A national database compiling timely information from paramedics, hospitals, coroners, police and the community on suicides will be launched on Tuesday to demystify the subject in a bid to prevent more deaths.
"Every life lost to suicide is one too many. We can all take action to prevent suicide with some understanding of who is at risk," she said.The latest national suicide data is from 2018, which shows suicide was the leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 44 years old. Males were three to four times more likely to take their own lives than females, with 2320 men and 726 women dying of suicide that year .
Nerida Volker's husband, Pete, died by suicide in 2008 when the couple's daughters, Sienna and Lucia, were eight and four years old. Dr Volker is on the mental health commission's expert advisory group, which helped ensure the website was respectful, safe and easy to navigate.