Fact check: Does a farmer die by suicide every four days in Australia as Bob Katter says?

Updated

Australian agriculture is "closing down" and farmers - "the toughest people this nation has ever produced" - are folding, federal MP Bob Katter says.

Speaking as part of a mental health special on the ABC's Q&A's program on October 6, Mr Katter said Australia's four big agricultural sectors - sheep, cattle, dairy and sugar cane - were all "going straight down the chute at 100 mile an hour".

"It is profoundly depressing and that is why it's resulting in the sort of tragedy we got: a farmer committing suicide every four days in this country."

Can that statistic be right? ABC Fact Check examines the latest research on suicide in farming communities.

The claim: Bob Katter says a farmer dies by suicide every four days in Australia.

Bob Katter says a farmer dies by suicide every four days in Australia. The verdict: Mr Katter is basing his claim on data from the 1980s and 1990s. More recent data shows that farmers' suicide rates are elevated when compared to the general public, however the rates differ dramatically across regions.

Statistics on farmer suicide

Dr Samara McPhedran from Griffith University says accurate statistics on farmer suicides are hard to find in many states across Australia.

While Queensland has a highly regarded suicide register, which provides detailed information, other states rely on coroners' statistics which often don't tell the whole story.

There are also definitional problems with what constitutes a farmer.

A recent study by The Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention at Griffith University said the term "farmer" tended to be narrowly defined as someone who both actively works on a farm and predominantly derives their income from this activity. This has meant people who are classified as a "retired farmer", "farmer's wife" or "farm hand" may not always be included in studies.

Dr McPhedran says compounding this problem is that many community organisations are producing their own statistics based on media reports and first-hand accounts, which can result in one farmer's suicide being double, triple or even quadruple counted.

Bob Katter's claim

Fact Check asked Mr Katter for the basis of his claim, but received no response.

The claim that one farmer dies by suicide every four days has been repeated many times over the years. Dr McPhedran says the claim is very old, and not the best figure to use today.

In a landmark report published in 2002, researchers Andrew Page and Lyn Fragar from the University of Sydney produced results of a decade-long study beginning in the 1980s, which analysed farmer suicide rates.

24-hour telephone counselling If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call:



Lifeline on 13 11 14

Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800

MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978

Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call:

"This study identified 921 farm suicides based on the agricultural classifications of farm managers and agricultural labourers for the period 1988-97," the report said.

"This is approximately 92 suicides per year, or one suicide every four days."

In October 2006 the claim gained notoriety when Jeff Kennett, chairman of beyondblue, an independent not-for-profit working to increase awareness for anxiety and depression, said: "One male farmer every four days is committing suicide". At the time, Australia was in the midst of a terrible drought.

The statistic on farmer suicide during "the big dry" grabbed headlines around the world.

Mr Kennett was quoted in a London newspaper as saying: "My fear is that when under prolonged stress and, when they see their assets totally denuded of value, that we will see an increase [in suicides]."

The statistics were criticised as being too old and having been collected before the "big dry" took place. Suicide rates had been falling since the late 1990s, when the study took place.

Professor David Perkins from the University of Newcastle says that saying a farmer dies every four days is not a helpful way of describing farmer suicide. He says suicides are not constant and can happen in "clusters".

He says Mr Katter should instead be asking why the rates are so high. He also says the data behind the one farmer suicide every four days finding is old.

Dr McPhedran agrees it's unwise to use the figure that Mr Katter uses.

She says it is better to use suicide rates, but that even these do not always give a complete picture of what is happening in different farming communities across Australia.

What are the rates?

Professor Perkins referred Fact Check to a 2013 analysis by Melbourne University researchers in the British Medical Journal, which looked at 'suicide by occupation' around the world.

It found the suicide rate for agriculture workers was 1.6 times higher than the average for all employed people.

It found lowest skilled workers were the ones most at risk of suicide.

"Significantly elevated risk was also apparent in farmers and agricultural workers, service workers such as police and people in skilled trades (builders and electricians) compared with working-age populations," the analysis said.

"The lowest rates were seen in managers and clerical workers."

A 2010 Queensland study found that agricultural workers were more than twice as likely to die by suicide than members of the general employed population. It also found construction workers and transport workers at a higher risk.

Studies by the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention have shown the suicide rate among Queensland's agricultural workers - a group which includes farmers, farm managers, farm hands, and shearers - was over twice the rate of the general employed population.

Rates differ across states and regions

Recent research by Newcastle University and Griffith University compares suicide rates of farmers in NSW and Queensland.

The standardised suicide rate over a 10 year period in NSW and QLD was 10 per 100,000.

In Queensland:

the male farmer suicide rate was 37 per 100,000;

the female farmer suicide rate was 10 per 100,000;

and the combined suicide rate was 29 per 100,000.

In NSW:

the male farmer suicide rate was 18 per 100,000;

the female farmer suicide rate was 2 per 100,000;

and the combined suicide rate was 14 per 100,000.

The report concludes that suicide rates are over two times higher in Queensland than in New South Wales and the incidence of farmer suicide varies across regions.

Last year a Griffith University report titled 'A regional approach to understanding farmer suicide rates in Queensland' used the Queensland Suicide Register to examine farmer suicide rates.

It also found that farmer suicide rates varied substantially across regions.

"This suggests that farmer suicide may be characterised by unique combinations of occupational and location-related effects that are likely to vary substantially within and between different regions," it said.

The report cautions against treating farmer suicide as a homogenous phenomenon.

The highest rates of suicide were observed among younger farmers aged 18–34 years, highlighting a need for targeted suicide prevention initiatives for this group.

Suicide rates decreasing

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says that over the decade to 2010 suicide rates in Australia decreased by 17 per cent, from 12.7 to 10.5 deaths per 100,000 people.

"Suicide remains the leading cause of death among Australians between 15 and 34 years of age," the ABS said.

"Suicide rates for males in this age group have decreased over the past 10 years, with decreases of 34 per cent for 15-24 year olds, and 46 per cent for 25-34 year olds, while for other age groups the suicide rate has remained more stable."

The ABS statistics showed that all people who live in rural and regional Australia - not just farmers - are at an increased risk of suicide.

There are a range of reasons for high rates of suicide in rural areas.

One study says explanations include social isolation, economic stressors, and a lack of available services in rural areas.

"Other explanations highlight occupational issues related to the farming industry, economic and financial problems, and stressors related to changing climatic condition," it said.

The verdict

The claim that one farmer dies by suicide every four days is based on data from the 1980s and 1990s. Newer data shows that farmers' suicide rates are elevated when compared to the general public, however the rates differ dramatically across regions.

Some data suggest the risk of suicide on average is twice as high for farmers. However new reports caution against referring to farmers as a homogenous group.

Mr Katter's claim is outdated.

Sources

Topics: suicide, rural, regional, mental-health, federal-government, government-and-politics, minor-parties, bob-katter, australia

First posted