Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to be able to make a contribution to this discussion and want to commend the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee for its comprehensive report and the recommendations it made within it. As a former Minister for Veterans' Affairs, I'm all too well aware of the issues that this report deals with, and it's quite confronting. We know that the suicide rate for defence members in service is a lot lower than it is in the broader population. Sadly, though, with the effluxion of time after people separate from the Defence Force, the incidence of self-harm and suicide increase quite dramatically. That needs to be understood from a number of points of view, and I think this committee did a pretty good job in bringing out into the public domain many of the issues which are confronting us. It makes a series of recommendations around how the Department of Veterans' Affairs, in particular, might change the way it operates to service and support the needs of veterans, including the development of specific suicide prevention programs for veterans identified as at-risk.

My colleague who will be speaking next, the member for Solomon, is a veteran himself, and I'm sure he will have some observations to make, but one of the things that concerned me as a minister is this. When we had people in uniform and in service we had visibility of them. When we have visibility of them, and their mates have visibility of them, there are ways of intervening and providing support. This means, as a result of esprit de corps and a whole range of things that come with being in the services, that you are able to look after people in a way that does not happen in the broader community. What we suffer from, I think, occurs when Defence Force members separate. This is a young person's game. We have lifers, people who become generals, but I think the average length of service is something short of eight years. That means people by their mid-20s have done their service, and over recent years they would have had a number of tours of duty overseas. No doubt that will have brought complications with it—we know that as a result of the instances of PTSD and other issues around mental health that have been reported upon. What concerns me is that there will be young people who leave the defence forces—it doesn't matter what service—and think, 'It's all over, I've had enough of it, I'm gone, I'm moving on' and then sadly, some time later, it could be some years later, they become sick. They don't have the support structures around them, they've lost contact with their service colleagues—some of them are doing that quite deliberately—and they're not part of any group which can monitor them. As a result I think we've seen the sad outcomes which are reported upon in this report.

The difficulty is trying to make sure that everyone who signs up in the Defence Force understands that the day they walk in to Kapooka they are potentially a client of the Department of Veteran Affairs for the rest of their lives and they have entitlements as a result of that that they should use. Too sadly, many just don't know—and when they don't know, they don't do. That is a real problem. So, trying to find a way to keep connection with people once they have done their service and separated is a real challenge, and I note that the Department of Veterans' Affairs, the defence department and the three services are all aware of this and are trying to look at creative ways of sustaining people. There is a real issue about relevance and we have to make sure the defence service organisations are seen as relevant by today's soldiers, Navy personnel and Air Force people. They have got to be seen as relevant so that they can provide additional support. You might be a part-timer who has been sent overseas. You don't go back to a unit, necessarily. You may not go back to Darwin or to Enoggera in Brisbane; you might go back to where you live, which might be Shepparton, for example. You don't have a unit. You are one-out. You may not have the contacts within that community to give you the support that you properly need.

Some of the recommendations in this report make a great deal of common sense. Recommendation 5, that Defence and Department of Veterans' Affairs align arrangements for the provision of mental health care, is a no-brainer. It is something I know has been in the minds of Defence and Veterans' Affairs for some time—making sure there is consistency of treatment and that when people do move from one part of the organisation to another, from being a full-time member serving in the Navy, Air Force or Army to becoming part of the veteran community, there is a seamless transition and their care is provided in a seamless way and is properly monitored. It is important, understanding the tragedy of suicide, that we do establish a national veteran suicide register to be maintained by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It is important so we know precisely what is going on. There are a lot of unknowns in this space and we have to get that knowledge and make sure that we put in place the interventions that will properly address the needs of these young men and women—not all young men and women, but mostly young—and ensure those needs are met. There is a recommendation that the Department of Veterans' Affairs:

I think many of them do that already. I think one of the issues we've got now is that we have a lot of people who have done three, four, five, six, seven tours of duty overseas, and when they come back they need real care. The problem is not that the departmental officials don't understand them; it is, I think, that the broader community doesn't understand them. Making sure the department services them, though, is a priority which we all ought to make sure happens.

