Around 2,000 Australians take their own lives every year, affecting families, friends, work places and communities.
Males account for 78 per cent of these deaths. It is also suggested elsewhere, that a similar numbers of deaths occur as a result of  inexplicable single motor vehicle accidents.
This report, Australian_Bureau_of_Statistics_Suicide_Statistics_Report[1] (download pdf) provides an overview of the situation in Australia, with comparisions to other countries, based on suicide rates from 1997 to 2006.
A more comprehensive account of the numbers of suicides taking place in Australia can be obtained from an Australian Parliament House document –  APH Suicide in Australia 7-2011(download pdf) published 29 July 2011, authored by Joanne Simon-Davies.
Previous research by Professor Pierre Baume, Cantor and Slater identified that 70% of suicides followed a relationship breakdown. Professor Diego DeLeo, Marianne Wyder and Patrick Ward have conducted research into Separation as a suicide risk factor(download pdf .file)