Nicole Juniper, 19, started self-harming when she was 13. She is one of almost one quarter of young women and a fifth of young men aged 20-24 years who have self-harmed, according to a recent survey. This is her story, as told to Catherine Armitage.
Try asking a teenager whether they know anyone who self-harms. The answer may surprise you. And a big part of the problem is right there. It's taboo.
Young people who self-harm face shocking treatment in emergency departments which would not be tolerated in any other medical setting says a new national report.
Thousands of Australians are at risk of having their welfare payments unfairly slashed because of inaccuracies in Australia's immunisation register, health care workers say.
As bacterium go, this is an ominous one. Over decades, it aggravates the stomach lining causing inflammation so chronic that stomach cancer develops. And by the time a diagnosis is made, there are limited options for treatment.
Plain packaging and higher cigarette prices appear to have done more than cut the number of people smoking. They appear to have also cut the amount that remaining smokers smoke.
Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley is very likely to scrap the $2.7 billion child dental health program in the next budget, warn dentists.
Health authorities have detected two new cases of legionnaires' disease caused by a suspected infected water cooling tower in the Sydney CBD.
Liz Judson was so busy when it started, she didn't think to question it.
Sufferers of crippling arthritis are being denied insurance payouts due to the use of "antiquated" medical definitions that experts in the field say are hopelessly out of date.
Should a huge trade deal be ratified the Australian government could be sued by foreign companies if it introduced or strengthened food labelling laws, says Choice.
Health authorities are investigating whether earlier cases of Legionnaires' disease are linked to an outbreak of the infection in Sydney's CBD.
Critics warn of "two-tier system" if private health insurers are allowed into GP practices.
Lifeline is calling for the federal government to double funding to suicide prevention, as almost eight people take their lives every day in Australia.
Hospitals are facing a crisis that will engulf the health system within a year, says the AMA president.
Australian children with cerebral palsy will be infused with umbilical cord blood, in a world first medical trial at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
Publicly-funded St Vincent's Hospital will not be forced to hand over documentation to state parliament over the under-dosing of up to 70 chemotherapy patients because the hospital is privately run by a Catholic ministry.
Health authorities suspect that an infected cooling tower may be responsible for an outbreak of Legionnaires disease around Town Hall station.
A steep rise in death by suicide among middle-aged Australians and young women has driven the national suicide rate to its highest level in 13 years.
Study of genetic data finds short men and overweight women earn less than those who are taller and slimmer.
The 'widowmaker' isn’t human, but it takes many, many lives.
If these brothers have an inherited gene, Alzheimer's will emerge at around age 50 - with absolute certainty. One was tested; one wasn't.
This part of the brain fires up before nefarious acts are carried out.
Avoidable hospital visits are costing taxpayers more than $320 million a year.
Matthew was 14 when he first began using methamphetamine, at times using it with his mother.
A second Aboriginal health service in western Sydney is on the brink of closure, following the collapse of the Aboriginal medical service in NSW last year.
Melbourne researchers have pioneered a new approach to killing bacteria that has become resistant to antibiotics. Scientists at Monash University and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have used a locally developed experimental cancer drug to prevent infections from spreading in the body.
Abstinence orders backed up monitoring of offenders' drinking have slashed drink-driving and family violence abroad.
Economic growth was strong in 2015, but what about another key measure?
A peak doctor's group has called for a ban on alcohol advertising during live sport in the evening and an end to the sponsorship sports teams and tournaments by alcohol companies.
