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Facts and Statistics

[Population Context ] [ Refugees ] [ Mental Health ] [ Suicide ] [ Key Terms ]

On Wednesday 31 March 2010, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the 2008 Causes of Death data.  The suicide statistics on this webpage will be updated by Friday 16 April 2010 to reflect the new data.

For a summary of the updated 2008 data, refer to Recent Australian Data section on the media professionals website

Population Context1

  • It is estimated that 23% of Australia's resident population was born overseas and 14% of the population were born in countries where English is not the first language.
  • Those born in the United Kingdom are the largest group of overseas born residents, followed by New Zealand, Italy, Vietnam and China.
  • The most rapidly growing culturally and linguistically diverse population groups are those born in China, India and Iraq.

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Refugee and asylum seekers2

  • In the past 50 years, more than 620 000 refugees and displaced people have been resettled in Australia.
  • Australia's Humanitarian Program comprises two components: (1) offshore resettlement for people in humanitarian need overseas; and (2) onshore protection for those people already in Australia who arrived on temporary visas or in an unauthorised manner, and who claim Australia's protection.
  • In the 2003-04 program year a total of 13 851 visas were granted under the Humanitarian Program. This comprised 11 802 visas granted to persons overseas and 2 049 visas granted to people in Australia. This is the highest program outcome in eight years and for the first time in five years there were no unused places to carry over to the next program year.

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The mental health of migrants3 and refugees [ show more ]

  • Over a quarter of a million first generation adult Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are estimated to experience some form of mental disorder in a 12 month period4.
  • In 2001, the prevalence of mental or behavioural problems among those born in Australia (9.8%) was similar to the rate for people who were born overseas (9.8%).
  • Adults who spoke English at home reported a similar rate of mental or behavioural problems (11%) to those who spoke a language other than English at home (9.6%).
  • Fewer adults who spoke English at home reported experiencing a very high level of psychological distress (3.2%) compared with those who spoke a language other than English at home (5.5%).
  • Hospitalisation rates for immigrants who have a mental disorder and speak a language other than English is markedly lower than that of the overall community5.
  • Refugees and asylum seekers come from a range of countries and cultures, and have a wide range of experiences that may affect their mental health. There is substantial evidence that trauma and loss may have profound and ongoing effects on people who migrate to Australia as refugees.
  • Prolonged detention has harmful effects on the mental health and development of children and adolescents6.

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Suicide in migrant and refugee communities [ show more ]

  • Suicide rates among immigrants tend to reflect rates in the originating country, with convergence towards the Australian rate over time7.
  • Rates are generally higher among people born in countries that have higher suicide rates (notably, English-speaking countries, countries from western, northern and eastern Europe), and lower in immigrant groups from countries with lower suicide rates (including southern Europe, the Middle East and Asia)8.
  • Data for 1992 indicate that about 25 per cent of all suicides in Australia were by people born in another country, with 60 per cent of these suicides by people from a country with a first language other than English9.

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References

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2004). Migration, Australia 2002-2003. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.
2 Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. Migrating as a Refugee or Humanitarian Entrant. Retrieved May 17, 2007 from www.immi.gov.au.
3 Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2001). Mental health in Australia: A snapshot. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.
4 Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. (2004). Framework for the Implementation of the National Mental Health Plan 2003-2008 in Multicultural Australia. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth of Australia. 
5 McDonald, B. & Steel, S. (1997). Immigrants and Mental Health: An epidemiological analysis. Sydney, NSW: Transcultural Mental Health Centre.
6 Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. (1998). Those Who've Come Across the Seas: The report of the Commission's Inquiry into the detention of unauthorised arrivals. Canberra, ACT: HREOC; Steel, Z. & Silove, D. (2001). The mental health implications of detaining asylum seekers. Medical Journal of Australia, 175, 596-599.
7 Singh, G. K. & Siahpush, M. (2001). All-cause and cause-specific mortality of immigrants and native born in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 392-399.
8 McDonald, B. & Steel, S. (1997). Immigrants and mental health: An epidemiological analysis. Transcultural Mental Health Centre: Sydney; Morrell, S., Taylor, R., Slaytor, E. & Ford, P. (1999). Urban and rural suicide differentials in migrants and the Australian-born, New South Wales, Australia 1985-1994. Social Science and Medicine, 49, 81-91.
9 Kyrios, M. (1994). Suicidality, culture and migrants. In Suicide Crisis in Community and Rural Health. Ballarat, NSW: Lifeline.

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