I think, when commending the committee for this work, that there is a need to address and continue to support the veterans-centric reform program within the Department of Veterans' Affairs. We're talking about people who will be in the care of these agencies for the rest of their lives, effectively. They have entitlements and rights which need to be respected. But what is most important is that we do things that will intervene and make well again those who are unwell, and drive them away from the challenge and the threats of self-harm and suicide. I commend the report.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've been fortunate to meet many current and former service men and women in my first 18 months as a federal member of parliament. I met them in Afghanistan whilst I was over there on an ADF parliamentary program tour, I have met them through my Fisher Defence Industry Initiative, I spoke at the RSL Queensland AGM at Caloundra this year and I've also been approached by many committed veterans advocates.

The service men and women and the veterans that I have met have raised three main issues, in particular, with me. Firstly, they've impressed upon me the importance of the provision of appropriate equipment for our men and women serving in the ADF. Secondly, they've discussed with me the importance of the help that is available when transitioning from service life to civilian life. Thirdly, they've talked to me about mental health and the support available to veterans and their families.

Tragically, we know that the challenges of transition can have terrible consequences for too many of our veterans. In 2013, of the 148,000 veterans with service related disability being supported by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, 46,400—almost a third—were living with an accepted mental health disorder. These included post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, depression and substance dependency. In the 13 years to 2014, there were, sadly, 292 deaths by suicide among people who had served in the ADF for at least one day since 2001. Among male veterans, the suicide rate is 13 per cent higher than for the equivalent general population. Among those men aged 18 to 24, veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than the wider population. There have been 23 deaths since 2001 among that statistically small group.

There are many veterans living on the Sunshine Coast, and our community comes together to provide what support we can for them. In Fisher, we have very active RSL sub-branches at Caloundra, Beerwah and District, Kawana Waters, Glass House, and Maleny. I've attended numerous events at these RSLs and I was delighted to join the Caloundra RSL and also the president of the Glass House Country RSL just recently.

Separate to the RSLs in my community, we have the Young Veterans Sunshine Coast group. This is a group with 268 members, headed by Jane McFadden and Tay Sukhanthapree aka 'Barrow'—they called him 'Barrow' in the Army because he had so many letters that he had to carry a wheelbarrow around, and that nickname has continued on into his civilian life. They are a great young bunch of men and women that come together about once a month to share in each other's company. They are a terrific bunch of young men and women because they just get together and share each other's company. There are no counselling sessions or anything like that. Just being around one another seems to be of great benefit to them. I want to do what I can to encourage them and support them because many young veterans, sadly, feel there is a disconnect between them and the older RSL groups. There's another group headed by a gentleman by the name of Kevin Moss, from Caloundra. He operates an organisation called Vet-Treks Australia and has done so since 1999. It provides repatriation benefits and health education services to war veterans and widows in rural and remote areas of Australia.

The Sunshine Coast community provides wonderful support for veterans. But as a government we owe it to our current and former service men and women to lead the way, and that is what we do. There are 291,000 veterans and family members who currently receive government support, and 48 per cent of these are women. In total we deliver $11.3 billion to veterans and their families each year.

In helping veterans to transition to civilian life and in providing support for their mental health, the coalition government is already taking comprehensive and decisive action to deal with veterans' concerns. We are investing more money and we are making bold reforms. In January last year, the government reformed the rules so that the Department of Defence could inform the DVA that a serving member has left the service and become a veteran. That ensures that more veterans can receive much earlier engagement. The government is investing $2.7 million in the Prime Minister's Veterans' Employment Program launched in November last year. This money will be used to help businesses understand the unique skills and attributes that a former ADF member can bring to civilian life and to their employment. It is a wonderful initiative. In terms of mental health, last year's budget made treatment for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and drug and alcohol misuse free for anyone who had served full time in the ADF. However, the tragic case of Jesse Bird, who took his own life this year at the age of only 32, reminds us that much more can and must be done.

Men and women in the ADF have a sense of purpose. They have a feeling of belonging, a sense of tribe and a sense of mission. Alongside this sense of direction and belonging, they have structure provided in their lives. The day that they leave the ADF they lose that structure, they lose their place in the tribe and, most importantly, they lose their sense of purpose. One minute they're driving, flying or sailing multibillion-dollar equipment; the next, they can't get a job driving a car. How is that so? How can we as a nation allow that to continue?

