This section explores the risk of death by suicide among ex-serving ADF males and Australian males. It looks at selected demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that may be associated with increased risk of death by suicide.
Data considerations
In order to understand whether or not ex-serving ADF males have different characteristics and experiences as well as risk and protective factors for suicide, it is important to compare them with other Australian males. However, this presents a number of statistical challenges and it is very important to understand what the limitations are and what should be considered when interpreting the data.
Risk ratios are presented in this section which is a measure that gives an indication of the strength of an association between the cohorts being compared. A risk ratio indicates how many times higher the probability of an event (specifically, risk of death by suicide) is in the group of interest compared with a reference group. Differences in the age structure between the populations is likely to be one of the contributing factors to the differences in the risk ratios that have been observed and caution must be taken in concluding that differences are due to ADF service-related characteristics.
Furthermore, this approach does not take into account the relationships between different characteristics and how these may interact to affect suicide rates. The results presented below have not been adjusted for age as the data could not meet requirements to do so. Readers should take this into consideration when interpreting the results presented.
It is difficult to infer patterns or trends in some of the selected demographics and socioeconomic characteristics because small numbers mean that some results are not able to be published. Values based on small numbers of deaths have been suppressed in order to maintain data confidentiality, and/or avoid publishing statistics of low reliability or high volatility. Volatility is related to the size of the study cohort and the number of deaths observed. This means that when comparing small cohorts with other groups, we have less confidence that small observed differences reflect differences in underlying cohort risks.
Age
Younger ex-serving ADF males had higher risks of death by suicide than those who were older.
Ex-serving ADF males:
- aged 17–24 years had 4.3 times the risk of death by suicide as those aged 45–80.
- aged 25–34 and 35–44 years were 2.5 times and 2.9 times respectively as likely to die by suicide as those aged 45–80 years.
It is important to note that although the youngest age group (17–24 years) is associated with the highest level of risk among ex-serving ADF males, it is also known to be associated with other socioeconomic characteristics. Therefore, age may not be the sole contributing factor in the risk of death by suicide.
Relationship status
Compared with ex-serving ADF males who were in a registered or de facto marriage, ex-serving ADF males who were widowed, divorced or separated had 4.9 times the risk of death by suicide.
Ex-serving ADF males who were never married had 4.1 times the risk of death by suicide as ex-serving ADF males in a registered of de factor marriage.
Education
Ex-serving ADF males with lower levels of educational attainment had higher risks of death by suicide. Those with a Year 12 equivalent or below qualification had 2.2 times the risk of death by suicide as those with a Bachelor degree or higher.
Employment
Compared with ex-serving ADF males who were working full-time, ex-serving ADF males who were not in the labour force had 3.1 times the risk of death by suicide. Those who were working part-time had 2.4 times the risk of death by suicide.
Values for ex-serving ADF males who were unemployed and away from work were based on small numbers of deaths and therefore have been excluded from the risk of death by suicide analysis.
Income
The risk of death by suicide among ex-serving ADF males tended to be higher for those who had lower weekly personal income. Those who earned $200–$399 a week had 7.0 times the risk of death by suicide as those who earned $1,500 or more a week.
Values for ex-serving ADF males who had a weekly personal income as negative/nil or between $1-$199 were based on small numbers of deaths and therefore have been excluded from the risk of death by suicide analysis.
Household circumstances
Ex-serving ADF males who lived in a rented dwelling had 2.0 times the risk of death by suicide as those who lived in a private dwelling owned by a member of the household either outright or with a mortgage.
Household composition
Compared with ex-serving ADF males in couple families with no children, ex-serving ADF males who were living in:
- one parent family with children households had 4.7 times the risk of death by suicide.
- lone person households had 6.3 times the risk of death by suicide.
Values for ex-serving ADF males who lived in a group household were based on small numbers of deaths and therefore have been excluded from the risk of death by suicide analysis.
Number of residents usually living in a dwelling
Ex-serving ADF males who usually were the only person living in their dwelling had 4.8 times the risk of death by suicide as those who usually had 2 people (themselves included) living in their dwelling.
Values for ex-serving ADF males who lived in a dwelling with 5 or more people were based on small numbers of deaths and therefore have been excluded from the risk of death by suicide analysis.
Summary
Overall, within the ex-serving ADF male population, socioeconomic characteristics that were more closely associated with increased social isolation also tended to have relatively high risks of death by suicide. These include:
- being never married, divorced, widowed or separated.
- being in a one parent family or living in a lone person household.
- being the only one usually living in their dwelling.
However, as each of these characteristics were analysed without controlling for other demographics (for example, age) or socioeconomic characteristics, they cannot be considered as sole predictors or direct causes of death by suicide.