Australian youth who die by suicide after experiencing family violence are being let down by a system ill-equipped to identify and support their safety needs, a new joint report reveals.
Released today, Missing Figures: The Role of Domestic and Family Violence in Youth Suicide, reveals how family violence risks are overlooked in Australian youth suicide reporting.
The research is a collaboration with Griffith University, Monash University, Melbourne City Mission and Berry Street Y-Change.
Monash University's Gender Family Violence and Prevention Centre director Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon said the needs of children and young people who have experienced family violence must be better considered in the design and delivery of domestic and family violence service responses.
"If we want to prevent young deaths by suicide following family violence, leaders developing the first five-year Action Plan for Australia's National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children must ensure the safety and service needs of young victim-survivors are better included," co-author Professor Fitz-Gibbon said.
Thirty-eight per cent of the deaths among people, aged 15 to 24, are by suicide in Australia. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, suicide was the leading cause of death among young Australians between 2018 to 2020.
The report explores the association between growing up with family violence and youth suicide. It highlights the need to build better understandings and to ensure these deaths of young people are accounted for in Australia's commitment to end domestic, family and sexual violence.
The report finds that young victim-survivors of family violence who seek help alone are at greater risk of suicide ideation and death by suicide, and yet there are currently no national or state-wide specialist responses in Australia to support them.
Griffith University lead author Professor Silke Meyer said a specialised service system for victim survivors aged 12 to 24 is needed to support our youth, and potentially save lives.
