Reportage

For Journalists

Mindframe is the Australian Department of Health and Ageing's national strategy for promoting responsible and accurate reporting of suicide and mental illness in the media. If you are a journalist, make sure you have a copy of 'Reporting Suicide and Mental Illness - a resource for media professionals'

Mindframe can also assist journalists to prepare responsible stories about suicide and suicide prevention and provide talent for media. See the expert comment section of their website for further details.

Reportage

The following stories from the last six months cover suicide and/or self-harm. To share your opinion of these stories and discuss reportage of suicide and self-harm in the media, visit the LIFE discussion forums.
 
Aboriginal advocates warn of youth suicide spike
20 May 2013, abc.net.au
 More than 100 people including Indigenous leaders and government representatives attended a crisis meeting to discuss a spike in Aboriginal youth suicides.
 
Suicide risk assessments 'unhelpful and unreliable'
20 May 2013, Sydney Morning Herald
 All doctors in NSW must assess how likely a patient is to suicide despite the fact that there is no evidence such assessments are accurate or useful, said Matthew Large, a clinical lecturer at the University of NSW and one of the world's foremost experts in suicide risk.
 
Mental health disorders among Australian parents 'on the rise'
20 May 2013, abc.net.au
A new study has found the number of parents with mental illness increased by three per cent every year between 1990 to 2005. 
 
Experts call for youth forensic mental health unit
19 May 2013, The Age
 A secure forensic mental health facility for young Victorians is urgently needed to adequately treat the state's most psychologically troubled offenders, juvenile justice workers say.
 
Suicide prevention plan launched
17 May 2013, abc.net.au
An action plan aimed at preventing suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities has been launched in Hobart.  
 
Kayaker helping fight high suicide rate
20 April 2013, Canberra Times
Australian Federal Police officer Andy Warton will set out on Saturday on a dangerous kayak journey around Samoa to raise awareness about the nation's high rate of youth suicide.
 
La Trobe regional gallery examines self-harm through art
19 April 2013, abc.net.au
Latrobe Regional Gallery is using its current exhibition called Hide and Seek to delve into the issue of self harm. 
 
What can we learn from Indigenous culture about mental health?
10 April 2013, Croakey blog
In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ cultures, social and emotional wellbeing are considered pivotal to a community’s survival and growth as well as an individuals’ sense of wellbeing. 
 
Coroner to get detailed picture of suicide
27 March 2013, The Age
Beyondblue will pour almost $280,000 into the Coroners Court in an attempt to reduce Victoria's suicide rate.
 
SPAN walk spreads suicide prevention awareness
25 March 2013, Bendigo Advertiser
We all have an important role to play in suicide prevention. That was the message being spread at yesterday’s Suicide Prevention Awareness Network (SPAN) walk through Bendigo’s CBD.
 
Suicide the biggest killer among under-25s
16 March 2013, Sydney  Morning Herald
Suicide is the most common cause of death for Australians under 25, killing more than car accidents or skin cancer.
 
12 March 2013, The Conversation
research into barriers and suicide can create an artificial and overly optimistic impression of the efficacy of means restriction. 
 
12 February 2013, abc.net.au
Mount Isa will be part of a study into youth suicide that focuses on young people who have lost a friend to suicide.   
 
7 February 2013, Brisbane Times
There are always alternatives and help available.  
 
7 February 2013, abc.net.au 
A far north Queensland public health organisation says it will not be able to set up a youth suicide prevention workshop without more funding.
 
6 February 2013, abc.net.au 
Suicide prevention experts have welcomed the Brisbane City Council decision to install suicide prevention barriers on the Story Bridge. 
 
28 January 2013, Mashable
Facebook has announced its partnership with suicide prevention group Save.org to monitor suicide warning signs posted through social media. 
 
17 January 2013, The Advertiser
South Australia-based Facebook initiative for youth suicide prevention could face closure if it cannot secure government support, its director says.  
 
17 January 2013, The Conversation
Unsurprisingly, there is an increasing focus on possible links between FIFO/DIDO work and suicide. Despite this, there has been very little scientific study of these possible connections. 
 
Mental health resources falling short
15 January 2013, Bendigo Advertiser
Bendigo's political leaders share different views on who is responsible for problems with the mental health system.
 
15 January 2013, scoop,co.nz
For many, New Zealand’s high suicide rates – especially for Maori – can seem overwhelming. Suicide among Maori is a complex issue, and most people don’t know how they can help. 
 
14 January 2013, Canberra Times

The former manager of the Alexander Maconochie Centre's crisis support unit says the government's promised secure mental health facility is too small and will come years too late.

Natural disasters have unexpected impact on mental health
14 January 2013, The Conversation
In terms of mental health, the real effect of disasters is surprising.


Tackling South Korea's suicide rate
10 January 2013, abc.net.au

Mental health experts have called for a major shift in the way mental illness is tackled in South Korea, where the suicide rate remains the highest in the developed world.

 
9 January 2013, abc.net.au

Korea holds the unfortunate record of the highest rate of suicide in the developed world.

 
4 January 2013, The Mercury
A coroner has called for the installation of cameras on the Tasman bridge in an attempt to stop people jumping to their death.  
 
13 December 2012, abc.net.au
A British MP has accused Southern Cross Austereo of not doing enough to help the family of the nurse who appears to have taken her own life in the wake of a radio prank call. 

