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Intentional self-harm hospitalisations among First Nations people

The AIHW uses ‘First Nations people’ to refer to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in this report. 

Hospitalisations data for patients with intentional self-harm injuries includes those with and without suicidal intent. For further information see the Technical notes.

The quality of the hospital data provided for First Nations status varies between states and territories. For further information, see the data quality statement and the Technical notes.

The line graph shows age-specific rates of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm by age, sex and Indigenous status. Users can also choose to view ‘number’ and ‘percentage of age group’ intentional self-harm hospitalisations by age group, sex and Indigenous status.

Hospitalisations for intentional self-harm among First Nations people

In 2022–23, the rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations for First Nations people (295 hospitalisations per 100,000 population) was over 3 times that of non-Indigenous Australians (87 per 100,000 population).

During 2022–23:

  • the highest rate of hospitalised intentional self-harm among First Nations people was in the 15–19 years age group (560 hospitalisations per 100,000 population). The highest rate of hospitalised intentional self-harm among non-Indigenous Australians was also recorded in the 15–19 years age group (291 hospitalisations per 100,000 population), which was almost half the rate of First Nations Australians aged 15–19 years.
  • First Nations females aged 15–19 years recorded the highest rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations (885 hospitalisations per 100,000 population), followed by First Nations females aged 25–29 years (608 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).
  • The highest rate of hospitalised intentional self-harm among First Nations males was in the 35–39 year old age group (502 hospitalisations per 100,000 population), followed by First Nations males aged 25–29 years (467 per 100,000 population) and 30–34 years (422 per 100,000 population).

 

How have rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations changed for First Nations people?

From 2008–09 to 2022–23:

  • the overall rate of hospitalised intentional self-harm for First Nations people rose steadily (from 203 to 295 hospitalisations per 100,000 population)
  • the rate of intentional self-harm hospitalisations for non-Indigenous Australians slightly increased from 114 hospitalisations per 100,00 population in 2008–09 to 127 hospitalisations per 100,00 population in 2016–17, before falling to 87 in 2022–23.

Over a similar period (2008–2022), the rate of death by suicide among First Nations people also increased (see, Suicide among First Nations people).

Rates of hospitalisation for intentional self-harm increased from 2008–09 to 2022–23 for First Nations females and males.

From 2008–09 to 2022–23:

  • rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations among First Nations females increased from 235 to 360 hospitalisations per 100,000 population.
  • Rates for First Nations males increased from 170 to 228 hospitalisations per 100,000 population.
  • The largest increase in rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations was among First Nations females aged 15–19 years. For this group, the rate of hospitalisations almost doubled, from 455 to 885 hospitalisations per 100,000 population.
  • Rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations increased markedly among First Nations females aged 25–29 years (381 to 608 hospitalisations per 100,000 population) and First Nations females aged 20–24 years (425 to 592 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).
  • Rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations more than doubled among First Nations males aged 50 years and over (78 to 189 hospitalisations per 100,000 population) and aged under 14 years (8 to 18 hospitalisations per 100,000).
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