In 2023 TrackSAFE commissioned The University of Melbourne to conduct an in-depth review of Australian railway suicide coronial data to develop the evidence base for railway suicide prevention interventions and to identify opportunities for new potential interventions. They extracted data about railway suicides from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) and systematically coded the detailed circumstances of incidents, focusing particularly on the events of the period proximal to the suicide. While they also collected data about history of mental health conditions, past suicide attempts and recent life events, they placed emphasis on examining the period immediately leading up to the suicide: essentially from when the person physically sets out with the intent to die by suicide, through to when the suicide occurs at the final location. The rationale for this in-depth review was that this information is essential for practical intervention in incidents of suicide attempts on the railway. The study focuses on actions, because railway suicide is by definition a public incident and requires certain actions to be completed: setting out to the railway line, arriving at the railway line, moving to the location of intended fatal incident, waiting for the train, moving in front of the train. These actions are observable and therefore in theory can be acted upon and can therefore inform the development of interventions to prevent railway suicide.
The report providing Australia wide data plus an appendix with Victorian data is available here.
December 2024