Oral Presentation National Suicide Prevention Conference 2026

Reducing the harms of discrimination on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide (131041)

Mandy Gibson 1
  1. Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt, QLD, Australia

Background:  The higher suicide rates experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia has been widely documented, with little evidence that strategies are reducing the rates or closing the gap with non-Indigenous communities1. While the reasons for this disparity are varied and complex, a critical challenge is the differences in the risk factors and trajectories experienced between First Nations and non-Indigenous people2. As such, many approaches remain ineffective as those designed from non-Indigenous experiences are misaligned and fail to address key risk factors and determinants for First Peoples. Most notably of these, are the experiences of racism and discrimination, which communities, Elders, Indigenous scholars alike continue to advocate to address as a critical determinant of suicide3,4. 

This presentation will share findings from a retrospective mortality study examining the relationships between community rates of racist experiences and Indigenous community suicide rates. This session will also as well as the potential buffering effects of cultural protective factors to ameliorate the impacts of discrimination on suicide. 

Methods: Age‐standardised (ASRs) and age-specific suicide rates (ASSRs) rates were calculated using First Nations suicide fatalities and Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s) Census population data in Queensland. Small geographical area estimates of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) results were used to classify high and low levels of discrimination at the SA2 level5. Rate Ratios (RRs) were used to compare ASRs in areas with high and low levels of risk and protective factors.  

Results: ASRs were significantly higher in areas where more of the First Nations residents experienced recent discrimination, and the age-specific suicide rate was significantly higher for those aged 25-34 in areas with more discrimination. Within communities with more experiences of discrimination, those with greater cultural protective factors, such as communities in which more First Nations residents spoke Indigenous languages had significantly lower ASRs.   

Conclusion: These findings highlight the public health risk of racism and discrimination and provide an important example of the power of ‘Unifying Voices’ from both non-Indigenous and Indigenous communities in advocating for strategies to reduce institutional and personal discrimination to reduce Australia's suicide mortality. These findings also reflect the need for suicide prevention frameworks grounded from the unique risk and protective factors for First People and provides evidence for novel approaches to Indigenous suicide prevention; including strategies to promote language and cultural practices to buffer the harm of racism and discrimination.

  1. 1. Gibson M, Leske S, Ward R, Weir B, Russell K, Kolves K. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth suicide mortality and previous mental health, suicidality and service use in Queensland, Australia, from 2001 to 2021. J Affect Disord. 2024;354:55-61. doi:10.1016/J.JAD.2024.03.013
  2. 2. Dudgeon, P., Calma, T., & Holland, C. (2017). The context and causes of the suicide of Indigenous people in Australia. Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing, 2(2), 5–15. https://journalindigenouswellbeing.co.nz/journal_articles/the-context-and-causes-of-the-suicide-of-indigenous-people-in-australia/
  3. 3. Temple JB, Kelaher M, Paradies Y (2020) Experiences of racism among older aboriginal and torres strait islander people: prevalence, sources, and association with mental health. Can J Aging 39(2). https://doi.org/10.1017/S071498081900031X
  4. 4. Gibson, M., Leske, S., Ward, R. et al. Racial discrimination and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide mortality rates in Queensland. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 60, 1593–1602 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-024-02786-z
  5. 5. Vidyattama Y, Tanton R, Biddle N (2015) Estimating small-area indigenous cultural participation from synthetic survey data. Environ Plan Econ Sp 47(5):1211–1228. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X15592314