Background: The risk of suicide in Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel is an area of significant concern and public commentary, indicated by recent government-directed inquiries and the establishment of a permanent National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention. Despite this investment, suicide is a leading cause of death in military populations internationally and in Australia. However, population-level and longitudinal research regarding risk of suicide among defence and other occupational groups in Australia is lacking. This presentation will examine the relative risk of suicide among ADF personnel compared to other occupations and examine changes in suicide rates over time.
Method: Suicide data for 2001–2017 were identified using the Australian National Coronial Information Service (NCIS) for current serving ADF personnel and individuals employed in all other occupations. ADF workforce data was obtained from official ADF Census data. Population-level workforce data was obtained from the 2006, 2011 and 2016 Census. Suicide methods were described and compared with Chi-square tests. Age-standardised suicide rates for each occupational group were calculated and negative binomial regression was used to estimate suicide risk by occupation and to examine trends in suicide rates over time, using rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Incorporation of lived/living experience was not possible in this study due to the use of coronial data.
Results: Findings will be presented, focusing on identifying relative risk and trends over time among ADF personnel. Gender-specific analysis may be reported.
Conclusion: Results will be discussed and compared with other Australian and international data on serving and veteran suicide. Implications for policy and research will be discussed, including evidence-informed innovative solutions to the burden of suicide among defence populations, such as targeted suicide prevention initiatives for serving defence personnel. By understanding past challenges and how they have evolved over time, and identify emerging risks, the defence sector and researchers can plan to address defence suicide in an informed manner moving forward.