Billion-dollar suicide strategy failing, audit finds
Almost $1 billion is being poured into suicide prevention but the government is failing to measure its impact or develop effective policies, an audit has found.
Government spending of almost $1 billion on suicide prevention is failing to achieve its objectives and the outcomes are not being monitored.
The Australian National Audit Office has released findings critical of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageingâs development and monitoring of suicide prevention measures.
âFour to five years after several national agreements, objectives to reduce suicide have not been achieved,â the audit found.
âThere is no framework to support measuring and monitoring the impact of the Australian governmentâs suicide prevention investment.â
There were more than 3300 suicide deaths in 2024, and it is the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 44 years.
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The suicide rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is more than double the rate for non-Indigenous Australians and is increasing.
Youth mental health expert Patrick McGorry said the findings showed âgovernments need to lead more strongly on thisâ.
âLetâs put our efforts into major programs that are likely to work; letâs fund a system of health care that effectively treats people who are at maximum risk,â he told AAP.
He called for the creation of a national statutory suicide prevention authority with âreally powerful tools to actually control the funding and invest in coherent programsâ.
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The federal government committed to addressing suicide through two national agreements â Closing the Gap in 2020 and the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement in 2022.
âDHDA did not fully support these commitments through robust policy development, including in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, or effective performance monitoring,â the audit found.
âWhile new suicide prevention measures were implemented, DHDA has not established arrangements to determine whether outcomes are being achieved.â
Black Dog Instituteâs First Nations strategy director Clinton Schultz said policies and programs developed without clear roles, strong collaboration and culturally informed leadership risked âmissing the mark for the communities they are intended to supportâ.
âWithout genuine buy-in and active partnership from governments and the relevant departments, opportunity risks being lost,â Associate Professor Schultz told AAP.
Elders, community leaders and community members had deep knowledge about what worked in their communities.
âEnsuring that this knowledge informs policy, program design and evaluation is essential,â he said.
Since 2022, the department has administered 41 suicide prevention measures with government funding of more than $990 million.
The departmentâs development and monitoring of suicide prevention measures was only âpartly effectiveâ, and policy advice was ânot fully robustâ, the audit found.
The audit recommends the department finalise an agreement with the National Suicide Prevention Office to ensure clear roles and responsibilities, including in developing and providing advice to government on suicide prevention policy.
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