Serving and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members who have served since 1985: suicide monitoring 1997 to 2021

Suicide rates by age

Ex-serving males and females

Between 1997 and 2021, the suicide rate for ex-serving males aged 50 years and over was significantly lower than ex-serving males under 50 years of age (19.8 and 36.8 per 100,000 population per year). There was no statistically significant difference between any of the male age cohorts under 50 years of age.

There was no statistically significant difference between the ex-serving females suicide rates by age.

This is shown in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4: Suicide rate by age group, ex-serving males and females, 1997–2021

Source: AIHW analysis of linked Defence historical personnel data–PMKeyS–NDI data 1985–2021.

Suicide rates in ex-serving members by age compared with the Australian population

Here comparisons have been made for the suicide rates for the age-specific ex-serving cohorts with the general Australian population. The suicide rates for ex-serving males and females aged 50 years and over were similar to Australian males and females in the same age group. However, the age-specific suicide rates for ex-serving males and females were higher than the Australian population for all other age groups. For those under 30, the suicide rate for ex-serving females was around 3 times that of Australian females, and 1.7 times for ex-serving males compared with Australian males.

The full set of values is given in Tables 3 and 4 below. 

Note:

a. The age range for Australian males were matched to the ex-serving ADF males age range (minimum and maximum ages were 17 and 96 respectively).

Source: AIHW analysis of linked Defence historical personnel data–PMKeyS–NDI data 1985–2021; NMD 1985–2021.

Notes:

a. The age range for Australian females were matched to the ex-serving ADF females age range (minimum and maximum ages were 17 and 91 respectively).

* Suicide rates in this Table denoted with a '*' should be interpreted with caution as the number of suicides is fewer than 20. These rates are considered potentially volatile.

The confidence intervals in this Figure can be used to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the suicide rates calculated for the ADF between different 3-year periods. However, they cannot be used to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between rates calculated for the ADF population for overlapping 3-year time periods (for example 2002–2004 and 2003–2005).

Source: AIHW analysis of linked Defence historical personnel data–PMKeyS–NDI data 1985–2021; NMD 1985–2021.

Suicide rates by age over time

There is some fluctuation over time in the suicide rates by age group, though most differences are not statistically significant.

The suicide rate for ex-serving males by age group is compared with the rate for Australian males in the same age range in the interactive graph below (Figure 5). Select an age group from the menu to display the comparison. Due to the small number of suicide deaths among ex-serving females, suicide rates by age over time are not reported.

Figure 5: Rate of suicide, ex-serving and Australian males by age, 1997–1999 to 2019–2021

Notes:

* Suicide rates in this Figure denoted with a '*' should be interpreted with caution as the number of suicides is fewer than 20. These rates are considered potentially volatile.

The confidence intervals in this Figure can be used to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the suicide rates calculated for the ADF between different 3-year periods. However, they cannot be used to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between rates calculated for the ADF population for overlapping 3-year time periods (for example 2002–2004 and 2003–2005).

Minimum and maximum ages of Australian males were matched to the minimum and maximum ages of ADF ex-serving males for each year within 3-year periods.

Data underlying this graph are available in Supplementary table S6.2 and S6.3. See Data for a link to the tables.

Please note, data for recent years are subject to change; see Technical notes for further detail.

Suicide rates by age and service status

Permanent and reserve male suicide rates were similar regardless of their age at death. The suicide rate was higher among ex-serving males compared to permanent or reserve males for the age groups of under 30, 30–39, and 40–49 years. For those 50 years and over, ex-serving males had a higher suicide rate compared to permanent and reserve males, however, this difference was not statistically significant for permanent males (see Table 5 and Figure 6 below). While the difference was not found to be not statistically significant, there may still be a real difference that the statistical test did not detect due to the small size of the veteran cohort.

Note: * Suicide rates in this Table denoted with a '*' should be interpreted with caution as the number of suicides is fewer than 20. These rates are considered potentially volatile.

Source: AIHW analysis of linked Defence historical personnel data–PMKeyS–NDI data 1985–2021

Figure 6: Male suicide rate by age group and service status, 1997–2021

Source: AIHW analysis of linked Defence historical personnel data–PMKeyS–NDI data 1985–2021.

Due to the small number of suicide deaths among permanent and reserve females, suicide rates by age group and service status are not reported.

Data underlying this graph are available in Supplementary table S4.1, S4.2 and S5.3. See Data for a link to the tables.