Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise today to support the substantive bill before us that the government is proposing, the National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention Bill 2020. Today is national headspace Day. Headspace is a support program, of course, for the mental health of our national young people. Yesterday, I reflected on just what a tough year it has been with facing the COVID pandemic and now the COVID recession. Young people, in particular, have felt the sting of job losses, family upheaval and social change. So it's appropriate then that we consider this bill today because young people in our armed forces are not immune from this mental health challenge or distress. As a society we view them, the men and women of our ADF, as some of the toughest operators around. They are our best and brightest, the strongest among us, those who have dedicated themselves to protect us and our nation. But we must not neglect to protect and support them in that process because serving or retired personnel are not immune from mental health challenges, just like the rest of us. And just as they serve and protect our nation we have a duty to support and assist them.

There are other coalition colleagues within the party room who will speak with very poignant and firsthand knowledge of what it is like to serve in the ADF and even in combat. The member for Braddon, the member for Herbert and the member for Stirling, along with others on this side of the House and on the other side as well, have served their country in the ADF. I want to thank them at this point in the speech for their service and to thank all current and retired ADF personnel likewise for their service to our nation.

I don't have the benefit of that firsthand experience as I approach this issue. I haven't served in the ADF myself. But I do represent the electorate of Ryan, and I know many in the electorate of Ryan have this firsthand experience of serving. We are home to the Gallipoli Barracks at Enoggera, one of the largest bases in the nation. The land was acquired for military use in 1908 as a training camp and rifle artillery range. It has been a major military defence establishment from 1960 onwards and it's home to the 7th Brigade. You don't have that kind of long-established military history in your electorate without there being many, many serving and retired defence families within the electorate. So I have seen first hand—I have been able to go on the barracks and I have seen them serving overseas as well—the hard work of the men and women of our ADF, the sacrifices that they make to serve our nation and, just as importantly, the sacrifices their families make so that those individuals can serve our nation.

I've also spoken with them first hand about the struggle that they sometimes face as they leave the service and transition to life and work as a civilian. I will touch a little bit more on that shortly. Every year too many Australians are taken from us by suicide. Sadly, our ADF personnel and veterans are not immune, but it's important in the context of the substantive bill in front of us to understand the statistics. The latest statistics paint a very challenging picture. Data recently released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows 33 deaths by suicide in 2018. Since 2001 there have been over 450 deaths by suicide in the defence and veteran community. One suicide is too many.

As a government we have made it a priority to address these figures, to provide the support necessary before somebody becomes one of these statistics, before families are dealing with the loss of a dear loved one. In 2017 the Morrison government expanded access to free mental health treatment to include any mental health condition regardless of whether or not the condition was linked to a veteran's service. That is uncapped funding. Where there is a need within the veteran community it will be met. We have ensured veterans can access financial support where they have a compensation claim for a mental health condition being processed by the DVA. We have made progress in ensuring ADF members have the support to succeed in civilian employment, and we are highlighting and celebrating the skills and experience that previously serving ADF members bring to our civilian workforce.

The recent 2020 budget prioritised further investment in mental health, transition and employment support, providing more than $100 million for a one-off increase to the fees paid to psychiatrists, allied mental health workers, social workers and community nursing providers. That's money to train psychiatry registrars in veteran and military mental health, to provide GP led care and coordination for veterans with a mental health condition where it is service related and to expand the Open Arms veterans and families counselling, community and peer support program.

Most importantly, we have improved the transition process from defence, making support needs based, improving the communication between DVA and defence and ensuring those most at risk have the support they need when they need it. The transition focus is why the Morrison government is establishing the Joint Transition Authority announced in the 2020 budget—to ensure all transition services are working together for the best possible outcome for ADF members, veterans and their families. The transition authority will be an important tool, as it is one of the most consistent pieces of feedback I have received from veterans in the Ryan community.

With such a large serving ADF population in the Ryan electorate, the transition to civilian life is spoken about often, sometimes with enormous concern and trepidation. Finding a way to transition their technical skills to general community use, understanding what additional training they will need to get into the roles they want to get into, working out how to appeal to employers and how to demonstrate the value of their life skills and leadership qualities in a civilian context—these things have all been expressed to me directly by ADF personnel and veterans in the Ryan community. Approximately 6,000 ADF members will transition each year, and for their families this can be a time of great upheaval and uncertainty. A failure to transition successfully can be a leading cause of the mental health challenges that veterans face, so I'm pleased the Morrison government has put a spotlight on this particular aspect.

