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Crude rates

A crude rate provides information on the number of events relative to the population ‘at risk’ (for example, the entire population) in a specified period based on the Australian estimated resident population for the relevant analysis year. No age adjustments are made when calculating such a rate. Crude rates are used throughout this publication and expressed per 100,000 population.

Age-specific rates

Age-specific rates are calculated by dividing the number of events (for example, deaths) in each specified age group, by the total population at risk of the event in the same age group. Where age-specific rates are reported they are expressed per 100,000 population.

Age-standardised rates

Age-standardised rates are incidence rates that enable comparisons between populations that have different age structures and over time as the age structure of the population of interest may change. This effectively removes the influence of the age structure on the summary rate—it is the overall death rate that would have prevailed in the standard population if it had experienced at each age the death rates of the population under study.

Direct standardisation was used in this report. To calculate age-standardised rates, age-specific rates (grouped in 5-year intervals) were multiplied against a standard population. Directly age-standardised rates were adjusted using the current Australian standard population (that is, the non-recast Australian estimated resident population (ERP) as at 30 June 2001).

Rates are expressed as per 100,000 per population years.

Standardised mortality ratio

Standard mortality ratio (SMR) is a widely recognised measure used to account for differences in age structures when comparing death rates between populations. This method of standardisation can be used when analysing relatively rare events (i.e. where number of deaths is less than 25 for the analysed time period) (Curtin and Klein, 1995). The SMR has been used in the analysis of Australian Defence Force (ADF) deaths by suicide. It is used to control for the fact that the 3 ADF service status groups have a younger age profile than the Australian population, and rates of suicide vary by age in both the study populations and the Australian population. The SMRs control for these differences, enabling comparisons of suicide counts between the 3 service status groups and Australia without the confounding effect of differences in age. The SMR is calculated as the observed number of events (deaths by suicide) in the study population divided by the number of events that would be expected if the study population had the same age and sex specific rates as the as the comparison population.

Geography

Geographic location data are based on the area of usual residence of the deceased in the NMD or admitted patient in the NHMD. These data are specified using Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 2016 for all states and territories. From 2016–17, the area of usual residence in the NHMD was voluntarily provided by some jurisdictions in the form of a Statistical Area level 1 (SA1).

Remoteness areas

Data for remoteness areas are based on a person’s usual residence, rather than where they died (NMD) or received treatment (NHMD). Data by remoteness are aligned to the 2016 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Area Structure. Correspondence files are sourced from Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (ABS cat. no. 1270.0.55.001). The 2016 ASGS Remoteness Structure categorises geographic areas in Australia into 5 classes of remoteness areas based on their relative access to services using the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia which is, in turn, derived by measuring the road distance of a location from the nearest urban centre. The 5 classes are: Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote, and Very remote. See the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Remoteness Structure, 2016 for further information on Remoteness areas including details of the nature of the changes between the ASGS 2011 and ASGS 2016.

Socioeconomic status

The Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) is a suite of 4 summary measures, developed by the ABS based on Census data that ranks geographic areas across Australia in terms of their relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage. The SEIFA index used is the 2016 SEIFA Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage (IRSD) for use at Statistical Area Level 2 except for NHMD 2012–13 to 2016–17 data which uses the 2011 SEIFA IRSD.

The IRSD includes only measures of relative disadvantage. A low score indicates greater disadvantage in general (for example, an area has many households with low income, many people with no qualifications and many people working in low skill occupations). A high score indicates a relative lack of disadvantage in general (for example, an area has few households with low incomes, few people with no qualifications and few people working in low skilled occupations). It is important to understand that a high score reflects a relative lack of disadvantage rather than advantage and that the IRSD relates to the average disadvantage of all people living in a geographic area and does not reflect the socioeconomic status of all individuals living within the area.

Population-based Australian cut-offs for SEIFA quintiles have been used in this report. Population-based quintiles are calculated by dividing SEIFA areas into 5 equal groups in such a way that the population in each group is approximately equal. As SEIFA measures the characteristics of an area rather than individuals, the population in the most disadvantaged population-based quintile (‘1—Lowest’) is the 20% of the national population residing in the most disadvantaged areas, rather than the most disadvantaged 20% of the population.

See the Census of Population and Housing: Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Australia, 2016 for further information on SEIFA.

Primary Health Network

Primary Health Networks (PHNs) were established in 2015 by the Department of Health to commission medical services and improve the coordination of care for patients across specific geographic areas (PHN areas). There are 31 PHN areas that cover the whole of Australia.

Statistics for PHN areas are derived by aligning deaths or hospitalisations area of usual residence data at Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) to the 2017 PHN structure using ABS correspondence files, sourced from Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 3 - Non ABS Structures, July 2018 (ABS cat. no. 1270.0.55.003).

Statistical Areas

Statistical Areas are a geographic classification defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. They encompass 4 levels, with increasing size and population: Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1s); Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s); Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3s); and Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4).

Deaths by suicide and hospitalisations for intentional self-harm data at Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) were aligned to Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) and 4 (SA4) geographies based on the 2016 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) structure. Correspondence files are sourced from Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (ABS cat. no. 1270.0.55.001).

Using confidence intervals to test for statistical significance

Statistical significance is a measure that indicates how likely it is that an observed difference, or a larger one, would occur under the conditions of the null hypothesis.

In the analysis of deaths by suicide in Australian Defence Force personnel, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) are provided for each standardised mortality ratio to indicate the level of uncertainty around these estimates due to random fluctuations in the number of deaths by suicide over time. Estimates produced using low numbers can be sensitive to small changes in numbers of deaths over time and will therefore have wide CIs. 95% CIs are provided within this report as they may account for the variation in absolute numbers of deaths by suicide over time (related to the small sample size). It is important to note that there are other sources of uncertainty, such as linkage error, that are not captured by the provided CIs.

Use of CIs is the simplest way to test for significant differences between service groups and Australian comparison groups. For the purpose of this monitoring site, differences are deemed to be statistically significant if CIs do not overlap with 1.0 in the case of an SMR. The CIs in this report cannot be used to determine the significance of differences over time between overlapping 3-year time periods.