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Deaths by suicide among people who used disability services

Deaths by suicide among people who used disability services and the general population data (who were not disability service users) are sourced from the AIHW report: Mortality patterns among people using disability support services: 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018. These data include details about deaths for people who accessed disability specific support services, funded under the National Disability Agreement (NDA), from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018, herein referred to as ‘people who used disability services’. Deaths reported are those that occurred between 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018. It should, therefore, be noted that the data below are not representative of all deaths of people with disability, but rather those who had access to and were successful in applying for NDA funded support services over the 5-year study period. In this reporting, the general population is the Australian population aged under 65 years, less people who used disability services. For further information on the methods of this study please see the Technical Report. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has largely replaced the disability services currently provided by states and territories to people with disability under the NDA.

People living with disability are one of the Australian government’s priority populations for suicide prevention due to the high rates of suicide and self-harm among those with disability (Cth of Australia, 2022). As such, analysis and visualisation of data from the above report has been incorporated into the National Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring System.  

Further, we acknowledge those who have died by suicide and those who are bereaved and affected by suicide and self-harm. Suicide and self-harm are preventable. If you, or you believe somebody you know, is experiencing suicidality, please seek help.

Deaths by suicide among people who used disability services and the general population

People aged under 65 years, who used disability services between 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018, died by suicide at a rate three times greater than the general population of the same age (34 and 11 per 100,000 population respectively). See notes in the visualisation below for more information on age groups.

Deaths by suicide, by sex

The rate of death by suicide for all males who used disability services (38 per 100,000 population) was 1.4 times greater than females who used disability services (27 per 100,000 population). The difference in rate of death by suicide between males and females is substantially smaller among those who used disability services when compared to the general population. Among the general population, the rate of death by suicide for males (17 per 100,000 population) was 2.8 times greater than females (6 per 100,000 population).

The data visualisation compares rates of deaths by suicide between the general population and disability support service users from 2013 to 2018. It is categorised by sex (females, males, persons). 

Deaths by suicide, by sex and age group

For both males and females, and across each of the age groups, those who used disability services had higher rates of death by suicide compared to the general population.

The rate of deaths by suicide for females aged 20–34 years who used disability services (35 per 100,000 population) was over five times greater than the rate among females aged 20–34 in the general population (6.0 per 100,000 population). Among males aged 20–34 years, the rate of suicide (53 per 100,000) was more than double the rate among in the general population of the same age (21 per 100,000 population).

For females who used disability services, the highest rates of suicide were within the 35–49 years age group (38 per 100,000 population respectively). The rate of death by suicide among females who used disability services within the 35-49 years age group was almost five times greater than for females in the general population of the same age (8.0 per 100,000 population).

The highest rate of death by suicide, across all gender and age groups, was among men who used disability services aged 35–49 years (62 per 100,000 population). For men in the general population, the highest rate of death by suicide was also among those aged 35–49 years of age (26 per 100,000 population).

For woman aged 50-64 years of age, the rate of death by suicide among those who used disability services (28 per 100,000 population) was almost four times greater than among the general population (7.5 per 100,000 population). For men aged 50-64 years of age, the rate of death by suicide among those who used disability services (47 per 100,000 population) was approximately two times greater than among the general population (23 per 100,000 population).

The interactive data visualisation compares rates of deaths by suicide amongst the general population and those who used a disability support service from 2013 to 2018. The two population groups are divided according to age group from persons aged 20 to over 65 years of age. Sex can be selected (females, males, persons).

Among both disability service users and the general population, and across each of the age groups, males comprise a substantially higher percentage of all deaths by suicide compared females. However, across each of the age groups, the percentage of all deaths by suicide that are female is higher among those who used disability services compared to the general population. For example, 37% of deaths by suicide among disability service users aged 50-64 years were female. Whereas 25% of deaths by suicide among the general population aged 50-64 years were female.

The data visualisation shows the percentage of males and females who died by suicide, from 2013 to 2018. It is divided by age groups and range from people aged 20 to all persons under 65. Viewing for the general population or those who used a disability support service can be selected.

Deaths by suicide as a percentage of deaths by all causes

Death by suicide (for all persons under 65 years) accounted for 5.2% of deaths by all causes among disability service users, making it the fourth leading cause of death for this population. Among the general population, death by suicide accounted for 8.9% of deaths by all causes and was the number one leading cause of death.

