Le Va’s response to 2024 annual provisional suicide rates

On 30 October 2024, the Chief Coroner released the latest annual provisional suicide statistics for Aotearoa.

These figures play a vital role in shaping and guiding suicide prevention efforts across the motu, supporting the work of organisations like Le Va that are dedicated to saving lives.

The data shows that, overall, there has been no change in the rate of suicide. In the financial year to 30 June 2024, 617 people died by suspected suicide and the rate was 11.2 people per 100,000.

Le Va chief executive, Denise Kingi-‘Ulu’ave, said, “While understanding these statistics and monitoring any changes is important to our suicide prevention efforts, we must not lose sight of our people behind the numbers – those who have died by suicide and the individuals, family members, whānau, friends and communities who have tragically lost their loved ones.”

In 2023, Aotearoa witnessed a significant and encouraging decline in the provisional suicide rate among Pacific people, dropping from 9.2 to 5.1 per 100,000 people while this year, there has been a slight increase to 7.7 per 100,000 people.

Community-focused solutions

At Le Va, we believe the solutions to preventing suicide are found within our communities. On 25 October 2024, Le Va held a community fono (meeting), ensuring a safe space for communities to provide insights and recommendations on the government’s draft suicide prevention action plan for 2025-2029.

With more than 20 community members actively contributing, the fono was a successful collaborative event. Co-facilitated by Le Va’s senior managers for suicide prevention – Leilani Clarke and Tiana Watkins – the gathering encouraged open, bold discussions, bringing a grassroots perspective to both health-led and cross-government actions to suicide prevention in Aotearoa.

Feedback from the fono was that in Aotearoa we need to focus on prevention and make sure the voices of those with lived experience are heard. Our communities said that addressing factors like poverty, family violence and mental health is a form of suicide prevention, and we should prioritise support for the people, families, whānau and communities who have experienced suicide.

Suicide prevention training

Le Va has two groundbreaking national suicide prevention training programmes:

LifeKeepers – New Zealand’s national suicide prevention training programme – has trained more than 18,000 everyday people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to intervene when someone is at risk of suicide. These are ordinary people playing their part in the prevention of suicide.

FLO: Pasifika for Life is Aotearoa’s first national Pasifika suicide prevention training, designed to engage and empower Pasifika communities to prevent suicide by enhancing protective factors and reducing risk factors associated to suicide.

These programmes, grounded in evidence and culturally responsive methods, ensure clinically safe, community-driven interventions.

Suicide prevention resources

Recently Le Va launched a new digital resource – ‘After a suicide attempt’ – providing critical guidance for those supporting individuals post-attempt. This resource is freely accessible and aims to bolster support systems during vulnerable recovery periods. Our resource can be downloaded from the Le Va website.

Le Va remains committed to supporting our Pasifika and Māori communities to find their own solutions to suicide, through initiatives such as our Pasifika Suicide Prevention Community Fund, referrals to Te Rau Ora Māori Suicide Prevention Community Fund, and Mana Akiaki: LifeKeepers for Māori.

We will continue to work collaboratively with our communities and other agencies in the suicide prevention sector to help reduce the rates for Pasifika, and for Māori who are still overrepresented in these statistics.

Our approach of enhancing protective factors and mitigating risk factors can foster resilience and lead to improved wellbeing to help prevent suicide. Through our collective efforts we hope to see a reduction in suicide rates for all people of Aotearoa.