence Intervals (CIs) of 95% are used to indicate statistical uncertainty in suicide rates.
- Suicide rates denoted with a '*' should be interpreted with caution as the number of suicides is fewer than 20. These rates are subject to large fluctuations.
See Data for underlying data (Table S3.1, S4.1, S4.2, and S5.1).
Help or support
If you need help or support, please contact:
- Open Arms – Veterans and Families Counselling – Phone: 1800 011 046
- Open Arms Suicide Intervention
- Defence All-hours Support Line (ASL) – Phone: 1800 628 036
- Defence Member and Family Helpline – Phone: 1800 624 608
- Defence Chaplaincy Support
- ADF Mental Health Services
- Lifeline – Phone: 13 11 14
- Suicide Call Back Service – Phone: 1300 659 467
- Beyond Blue Support Service – Phone: 1300 22 4636
For information on support provided by DVA, see: