Non-assisted suicide rates have increased by 14% in Victoria since that state legalised "voluntary assisted suicide" (VAD).

In 2017, before VAD, that is assisted suicide, legislation came into effect the number of suicides (non-assisted) in Victoria was 609 people. 

In 2020, when the legislation had been in effect the entire year, the number of non-assisted suicides in Victoria was 698 people - that's a 14%  increase non-assisted suicides from the 2017 figure. In the same year, 144 people committed assisted suicide using "voluntary assisted dying" where the doctor prescribes poison for the patient to take, and 31 received euthanasia where the doctor injects poison directly into the patient causing death. Adding all of these together versus the 2017 figure, that's a 43% overall increase in suicides (non-assisted plus assisted) since the law change.

The significant increase in the non-assisted suicide rate in Victoria proves that legalising assisted suicide or euthanasia of any kind has a contagion effect on the non-assisted suicide rate too. This is a critical warning for Queensland not to go into this dark territory, particularly as we already have the highest suicide rate in Australia.