Australia's rural localities face an increasing burden of death due to suicide (Hirsch, 2006). Those groups most vulnerable to suicide appear to be males, youth, farmers and Indigenous people. Data from the Queensland Suicide Register showed that, between 2005 and 2007, male suicide rates in remote areas (36.32 per 100,000) were significantly higher than male suicide rates in non-remote areas (18.25 per 100,000). Further research has also shown that the relative rate of male suicide in rural Queensland was 1.99 compared to rates in metropolitan locations (Kõlves et al, 2009). While the gap is widest between metropolitan and remote suicide rates and the rates highest among rural males, regional suicide rates are still higher and metropolitan rates and the rural female suicide rate is higher than the urban female suicide rate. The present report aimed to present a holistic examination of suicide in regional and remote Australia. It predominantly focused on the Queensland experience and has investigated a wide range of psychological, environmental and cultural factors, within this bound geographical context.

Traditionally, suicide research has focused on male mortality, with little attention paid to the female experience of suicide. This means there has been a lack of research examining how female suicide rates and behaviours have changed over time and between countries. Through an exploration of the World Health Organisation Statistical Information System (WHOSIS) data, this paper aims to analyse changes in the trends of female suicide across the period 1950 to 2009 in 106 countries. Observed changes in female suicidal behaviours are discussed in the context of 12 geographical and cultural areas of the world: Africa, Anglo-Saxon countries, the Western Pacific, the Baltic States, Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern Mediterranean countries, Scandinavia, South America, South East Asia, Southern Europe and Western Europe. By seeking understanding as to how suicidal behaviours are gendered within specific cultures and societies and by unpacking the Gender Paradox using Cultural Scripts Theory, this paper explores some possible culturally relevant explanations for female suicide rates and behaviours worthy of future research attention. Analysing the data and its limitations, and acknowledging its place within social and cultural constructs, allows for better understanding of the fatal female suicidal behaviour.

Indigenous populations have been recognised to have elevated rates of suicide in many countries around the world, including Australia. However, to date, comprehensive understanding of the complexities of suicides among persons of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin (in the report referred to as Indigenous populations or Indigenous Australians) has been limited due to scarce epidemiological evidence about its prevalence and specific factors that distinguish Indigenous suicides from those among non-Indigenous populations. This report aims to fill in this gap by providing an analysis of the incidence of suicide among the Indigenous population in Queensland, thereby increasing the understanding and awareness of the distinctive aspects of Indigenous suicide.

Australian social identity was traditionally grounded within its agricultural heritage. The 'farmer', be he primarily concerned with crops or livestock, not only provided the lynchpin of Australia's economy but his lifestyle also framed the ideals of masculinity which consequently became entrenched within Australia's culture. However, Australia's social identity has changed along with its economic reliance upon the farming industry and rural sector. The rural lifestyle, so idealised within Australian popular culture, is now increasingly marginalised in a country where the three-quarters of the population live in metropolitan areas (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006a), even though the majority of land is considered to be 'rural' (see also Alston, 2010). The once idealised rural lifestyle is also proving to be less ideal for those actually living it.

As noted in previous chapters and the Living Is for Everyone (LIFE) Framework (2007), people living in regional and remote areas of Australia appear to be more vulnerable to suicide than people living in metropolitan areas. The aim of this chapter was to provide an overview of the suicide prevention initiatives that target rural communities. We will first discuss suicide prevention initiatives for rural population in general, and then focus on two sub-populations within the rural environment that are at particularly high risk of suicide: farmers and Indigenous persons.