The number of youth suicides in the ACT is likely being grossly underestimated because of poor data collection, frustrating government-appointed experts tasked with researching child deaths.
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The independent Children & Young People Death Review Committee, a panel tasked with identifying patterns and trends to help save lives, have deemed 10 deaths of Canberrans aged under 18 since 2004 were youth suicides.
But committee member and paediatrician Dr Sue Packer fears that is the tip of iceberg.
"The actual numbers and the means of suicide make us think that there are a significant number of youth suicides which are not recognised and/or recorded," Dr Packer said.
"Unless we have a better data system, we're just not going to know this," she said.
The difficulties in recording youth suicides were aired before a Legislative Assembly inquiry this year.
Without accurate, objective data showing the extent and nature of the problem, community workers feared policy and services may be misdirected or under-resourced.
There are significant inconsistencies in the way each state and territory collects data and classifies youth suicide, creating significant disparities across jurisdictions.
Accurate data on self-harm is even harder to find.
Health Minister Simon Corbell, in his submission to the inquiry, said:
"While we know the official rate of suicide, we have much less information about mental health and self-harm at a jurisdictional level and less again in respect of the mental health and self-harming behaviour of young people," Mr Corbell said.
"While the data on youth mental health and self-harming behaviour at a jurisdictional level is lacking, there has been a series of national reports that have helped us to improve our level of knowledge and understanding."
The federal government is currently working on a national database on child deaths and injuries, something the ACT government says will be of significant benefit here.
The Youth Coalition used its submission to the youth suicide inquiry to call on the ACT government to commission its own research initiatives to provide a better local understanding of youth suicide and self-harm.
Dr Packer also urged the ACT government to take its own steps immediately. She said the way information was currently recorded on death certificates was a source of continual frustration for the work of her committee.
"There's a lot of stuff locally that we don't know which we should know," she said.
"Obviously we don't want to set up a data [system] that is not compatible with whatever the federal government sets up, but at the same time I think it is very useful to have a serious look at what we do record, and how we record it.
"In many areas of the child death review team's work, we are frustrated by the limitations of the way things are recorded on death certificates at the moment," she said.
"It's after the event, but if after the event you can't look and have a clear indication of the cause of death, this is a problem."
That youth suicide inquiry used its final report this month to recommend that the ACT government continue to update the Legislative Assembly on the progress of the national database.
It also recommended that it make progress in "improving the collection of ACT data, particularly in relation to receiving consistent data from community based organisations".
If you need help or support contact, Lifeline: 13 11 14, beyondblue: 1300 22 4636, Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 (24/7 crisis support), or headspace: 1800 650 890 - www.headspace.org.au.