Our ADF personnel are highly trained. They have learnt and developed the highest level of skills in their fields. Out in civilian life, however, these skills are not widely acknowledged and they are too often not valued by employers and educational providers. As a society, we do not take advantage of these skills as we should. I'm optimistic that, given time, the Prime Minister's Veterans' Employment Program will help with this situation, but we need to do more. Fundamentally, we need to help our veterans get that sense of purpose back. As a nation we need to throw our gratitude, love and support around our veterans in return for the service they have given. Most importantly, I believe, we need to help our veterans have their skills and qualifications recognised by employers and educational institutions. We need to help them get a meaningful job. I believe that is what will make the greatest difference to their transition to civilian life.

I know that the government is as committed as I am to improving our veterans' transition. As I have described, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Prime Minister have already brought forward many important reforms and new initiatives. As the minister's statement has shown, they have accepted the recommendations of the Senate report and are already working on new programs, like the development of targeted new suicide prevention programs and the expansion of online engagement.

As I said, we still need to do more. There is scope to do more. We need to encourage our service men and women to return to education to get degrees and other qualifications and to have the experience they've had in the service acknowledged in civilian life, because that will be the key to their success in civilian transition.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very happy to make a contribution to the debate we're having this morning about this very important topic. The report of the Senate inquiry into suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel, The constant battle: suicide by veterans, is very welcome. It is a comprehensive report and I, like those who have spoken before me, very much welcome the recommendations. I think there is a great deal of bipartisan support for the recommendations in this report.

The aim, of course, is that we provide greater assistance to our veterans and ex-service people—and currently serving people—by addressing not only administrative issues in the Department of Veterans' Affairs but a wider problem we have in our community. When we send our young men and women, in our name, to do jobs that are often dangerous, where they confront significant challenges, life events and traumas, we must make sure that we look after them. It is the very least that we can do as a country. So I want to thank the members of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee for all of their work on this important inquiry, in particular former Senator Lambie for initiating the inquiry. I acknowledge the consistently hard work by the chair, Senator Alex Gallacher, and the deputy chairs, Chris Back and Bridget McKenzie. It is fantastic work, and really important work for our nation.

I thank each and every individual out there in the community, whether they are part of ex-service community based organisations, whether they are from the department, or whether they are lone former service men or women who are dealing with their issues and who put forward their experience in order to make life better for their comrades. I'll reflect on one of those people shortly, but first I want to say thanks to every individual and organisation that made a submission. It is because of their strength and resilience that this report builds such a comprehensive picture of the difficulties some veterans and ex-service personnel experience post their time in the ADF.

I say 'some veterans and ex-service personnel' because thankfully not all veterans and ex-service personnel are affected in negative ways. I think it is true to say that service most definitely has an effect on everyone. I don't think there are too many people, men or women, who go through training in our services who aren't changed, but the overwhelming majority of the time those changes are positive. They build the resilience of the individual and build the character of our country. But, as the previous speakers have said and as the member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, knows from his time in the role of Minister for Veterans' Affairs, there is a very multifaceted collection of experiences and reactions to experiences that brings about a very complex set of circumstances that we, as a government, need to provide the framework for within the Department of Veterans' Affairs to support our ex-service organisations but also to build that resilience in our community and that connectivity between the community and our serving people that will really provide the best context for people to make a transition that maintains the wellbeing of the individual and, of course, their families. Families are obviously the ones that are there, side by side, as our veterans and ex-service people engage in this constant battle.

The stats on suicide by veterans are just phenomenal—and some of them aren't even being counted. So, again, I welcome this report because there is so much that we need to do. The ex-service suicide rate is 13 per cent higher than the general population's. As I said, there is a lot of bipartisanship in this space, but I am really glad that on our side before the last election we committed to a first principles review of veterans' affairs. The government has agreed with the report's recommendations, so again I welcome that in a bipartisan way. Transition back into civilian life with that structure that the former speaker spoke about is a time of great vulnerability. I have seen that play out for constituents in my electorate. There are many former defence personnel in Darwin, in Palmerston and, indeed, in the rural area which is in the member for Lingiari's seat but very much part of our greater Darwin community. I could tell many stories of individual accounts and phone calls with distressed parents. So I know I can speak on behalf of all of those parents, such as Jesse Bird's parents, when I say that we need to make sure that these recommendations are turned into practical and effective support to ex-service people and veterans on the ground as soon as possible.

