Attempting suicide was an offence until decriminalised in Victoria under the Crimes Act 1967. Historically, magistrates were usually sympathetic to persons arraigned on suicide charges, often dismissing them with a caution or a nominal sentence of one minute’s or one hour’s imprisonment. If the defendant was deemed of unsound mind, however, they might be remanded to a longer sentence pending a medical inspection, or to an asylum. An example of a hearing on attempted suicide from 1913 can be read about here.

Further information:

Cooke, Simon. “’A ‘Dirty Little Secret’? The State, the Press, and Popular Knowledge of Suicide in Victoria, 1840s-1920s.” Australian Historical Studies 31, no. 115 (2000): 304-24.

Hassan, Riaz. Suicide Trends in Australia, 1901-1985: An Analysis of Sex Differentials.  New York: Guildford Press, 1989.

Jowett, Stephanie, Belinda Carpenter, and Gordon Tait. “Determining a Suicide under Australian Law.” University of New South Wales Law Journal 41, no. 2 (2018): 534-56.

Ross, Lynette. “The Final Escape: An Analysis of Suicide at the Penal Settlement of Port Arthur”. Journal of Australian Colonial History 7 (2005): 181-202.