Interrupting suicides in public places: Using CCTV to understand, detect, and respond to behaviours prior to a suicide attempt

Funding or Partner Organisation: National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC - Ideas Grants)
National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC - Ideas Grants)

Start year: 2023

Summary: Suicide is a leading cause of death, with 3,000 Australians dying by suicide each year. 30% of all suicides occur in public places, including shopping centres, railways, parks, and so-called “suicide hotspots”. Despite the frequency of this form of suicide, we lack an understanding of the key behaviours people exhibit prior to a suicide attempt in public, and we lack the tools to identify these behaviours at the scale needed for those responsible for those public sites to meaningfully respond. Our successful pilot research used machine learning to accurately identify behaviours of concern at Sydney’s ‘Gap’ in partnership with Lifeline and NSW Police. This has now attracted a globally unique partnership of researchers and organisations who manage sites representative of over 50% of Australian “suicide hotspot” locations to this project. Together, we will characterise, automatically detect, and respond to behaviours which precede suicide attempts in public places in Australia. Our partners have contributed a unique CCTV dataset of 196 suicides and suicide attempts from a variety of public places, including railways and shopping centres, as well as engagement of their key staff to this project.

FOR Codes: Medical and health law, Mental health, Rail safety, Workplace safety, Mental health services

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.