Group at centre of ‘troubling’ health crisis

The startling figures included a 9 per cent enhance within the variety of suicides in 2022 in contrast with 2021.

In whole, 756 folks took their very own lives in Victoria in 2022 in contrast with 693 the earlier 12 months.

There have been a median of 58 deaths per 30 days within the first half of the 12 months that climbed to 65 per 30 days later in 2022.

This year-on-year spike marks the very best rise in suicide deaths since information started being collected by the Coroner’s Court of Victoria in 2000.

“The data therefore should be interpreted cautiously, with great care taken in drawing conclusions about any apparent increase or decrease that is observed,” the report learn.

However, Victorian State Coroner John Cain stated the most recent statistics have been “very concerning” and attributable to a spread of things.

“We didn’t see an increase over the pandemic, but what we saw in the last part of last year was a significant increase,” he instructed ABC Radio Melbourne.

“It’s never one thing, it’s always multi-factorial. It’s social isolation, it’s mental health, substance abuse, interactions with the legal system, financial pressures.

“There’s a mixture of things (and) we’ll try and unpack which of those factors were more dominant.”

He identified within the report that there was a 32 per cent enhance on the earlier 12 months in folks aged 65 years and older taking their very own lives.

“It is not clear what is driving this increase – especially among those 65 and over – but we are monitoring closely to see if this trend continues,” he stated within the report.

In whole, 560 males and 196 females died by suicide in Victoria in 2022.

Figures throughout the previous 5 years have been comparatively regular, with 2020 marking the bottom price when 691 folks took their very own lives.

Originally printed as Victoria’s suicide price ‘troubling’ amid surge in figures