To the Editor: For several years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has cautioned data users of likely underreporting of suicide statistics due to delays in coronial processes and (since 2006) exclusive reliance on the National Coronial Information System, which often contains incomplete information on cause of death.1 In 2009, the ABS introduced data revision processes that allowed additional information received to be added in two rounds of revisions at 12 and 24 months after the initial processing of coroner-certified deaths. This assisted coders in assigning more specific causes of death, thereby replacing the previous default “accident” category for ambiguous cases.
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- 1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Causes of death, Australia, 2006. Canberra: ABS, 2008. (ABS Cat. No. 3303.0.)
- 2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Suicides, Australia, 2010. Canberra: ABS, 2012. (ABS Cat. No. 3309.0.)
- 3. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Causes of death, Australia, 2011. Canberra: ABS, 2013. (ABS Cat. No. 3303.0.)
- 4. De Leo D, Sveticic J. Suicide in Queensland, 2005–2007: mortality rates and related data. Brisbane: Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, 2012.
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