Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Stirling for his question, and I recognise his service in uniform to our nation, as I recognise all members in this place who've served. I say to them, quite simply, thank you for that service. I know that I speak on behalf of all members in this place when I say that the only acceptable number of suicides in our veteran community and our defence community is zero.

This government has made mental health an absolute priority in the Veterans' Affairs portfolio over the last eight months. Since the election I've conducted a national summit involving ex-service experts in the field. We've also had a review of the national strategy, the action plan dealing with mental health issues, and that draft is out now for public consultation. And, very importantly, we've also listened to the grieving families, those who've lost their loved ones.

We did hear the calls for a royal commission. The Prime Minister and I both met with families and heard those calls. The Prime Minister asked me to look at all the options. Over the past two months we have looked at all of the options. The policy we announced today, a national commissioner for defence and veterans' suicide prevention, is better than a royal commission. The reason I say it's better than a royal commission is that it provides enduring powers to investigate all deaths by suicide of veterans and defence members that tragically occur not just now but into the future. We also announced today that there would be the appointment of an interim commissioner to review the more than 400 deaths by suicide since 2001, and we announced the position of a family advocate. Those positions will be advertised in the normal course of business over the coming weeks.

I want to take the opportunity today to thank the grieving families who had the courage to talk to me, to talk to the Leader of the Opposition, to talk to other members in this place and to the Prime Minister. To them I would say this is a victory for you, and I hope you can draw some solace from this announcement today. It doesn't bring back your lost sons and daughters, but it will help to save lives in the future.

This is a very complex policy area. Each case is unique, and there are multiple factors that contribute to a person taking their own life. There have been some major changes in the last few years. The government now provides more than $230 million through the veterans' affairs department for veterans' mental health. We provide free mental health support for veterans and their families. There is a new veteran payment in place. And I must say that those changes were all made with the support of those opposite. We now provide mental health training through our RSLs, and for the first time psychiatric assistance dogs are being provided by DVA to veterans where we believe it will help. We're also working to improve the transition from Defence into the civilian community.

I'd encourage anyone listening today who's concerned by anything we've said in this place that's affecting their own mental health to contact Open Arms on 1800011046. We need to start working together to reduce and prevent suicides in our veteran community. The hard work begins today. We have the basic framework in place. Now we need to implement it in cooperation with the states.

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