Call For Action to Address First Responder Suicide

Earlier this month, a young NSW police officer stationed at the Bankstown Area Command sadly took his own life. Fortem Australia advise over the last four weeks, a New South Wales police officer, and an officer from Victoria both lost their lives to suicide, moreover the organisation believes that over 25 first responders have taken their own lives in the last 12 months, and there could be more.

A National Coronial Information System (NCIS) study in October 2019 revealed that 197 first responders took their own lives between 2001 and 2016. This data was gathered among 105,000 paid employees only, not accounting for current or former volunteers.

Fortem Australia's Managing Director and Co-Founder John Bale says that unlike the veteran community, where both research and preventative programs for suicide have been a critical area of focus for many years, there is limited research into suicide among first responders, or programs to reduce these issues.

“While the suicide crisis within the veteran community has been called a ‘national shame’, with Royal Commissions, multi-billion-dollar Government departments, and hundreds of veterans’ charities set up to address it, the crisis within the first responder community is largely going under-reported, and under-addressed,” said Mr Bale.

“More research is needed into why this number is so high, and how we can lower it and support the brave men and women that protect our communities across Australia.

“Fortem Australia remains committed to providing trauma-informed support to first responders and their families, but the need for more data to better support services like ours is vital,” he said.

If you need to talk to someone about your mental health, please see your GP as a first port of call. You can also ring Lifeline on 13 11 14.

• Topics:

• Mental Health & Wellbeing
• First Responders