Suicide and self-harm among older Australians

Background

Older Australians are a diverse group, with different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, life experiences, and lifestyles. They generally include those aged 65 years and over, unless otherwise specified (AIHW 2023). Older people also make up a considerable proportion of Australia’s population – on 30 June 2024 17% of people were aged 65 years and over (ABS 2025). Due to small numbers, this report does not disaggregate by First Nations status but may be included in future updates where possible.

As people get older, they may become more vulnerable to certain risk factors for suicide and self-harm. For instance, suicidality is associated with loneliness, social isolation, and perceived burdensomeness in older people (Klein et al. 2023). In contrast, strong social support, community engagement and maintaining physical health are protective factors against suicide and self-harm (Klein et al. 2023).

This article provides monitoring data on suicide, intentional self-harm hospitalisations and ambulance attendances for suicidal behaviours among older Australians. For more information on the health and welfare of older Australians, see the GEN Aged Care or the Aged Care webpages. For more information about the mental health needs of individuals at the time of assessment for aged care services and about deaths due to suicide while accessing aged care, see the Mental health in aged care report.

Death by suicide among older Australians

The data visualisation below provides an overview of suicide trends among older Australians over time, highlights variations by sex, and compares these trends to younger people and people of all ages.

Older Australians suicide rate has decreased over time

After adjusting for differences in age structures over the years, the overall suicide rate among older Australians (aged 65 year and over) has declined.

• 1920s to 1960s: Generally, older Australians had higher aged-standardised rates of suicide deaths compared to those aged under 65 years (15–64). These peaks often coincided with major social and economic events, see Impact of social and economic events.
• 1970 to early 1990s: The age-standardised suicide rate among older Australians fell to similar rates seen for those aged under 65 years; albeit slightly higher overall.
• Early 1990s onwards: Suicide rates among older Australians continued to fall and remained lower than those of people aged under 65 years. In 2023, the age-standardised rate for those aged 65 and over was 12.3 per 100,000 people, compared to 15.2 for those aged under 65 years.
• Until around the 1990s, males over the age of 65 years had higher rates of suicide compared to those under 65. Since then, the rate for males over 65 years have been slightly lower than those for younger males, with some variation.
• While the age-standardised and age-specific rate of suicide among older Australians has decreased over time, the total number of suicides has steadily increased, in line with the population increasing.

Intentional self-harm hospitalisations among older Australians

The data visualisation below provides an overview of intentional self-harm hospitalisations among older Australians, from 2008–09 to 2022–23. Note ‘intentional self-harm’ includes both suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-harming behaviours. For more information on intentional self-harm hospitalisations data, see Intentional self-harm hospitalisations and Data sources.

Intentional self-harm hospitalisations among older Australians are lower than younger Australians

Between 2008–09 and 2022–23:

• the age-standardised rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations among older Australians has remained steady, ranging from 36.1 per 100,000 people in 2008–09 to 37.4 in 2022–23, reaching a peak of 44.0 in 2016–17.
• On average, the age-standardised rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations was 3.5 times higher among those aged under 65 years compared to older Australians aged 65 and over, reflecting the overall higher rates among younger age groups (AIHW, 2024).
• The age-standardised rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations among older Australians was similar for males and females, yet on average the rate was almost twice as high (1.9 times) among younger females compared to younger males.

Ambulance attendances for suicidal ideation, and suicidal and self-harm behaviours among older Australians

The data visualisations below provide an overview of ambulance attendances for suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and self-injury among older Australians, in states and territories where data are available. For more information on ambulance data, see Ambulance attendances: Suicidal ideation, and suicidal and self-harm behaviours and Data sources - National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS).

Ambulance attendances for self-harm are lower among older Australians compared to younger Australians

Between March 2018 and March 2024 in New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (Vic), Tasmania (Tas) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) combined:

• the age-specific rate of ambulance attendances for suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and self-injury was lower among older Australians compared with those under 65 years. This is similar to trends in intentional self-harm hospitalisations among these two populations (see Intentional self-harm hospitalisations for older people compared with those under 65 years and all ages, Australia, 2008–09 to 2022–23, above).
• The age-specific rates among older Australians remained steady over time for suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and self-injury ambulance attendances.
• Among older Australians, the age-specific rates for ambulance attendances for suicide attempts and self-injury were similar for males and females. However, among those aged under 65, the rates for both these attendance types were 80% higher on average for females, compared with males.
• On average, suicidal ideation was around 40% higher among males aged 65 years and over compared with females of the same age.

State and territory variations in self-harm ambulance attendances among older Australians

In 2023:

• In NSW, Vic and Qld, the rates of ambulance attendances for suicide attempt were higher among males aged 85 years and over (51.2, 64.1 and 75.4 per 100,000 respectively), compared with males aged 65 to 74 years (34.9, 42.9 and 62.2, respectively) and 75 to 84 years (34.0, 37.9 and 59.4, respectively), although overlapping 95% confidence intervals (CIs) among these age groups mean there is uncertainty around this finding (see Methods for more information on uncertainty). The number of attendances among males aged 85 years and over was too small to present rates for NT, Tas and the ACT.
• For suicidal ideation, there were no clear patterns in ambulance attendance rates between those aged 65 to 74, 75 to 84 and 85 years and over. While in Vic, attendance rates for suicidal ideation appeared to decrease with increasing age for those aged 65 years and over, overlapping confidence intervals indicate uncertainty about this result.  
• The rates of ambulance attendances for self-injury were lower among older Australians compared with those aged under 65 years across all included states and territories. The number of attendances for self-injury among those aged 65 years and over was too small to draw meaningful comparisons between the further disaggregated age-groups of 65 to 74, 75 to 84 and 85 years and over.

Comparing ambulance data between states and territories

Comparing ambulance attendance rates across states and territories requires careful interpretation due to varying factors such as the availability of ambulance services, cost coverage differences, and access to 24-hour health centres. Additionally, inconsistencies in paramedic patient records across jurisdictions can affect the data, making it challenging to fully understand the reasons behind the differences in attendance rates. For further information on comparing state and territory data please refer to the Technical notes.

Data considerations

The completeness of ambulance attendance data in the NASS can be affected by events and technical issues that are outside of the control of Turning Point. These include industrial action, information technology issues and problems with transfer of data. Every attempt possible is made to fully retrieve lost data. When interpreting the data and visualisations presented on this page, note that:

• NSW data for June 2021 were lower than expected due to industrial action and technical issues with case recording devices.
• Industrial action occurred in NSW in April 2022, which could have resulted in lower numbers.
• NSW data for July and August 2022 were lower than expected (by around 10% and 7%, respectively), due to a data synchronisation issue at NSW Ambulance Service.
• Industrial action occurred in Vic from 18 March to 23 September 2024, resulting in around 75% fewer cases being received.
• Other issues have affected NASS data to a lesser extent over time. A full list can be found in Data sources - National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS).

Download data tables

Supplementary tables

Older Australians – Suicide, self-harm and suicidal ideation

Download data

Further information

• GEN Aged Care
• Aged care
• Mental health in aged care
• Deaths by suicide over time
• Intentional self-harm hospitalisations
• Ambulance attendances: Suicidal ideation, and suicidal and self-harm behaviours