PM appoints national suicide adviser

Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants to see a dramatic drop in the suicide rate and has appointed a new adviser to tackle the issue. Around 3,000 people a year die by suicide, making it a major public health concern. Suicide has a devastating impact on family and friends and the issue is particularly acute in Indigenous communities, where one-in-20 deaths is due to suicide, compared to one-in-50 in the general population. Men are more likely to take their own lives, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting in 2017 that 75 per cent of people who died by suicide were male. Former Rugby League player Joe Williams welcomes the government focus on the issue. An Indigenous man, Joe Williams is continuing to deal with depression after attempting to end his life in 2012, and says it's been a learning process since then trying to maintain good mental health. Please listen to the full report in Pashto.

Source: Press Association