Particularly among the younger age groups, deaths by suicide accounted for a larger percentage of all deaths occurring within the general population as compared to those occurring within those who used disability services. Among the 20-34 years age group, deaths by suicide accounted for 31% of all deaths occurring within the general population and 15% of all deaths occurring within those who used disability services. Even so, death by suicide was the number one leading cause of death for the 20-34 years age group among both the general population and those who used disability services.

Deaths by suicide as a percentage of deaths by all causes can be viewed by hovering the mouse over the data points included within ‘Comparison of rates of deaths by suicide among people who used disability services and the general population, by sex and age group, 2013–2018’ and ‘Comparison of rates of suicide (per 100,000) among people who used disability services and the general population, by sex, 2013–2018’ visualisations above.

Deaths by suicide by primary disability

In this reporting the concept of ‘primary disability’ is that the type of disability which most clearly reflects the person’s experience of disability and causes them the most difficulty in everyday life. Primary disability groups reported here are those used by the Mortality patterns among people using disability support services: 1 July 2013 to June 2018 report. It is important to note that people who live with disability can experience multiple types of disability at any point in time. The people whose data are reported here may have experienced different types of disability.

People using disability services whose primary disability was ‘psychosocial disability’ had substantially higher rates of death by suicide (101 per 100,000 population) compared to disability service users with all other primary disabilities and compared to the general population. The rate of death by suicide for disability service users with ‘psychosocial disability’ was approximately nine times greater than for the general population (11 per 100,000 population).

The rate of death by suicide for disability service users (for people aged under 65) with ‘psychosocial disability’ was 1.7 times greater than among those with ‘acquired brain injury’ (56 per 100,000 population) as a primary disability. The rate of death by suicide for those with ‘psychosocial disability’ was four times greater than among those with a ‘physical disability’ (25 per 100,00 population) as their primary disabilities. Among those with a primary ‘psychosocial disability’ the rate of death by suicide was more than six times greater than for those with hearing disability, more than nine time greater than for those with learning specific/ADD disability, and more than 25 times greater than for those with autism as their primary disability.

The data visualisation shows rates of death by suicide for those who used a disability support service, by primary disability, from 2013 to 2018. Primary disability is categorised into 6 types (Autism, specific learning/ADD, hearing disability, physical disability, acquired brain injury, psychosocial disability) and data includes people aged under 20.

For those using disability services whose primary disability was ‘psychosocial disability’, suicide deaths accounted for 20.7% of all deaths occurring within this group during the study period. Suicide deaths accounted for the highest percentage of all cause deaths for those with psychosocial disability compared to all other primary disabilities. The percentage of all deaths accounted for by suicide was second highest among those with a primary disability of autism. Suicide deaths accounted for 6.0% of all deaths among those with a primary disability of autism. The percentage of all deaths accounted for by suicide among people with psychosocial disability was around four times greater than those with autism.

The interactive data visualisation shows deaths by primary disability, population and cause of death for all persons aged under 65 between 2013 to 2018. Selection for mortality rate or number of deaths, cause of death (all cause or suicide) and population type are all selectable features.

The rate of death by suicide among people whose primary disability was psychosocial disability was highest for those aged 20–34 years (118 per 100,000 population). However, among all people who used disability services the highest rate of death by suicide was for those aged 35-49 years (51 per 100,000 population). 

The data visualisation shows rates of death by suicide from 2013 to 2018, for the general population, disability service users and disability service users with a psychosocial disability. These categories are subdivided by age group, ranging from 20 to all persons under 65 years of age.

Among those whose primary disability was psychosocial disability, rates of death by suicide were highest for the 20-34 year age group (118 per 100 000 population) and lowest for the 50-64 years age group (86 per 100 000 population). Even so, the rate of death by suicide among those with psychosocial disability aged 50–64 years, was considerably higher than the peak rates of death by suicide for all disability service users (51 per 100,000 population among those aged 35–49 years) and the general population (17 per 100,000 population among those aged 35–49 years).

Rates of suicide by all those who used disability services was curved across age groups, peaking in the 35-49 year age group.

References

The Commonwealth of Australia (Cth of Australia) (2022) National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement, The Federal Financial Relations website, accessed 3 March 2023.

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