Kennett Admits ERROR on Suicide Rates

Ref: The Age
Lorna Edwards
August 14, 2009

BEYONDBLUE chairman Jeff Kennett has admitted a staggering claim he made
yesterday - that 60 per cent of students at a Geelong school were at high risk
of suicide - was a blunder.

The former premier made the comment on 3AW, citing it as the reason
beyondblue had successfully sought a court injunction preventing the airing
of a 60 Minutes segment about suicides at the school.

''In a circumstance, such as the one we're referring to, where there are large
numbers of people involved, we know from a clinical point of view right now
60 per cent of them are at high risk,'' Mr Kennett told 3AW's Neil Mitchell.
''That is the sole reason that we have taken out this injunction, because to
continue to show the faces of the deceased, to talk to the families, to bring
pressure back on the community does increase risks substantially.''

Mr Kennett told The Age the figure was clinical advice received from an
adolescent psychologist and member of the beyondblue clinical advisory board,
Michael Carr-Gregg.

But Dr Carr-Gregg denied providing the figure and suggested Mr Kennett had
misunderstood. ''I can't imagine saying that to him because I don't know where
you'd get it from, to be honest,'' he said.

''What I did say to Jeff was that, of the risk factors we generally associate with
youth suicide as an outcome, you have almost 60 per cent of the known risk
factors in that one community.''

Mr Kennett later told The Age that either he had misunderstood or Dr Carr-Gregg
was making a clarification. But it did not alter his stance on the issue.
''That doesn't change my views at all. It's still a fair percentage of risk factors
among that community, as you can appreciate.''

Dr Carr-Gregg said beyondblue had asked him to view the 60 Minutes segment,
as offered by Channel Nine to beyondblue and the Education Department in the
injunction hearing on Wednesday.

He said he was concerned about media coverage that showed the names or faces
of people who had committed suicide or made specific reference to a school. But
he believed a debate about the portrayal of suicide in the media was healthy.
''It has now moved quite properly to a debate around how we should talk about
this important mental health outcome in the media,'' he said.

Dr Carr-Gregg said he would encourage 60 Minutes to discuss the issue of
depression as the main cause of youth suicide after he saw the axed segment
next week.

''The difficulty is, I fear, that the discussion of depression awareness, depression
prevention and issues relating to that probably won't make very good commercial
television.''

An Education Department spokeswoman said yesterday the department was
nominating experts to view the 60 Minutes tape. Channel Nine has agreed not to
broadcast the story before the matter returns to court on August 21.
For help or information visit www.beyondblue.org.au, call Suicide Helpline Victoria
on 1300 651 251, or Lifeline on 131 114.


WCV's: Typical Kennett, "putting his mouth into gear before his brain!"