The true scale of an “alarming” rise in Indigenous Australians dying by suicide may still be under-reported, with concerns about gaps in data and barriers to culturally safe care.

Some 27 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died by their own hand in 2024 in Victoria, a 42 per cent jump in two years.

It translates to a suicide rate three times higher than the rest of the population, a report from the state coroner revealed.

Some 56.6 per cent of Indigenous Victorians who died in 2020-24 were aged under 35, compared to 30.2 per cent of non-Indigenous people who took their own lives.

The average age of death for Indigenous men was 37 and 29.6 for women.

In the four years until 2024, one-third of indigenous suicides were in men aged 25-34, while the most common age for women was between 18-24.

The analysis also revealed a geographical divide, with 54.9 per cent of suicides in First Nations peoples in regional areas and 45.1 per cent in metropolitan areas.

This contrasts with the rest of the population, where two-thirds of suicides occurred in metropolitan areas.

The figures are alarming but not surprising, according to Sheree Lowe, executive director of the peak body for Aboriginal health in Victoria VACCHO.

She attributed differences between suicide rates among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to “intergenerational trauma” and disconnection from family or land.

Help on offer may not always be culturally appropriate, she said.

“The service system is designed to meet the needs of mainstream Australia and so what that means is more often than not, services lack cultural safety,” Ms Lowe told AAP.

“Our communities have a historic legacy of mistrust with systems, we often see people waiting until … a crisis or distress to start to access services, or people don’t access services at all because they don’t feel safe.”

Stressors identified by the court included diagnosed or suspected mental health conditions, interpersonal concerns, substance use, exposure to family violence and contact with the justice system.

Ms Lowe said efforts to improve data collection on the deaths of First Nations Australians may have contributed to the jump.

“There’s probably still gaps in that data, so there can potentially still be an under-representation around the identification of whether somebody identifies as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander,” she said.

State Coroner John Cain said more conversations were needed at both a government and community level.

“It is critical to ensure proper supports are in place to drive down suicides in these communities,” Judge Cain said.

Jessica Gobbo, from the court’s Aboriginal engagement unit Yirramboi, said it was vital to release up-to-date information so culturally safe supports can be developed.

“More work is needed to understand why and how these passings can be prevented,” she said.

Ms Lowe said reversing the trend starts with investing more into Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.

“Aboriginal health and wellbeing in Aboriginal hands and investing in our community control sectors is where the solutions lie,” she said.

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