I just want to reflect on a good mate of mine, an old commando comrade of mine, Todd Berry or 'Chuck' as we all called him—a real champion of a bloke. I was very happy to see him again last year when I joined with the member for Menzies, the member for Warringah and others on the Pollie Pedal which was raising awareness and funds for Soldier On. It was great to see Todd Berry again. I had not seen him since the time we served together. He found himself in a very difficult place in life, dealing with a trauma that he'd been part of during his military career. He went to the depths. What he has done with a mate called Rob Ginnivan is quite extraordinary. With the support of family and friends, Todd got himself together through a long process and he's written a book called Everything's OK: Post-Traumatic Stress Dissolved. What he's attempted to do—and he's done an incredibly good job of it—is to reflect on his own experiences, what he was feeling while he was going through this very difficult process, the effect it had on his family, the depth that he went to, the actions that he took and the relief that he was not successful in taking his own life. He put his energy, love, ideas, thoughts and reflections into a book. I'm very happy to say that, in the new parliamentary year, we're going to launch that book here in Parliament House, on 6 February at noon. I'll send an invite around to everyone. It was great to hear Todd's reflections on his life and what his book is about. The great message that it has is about connectivity to the community.

Some other friends recently have given me some feedback that I thought I'd share with the House. We talk about digital communication and technology nowadays. There's a young soldier who had an idea, after one of his mates took his own life, that there would be an app for a phone. I don't want to misrepresent the idea, but it's a bit like Tinder in that you can see where other ex-servicepeople are in the vicinity if you need a chat, if you need to say, 'Oh, mate,' or if you need to reach back into the tribe and just reconnect with someone that you knew before. I think that's a great initiative, and I look forward to helping them with that.

I think we need to take into account these ideas, these reflections that come from those with that lived experience of serving our country, experiencing trauma and having difficulty transitioning but getting through with the help of their friends and family. I think we need to take those into account, as well as these recommendations that I commend to the House.

Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a long overdue and very worthwhile report, and I commend the committee that did such a comprehensive review. You can tell how comprehensive the recommendations of this review are. There are very significant recommendations over a broad range of sectors We have 24 recommendations, and they cover everything from the DVA white card through to transition assistance, which is vitally important, and through to the delivery of services from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, as well as the first principles review that my colleague just mentioned.

As the shadow assistant minister for defence, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important report produced by the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee. There have been a number of reports over the years into issues addressing the wounded and soldiers returning from conflict. In my time on the Defence Sub-committee of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, we did an extensive review into how well DVA, particularly, was managing the return of wounded or injured soldiers from Afghanistan at that time. That report highlighted a number of significant gaps. One of the most significant was that—despite assurances in the evidence given to that committee that the Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs were working closely or they were attempting to improve the connectivity and seamlessness between those agencies to ensure that, when someone was transitioning out of Defence into the DVA environment, it would be disrupted as little as possible—we discovered that there were still significant challenges there and that the seamlessness that was suggested by those officials who were giving evidence didn't exist. This report has highlighted that as well.

Once again, there are still these challenges, particularly in that transition from Defence into the DVA environment. It's still incredibly chaotic in some instances. We have veterans who have left the service and are going through the trauma and the challenges that you face having signed up to be a warrior for your nation and a defender of your nation. Many of them have been through conflict. They have gone from that into this environment where they are a veteran, seemingly with very little support services, not just in terms of career transition arrangements, which this report highlights, but also in terms of mental health support and just financial support.

Quite often there are gaps, and we hear that people aren't getting the support that they need, the financial support that they need. They are in this limbo, in this no-man's-land, and it's for too long, despite the fact that so many reports from Senate committees and joint standing committees have highlighted that transitioning from being a warrior in Defence to a veteran being processed through DVA is still not seamless. This has been highlighted; this has been an issue for a very long time. The fact that we are still having this conversation and that this report highlights that this is still a significant issue is concerning. That's why I welcome this report. As my colleagues have mentioned, it has bipartisan support. It highlights a number of very concerning issues, and I trust that the government will accept these recommendations and address them as soon as possible.