There is more that we can do, and it lies in the substantive bill in front of us. On 5 February 2020 the Prime Minister announced that the Australian government would establish a new National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention to inquire into the deaths by suicide of serving and former ADF members. This legislation formally creates the national commissioner position and sets out the national commissioner's functions and powers. The national commissioner will be independent of government, being appointed by the Governor-General, and will have full discretion in the way their inquiries are conducted. The national commissioner will report to the Australian parliament directly through the Annual veteran and defence suicide death report, and they can provide additional reports in between those annual reports as they deem necessary.

The Australian government will be required to provide an annual response to the national commissioner's report. This will provide an ongoing and rolling focus from the government but also publicly highlight what is going on to address the national commissioner's concerns. The national commissioner will then have an ongoing role in monitoring the implementation of the recommendations they make. The work of the commissioner will help us to understand the factors and systemic issues that may contribute to and increase suicide risk and provide recommendations to improve further prevention efforts. This will improve our understanding, allow us to reform the system where it needs to be reformed and provide the right help to all those who need it.

The national commissioner will have powers broadly equivalent to those of a royal commissioner, but it will be a permanent office that can continually monitor the implementation of its own recommendations to ensure long-term solutions are delivered. The commissioner will also be able to examine new issues that may arise over time. The member for Blair, who spoke previously, sees that as a negative. We see it very much as a positive. The national commissioner's ability to be ever-present, to have a rolling focus, will mean that suicide and its risk factors aren't just considered at a moment of time. The commissioner will have ongoing jurisdiction to make sure systemic change happens in the way they have recommended themselves. There won't be a separate royal commission making recommendations, with somebody else implementing them perhaps not in the way that was originally intended; the person recommending systemic change will then oversee it in the way they intended it to be.

When we say the national commissioner and their office will be given relevant powers equivalent to those of a royal commission, what exactly do we mean? This is important. They will undertake wide-ranging inquiries relevant to their role and hear from any relevant parties, be they veterans themselves or their families. They can conduct public and private hearings, compel the production of evidence and summon witnesses. The powers of the national commissioner and their office also will be equivalent to those of a contemporary coronial office. They include overseeing the investigation of all individual veteran and defence suicides, reporting their findings and making recommendations. Again, the member for Blair sees the conducting of public and private hearings as a weakness. We don't. Veterans and their families need that option. Some will want the public forum—absolutely the member for Blair is right. Some of them will want their stories publicly told, and they will have that option, but some won't. We would not want the situation where these forums are only public and those who don't want their views expressed publicly then choose not to take up the option. So the veterans' families will have the option to pursue the mechanism and participate in the mechanism in the way of their choosing.

The role, functions and independence of the national commissioner is important too. They will conduct an independent inquiry into past veteran and defence suicides since 2001, with the ability to consider older deaths if necessary; they can inquire into all future suspected and confirmed veteran suicide; they can identify systemic issues, trends and risk factors; they can undertake their own investigations as they so choose if there are systemic factors that they would like to explore further; they can make recommendations to the government and parliament; they can make findings in relation to individual veteran and defence suicides; of course, they will then have the ongoing monitoring; and then there is the requirement to report to parliament and for parliament to respond.

As with a royal commission, the bill will enable families and individuals the opportunity to engage in the way that they choose. Families can make a submission, they can meet with the national commissioner or their staff, and they can provide formal evidence to the inquiry, such as through a witness statement or through participating in a public or private hearing. It is intended there will also be other informal ways for families to engage with the national commissioner, including through meetings and round tables. Affected families and veterans will have the opportunity to share their personal stories and insights to inform the important work of the national commissioner. Participation of families will of course be voluntary and families will be supported to engage with the national commissioner in the way that they want to engage, whether it's in private or whether it is publicly. Legal assistance will also be available to the families. The Morrison government is providing $42.7 million over five years to establish and operate this national commissioner, including a legal assistance scheme. These costs include the one-off funding to review historical ADF member and veterans deaths by suicide.

We know there is no single solution to this complex issue, and suicide prevention deserves our enduring focus. The bill before us today, the substantive bill, provides the establishment of a permanent, dedicated commissioner who is focused on making inquiries and hearing from families to prevent future suicides. The commissioner will provide that enduring focus. I also want to assure defence and veterans' families that help is available now and can make a difference. If discussions about this topic today in the parliament have caused you or your family any distress, any current serving members can access support through the local garrison's health centre or by contacting the all-hours support line. They can contact Open Arms, the veterans and families counselling service, for support, and those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Safe Zone Support. This is free and anonymous.

Together, this bill and the national commissioner, and we as a community, can tackle the scourge of suicide in our defence and veteran community and ensure we support and serve them just as they have supported and served us.

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