Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Hindmarsh for raising this matter of the incidence of suicide in Australia and the work of the R U OK organisation. We have heard that Sunday 29 November is the inaugural R U OK? Day, on which Australians are encouraged to reach out to anyone who might be doing it tough and who might also be contemplating suicide. We have also heard that, sadly, over 2,000 Australians each year die by suicide; and for every person who commits suicide about another 10 make an attempt. We also heard how more people die from suicide than by road accidents. In fact is the biggest killer of Australian men and women aged between 15 and 35 years of age.

For those whose suicide attempts fail there is a second chance, but for those who do suicide there is no second chance. There is no bringing them back, undoing whatever caused the suicide or reaching out and helping them through their trauma. Equally sad is that for every suicide the lives of many more family and friends are forever damaged as they grapple with the unanswerable questions of what if or if only—if only I had made more time; if only I had taken more interest; if only I had acted. There may be questions such as: what if help had been sought? What if he or she were alive today? What if the suicide attempt had failed? These and many more questions will forever haunt the close family and friends left behind.

We all know people and families affected by suicide and we have all seen the pain they have endured. Two of my long-term friends committed suicide. Only last week the 26-year-old son of a family acquaintance was buried after having committed suicide. Today’s society is full of people struggling to cope with financial pressures, family expectations, study, drug addiction, violent situations, sexual abuse, gambling and so on. Everybody is prone to stressful situations and everybody copes differently. Everybody under stress does, however, cope better if they have the necessary support around them. That is why I particularly commend the efforts of the R U OK? organisation.

I particularly note that a disproportionate number of suicides are from rural and regional areas. Suicide rates in rural and regional Australia are significantly higher than the national average. Very remote regions have suicide rates double that of major capital cities, and approximately 80 per cent of these suicides are males. It is the most common means of death of Australian men under the age of 44.

I have discussed the matter of rural and regional suicide with people from those areas and, in particular, with people who have been personally associated with counselling services in the Riverland region of South Australia. Many Riverland growers have endured successive years of drought, poor crops and low prices for their produce. Their debts are mounting as their crops fail, and for some their spirit is ultimately broken. These are extremely hardworking, decent people with self-pride who can no longer cope, yet they make the most courageous decision I can think of: the decision to take their own life—not an easy thing to do. These are people who have families and friends, people who should not end their life by suicide. One can only speculate at the stress a person must be under to take their own life.

Males are less likely to discuss their problems with others. It is a male trait. Many males also have a belief that they are the breadwinner of the family and therefore feel responsible when their farms fail. Males often see themselves as being weak if they have been abused, bullied or exploited. Perhaps that is why we have a higher incidence of suicide amongst males than we do amongst females.

The R U OK? organisation ought to truly be commended for raising this matter publicly, and through their efforts on the 29th I hope that it will get the public recognition it deserves, because we as a society can collectively help those people who might otherwise be contemplating suicide. We can help them by being receptive to them. We can help them by initiating conversations with them. We can help them by being good listeners. We can help them by encouraging them to talk to others and to seek help, and we can be helpful to them. If we all do those things when we notice stress in the people that we associate with—often we notice but perhaps, for whatever reason, decide to mind our own business and take a step back away from them—and if we in fact take an interest in those people, we may well be able to give them the support they need. If we can save even one life through our action, then it has all been worth while. Once again, I commend the R U OK? organisation for this very good initiative.

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