A report into the deaths of children in NSW in the two years to 2017 has revealed that almost 1,000 died.
In his biennial report, NSW Ombudsman and Convenor of the NSW Child Death Review Team, Michael Barnes found that of the 981 in total, 731 died from natural causes and 185 from injuries.
The report found that of the unnatural deaths, two-thirds (119) involved unintentional injury and 66 were due to intentional injury, either suicide (54) or abuse (12).
“The loss of a child is devastating for families, and communities, and the focus of my office and the Child Death Review Team is to reduce the likelihood of these deaths by examining the causes and circumstances and making preventative recommendations,” Mr Barnes said.
“It is encouraging that the number and rate of deaths of children in NSW has continued to decline.”
He said that over the 15 years to 2017, the mortality rate for children aged 0-17 years declined from 41 deaths per 100,000 children in 2003, to 30 deaths per 100,000 in 2017.
Mr Barnes said it is important to note that this improvement had not been uniform across differing socioeconomic backgrounds.
“Children living in the most disadvantaged areas of the state and in remote areas have higher mortality rates than those living in the least disadvantaged areas and in major cities.
He said one in five child deaths were due to injury such as transport fatalities and drowning deaths, but that these were, for the most part, preventable.
“I am also deeply concerned that the rate of youth suicide has increased and is currently the highest we have seen over the past 15 years.”
The Ombudsman also tabled a research report focusing on suicide clusters and evidence-based prevention strategies for school-aged children.
He said 20 children had died as a result of actions by a parent or carer that directly harmed their child
“While suicide clusters are relatively rare, they devastate families and their communities.” Mr Barnes said
The 200-page report on childhood deaths can be accessed at this PS News link and the Ombudsman’s 33-page report on suicide clusters at this link.