Facebook link to teen self-harm
12 December 2012, The West Australian
Perth doctors have warned of an epidemic of troubled teenagers whose self-harming behaviour is fuelled by their use of Facebook and other social media. 

10 December 2012, abc.net.au 
A town south of Adelaide has taken matters into its own hands as it tries to beat a surge in suicides.

2Day FM in crisis over prank call 'tragedy'
10 December 2012, abc.net.au
Sydney radio station 2Day FM has told the London hospital involved in the royal prank call that it will "fully cooperate" with all investigations. 
 
9 December 2012, Sydney Morning Herald
Opinion piece by Jill Stark, who reflects on the recent media coverage of the suspected suicide of British nurse following an Australian radio prank. 
 
30 November 2012, Canberra Times
Care should be targeted, accessible and affordable, Lesley Russell writes.  
 
30 November 2012, Border Mail
An increase in severe cases of self-harm over the past five months has driven Wodonga youth refuge workers to consider urgent solutions to the problem. 
 
29 November 2012, SBS World News

Eleven asylum seekers detained at Australia's offshore processing centre on Nauru have harmed themselves, the immigration department says.

Mental health report card 'confronting'
27 November 2012, Sydney Morning Herald
Australia's inaugural "report card" on mental health services has been described by the chair of the National Mental Health Commission as "confronting" after it found services need a major overhaul.

22 November 2012, abc.net.au
The Victorian Government will cut four youth suicide early intervention programs across Gippsland at the end of June next year. 
 
22 November 2012, Sydney Morning Herald
Thousands of children - some younger than nine years old - have been admitted to hospitals around the country after intentionally harming themselves, a new report has found.

Report reveals factors driving suicide in the bush
21 November 2012, Warwick Daily News
Divorce, alcohol use and the number of jobs in agriculture are three main factors driving the suicide rate in regional and remote Australia, a new report  revealed yesterday. 
 
20 November 2012, Perth Now
Clarkson teenager Alysha Devereux, clinging to life after a suicide attempt, has left powerful video messages for authorities, pleading for help from the mental health system. 
 
16 November 2012, Perth Now 
WA's mental health services are severely understaffed and the system is under "considerable stress" which means many patients "fall through the cracks", according to a new review.  
 
14 November 2012, The Age
The faces catch the eye in the quilt the Salvation Army has unveiled to honour Victorians who died by suicide.
 
12 November 2012, abc.net.au
The Salvation Army is calling for more support for the friends and family of suicide victims. 
 
12 November 2012, The Age
It is the guilt and the stigma that torment people who have lost family to suicide. Often they are shunned by friends and never have the most basic question adequately answered.
 
1 November 2012, The Age
Suicide accounted for 80% of all national rail deaths last year, according to new figures. 
 
31 October 2012, ninemsn.com.au
The Immigration Department has confirmed that two asylum seekers have attempted self-harm at the detention facility on Nauru.
 
31 October 2012, Sydney Morning Herald
British child psychotherapist Julie Lynn Evans says the internet revolution is having a profound effect on children, taking many to a dark world that is doing them untold harm. 
 
22 October 2012, Herald Sun 
Victoria's chief psychiatrist, Dr Ruth Vine, found significant systemic flaws in her review this year into 41 unexpected and unnatural deaths in the public mental health system. 
 
17 October 2012, The West Australian
A mobile phone app for recording daily moods that alerts a trusted friend when you are feeling low, and a mental health wellbeing van for visiting schools, are among the suicide prevention projects being worked on around the State.
 
14 October 2012, The Australian
There are concerns for the mental health of asylum-seekers detained on Nauru's processing centre, after three men harmed themselves in the facility in as many days.  
 
13 October 2012, The Age
Ambulance data on Victorian patients who self-harm or attempt suicide will be examined over the next year in a federal government project aimed at identifying emerging areas of concern.
10 October 2012, abc.net.au

A regional mental health advocate says there is an urgent need for mental health crisis teams to address suicide rates in the country.

 

10 October 2012, abc.net.au
The suicide rate for Indigenous Australians is about 70 per cent higher than that of non-Indigenous Australians. 
 
7 October 2012, Herald Sun
shocking artwork depicting a simulated suicide by hanging on show at the National Portrait Gallery has mental health experts concerned.  
 
7 October 2012, New York Times
 With nearly half of all suicides in the military having been committed with privately owned firearms, the Pentagon and Congress are moving to establish policies intended to separate at-risk service members from their personal weapons
 
5 October 2012, abc.net.au

A man who has lost family members to suicide says governments need to be held to account over high suicide rates among Aboriginal people.

Aboriginal suicide prevention resource launched
28 September 2012, abc.net.au
Fifteen people have become the first graduates of a new program aimed at reducing high levels of suicide in remote Indigenous communities.
 
24 September 2012, The Conversation
Moving to the present, Lawson’s Australian rural man – and, particularly, the farmer – has become a subject of concern within health research, policy, and practice. 
 
20 September 2012, abc.net.au
A home-grown suicide prevention program is successfully raising awareness in rural Australia, which still has higher levels of suicide than other parts of the country.
 
20 September 2012, The Australian 
Regular use of cannabis can trigger suicidal thoughts in some users, particularly young men, according to the results of a 30-year study.