A tale of two cities: Suicide rates in Sydney and Melbourne are consistently lower than the rest of Australia

Abstract

Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal higher suicide rates in rural areas, particularly among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Such metropolitan/ rural differences are well recognised internationally with cities over 1 million population having lower rates (Ivey-Stephenson et al., 2017). The ABS data for 2010/2018 also show a significant gap between the largest conurbations and the rest of the country: Sydney and Melbourne have the lowest suicide rates in Australia (Figure 1). The ‘Greater national cities total’ is an average for all state and territory capital cities, as well as the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which has suicide rates that are relatively low but variable, overlapping the national average, given as ‘Australia total’. It is also notable that rural Victoria and rural New South Wales (NSW) rank below other rural areas and some capital cities. Overall, suicide rates are lower in the southeast corner of the country. Emile Durkheim observed, ‘every society is predisposed to supply a given number of voluntary deaths’ (Durkheim, 2006). While Sydney and Melbourne have many disadvantaged neighbourhoods, nevertheless there appear to be significant social benefits for people who live in these global cities, where migration and high population densities drive innovation, economic activity, employment, international universities, arts and culture, cutting edge architecture, huge sporting events, and more generally, city liveability. In 2019, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Melbourne as the second most liveable city in the world (after Vienna, Austria) Letter 889157 ANP ANZJP CorrespondenceANZJP Correspondence