This report provides essential information and statistics on mental health, suicide and self-harm among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It outlines contemporary Australian policy responses and directions, and risks and protective factors for mental health and suicide prevention. It also explores evidence of best practice in mental health and suicide prevention.

This spotlight report has been generated to explore how the concepts of person-centred care (PCC), and consumer directed care (CDC) are being conceptualised and experienced in Australia’s mental health and suicide prevention systems.

This report identifies regions (using the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Indigenous Regions) in which suicide prevention among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is likely to be relatively challenging compared with other regions.

Accurate and timely data about suicide and suicidal behaviour of Indigenous Australians are important to measure progress against Closing the Gap Target 14. Through a desktop review and consultation with stakeholders, this report found a high degree of complexity in the process of classifying, coding and interrogating data in suicide-relevant data sets.

This report is the fifth annual update monitoring deaths by suicide among serving and ex-serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) members. The population considered are ADF members who served between 1985 and 2020.