The term "murder-homicide" refers to incidents in which an offender takes his or her own life after having killed one or more victims, either immediately or within a very short period of time, normally no more than 24 hours. Homicide is a relatively infrequent event in Australia, and homicides followed by the suicide of the perpetrator occur approximately 20 times each year. This paper shows that most murder-suicides in Australia occur in the context of intimate and family relationships, and are more likely to involve firearms than are other categories of homicide. This suggests that policies designed to lessen the stresses occasioned by family dissolution, and to limit access to firearms by inappropriate persons may contribute to a reduction in the number of murder-suicides, as well as a reduction of the more common manifestations of violence in Australia. Figures, tables, references