It's tragic, as this report highlights, that so many of our younger ex-serving men are at risk of suicide death when compared to all Australian men of the same age. Ex-serving men aged between 18 and 24 have a suicide rate almost two times as high as for Australian men of the same age. I remember that in my last term the actual suicide rate of ADF members was an issue that was being debated—what was the true figure? Was it higher than the Australian average? These were issues that were debated quite extensively, and, in a way, they delayed any government agency addressing the actual issue. Now we know that ex-serving men aged between 18 and 24 have a suicide rate two times higher, and those aged between 25 and 29 have a suicide rate 1.5 times higher than the Australian male average for those of the same age and that ex-serving men aged between 25 and 29 have a suicide rate of 1.5 times the Australian male average of the same age. As the committee chair said in the foreword of the report:

For modern veterans, it is likely that suicide and self-harm will cause more deaths and injuries for their contemporaries than overseas operational service.

How extraordinary is that! Suicide and self-harm will cause greater injury than actually serving in conflict overseas.

We know that the effort to prevent suicide by our veterans is one of the biggest challenges facing our Australian Defence Force. We know that. It's quite clear that we still have a long way to go to address the stigma around mental health. As beyondblue has said:

People with depression and anxiety, and their family and friends, experience significant levels of stigma and discrimination.

…   …   …

People with depression and anxiety report that the stigma and discrimination they experience may be worse than their mental health condition(s).

We must do better to ensure that veterans and those currently in the ADF who are dealing with depression or anxiety are provided with the appropriate support they require and that they are not stigmatised in any way. It's vitally important. I note that the stigma of actually coming forward and saying, 'I have a depression or anxiety issue,' is a barrier for many of our warriors coming forward and identifying the fact that they need some help.

In the nearly four or five years I've been holding a shadow defence portfolio, I've met many veterans, and, along that course, I've met many serving ADF members. Whenever I meet veterans—young veterans particularly—who have been damaged by what has taken place in conflict, by what they've seen in conflict and by what they've experienced, it breaks my heart. I think about these young men who have been, in many ways, broken. Their self-esteem has gone; their self-confidence has gone.

One of the men I met when I was in Afghanistan was part of a very large team that was looking after the four MPs who were there on a visit to Afghanistan. Years later I again met this young man, who I remembered as being incredibly fit, energetic, effusive, enthusiastic and proud of the work that he was doing. He was a broken man. He was a broken man from the fact that he suffered from PTSD. He had put on a significant amount of weight. He was trying to work his way through the system to get support for a university education from the ADF, and it was a struggle. Not only was he struggling with personal and mental health challenges; he was also going into battle, so to speak, with the actual ADF to try and get some support for him to make the transition out of military service. In Queensland, I met another young man who was, again, very broken and bruised from PTSD. He had had a real struggle in trying to get support for his condition, but he got through it. One of the great joys was seeing him supported by an assistance dog, which was providing great relief for him.

I commend the committee on this report. I commend the courage, bravery and conviction of all those people who made submissions to the inquiry and appeared before the committee. This is a significant issue. These figures are frightening in the fact that, as Jeff Kennett said, our modern veterans are more likely to suicide and self-harm than be injured in conflict. This is a significant challenge for Australia, and we need to address it.

Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on this report into suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel. I want to start by acknowledging the submissions made by Jesse Bird's family and ex-partner to the inquiry, and I thank them for their words. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for them, but their submissions were vital and have assisted in forming the recommendations put forward. This matter needs to be put and said quite simply. The system has failed. The system failed Jesse Bird. The system failed Jesse's family. The system failed his friends and loved ones, and the system is continuing to fail many of our veterans, families and defence personnel. We must be honest in order for real change to occur. And 'by the system', I do not mean just the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Governments have allowed this to happen. Service providers have allowed this to happen. Community support has failed.

These men and women have put their lives on the line to serve and protect our country. When they return, we as a country need to acknowledge the sacrifices that they and their families have made and we must provide them with the support that they say desperately need. If we are to create change then we cannot be scared to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask: could we have done more, or could we have done something different? The answer is generally, 'Yes.'

The black dog is not a problem that the defence community faces alone or needs to face alone. Mental illness is something that we as a community need to tackle. Assisting current and ex-service personnel, veterans, family members and peacekeepers does not simply mean checking and ticking boxes. It is so important that we understand that these are people and not just numbers. For their needs to be properly understood, it is really important that we ask the right questions so that we can shine a light on the many issues that have led us to this point in time. This is not a one-person problem, but a problem for many.

In Australia, we are on the verge of an epidemic, where our soldiers and veterans are taking their lives at incredibly high rates. We are losing more Australian soldiers to suicide than in the war in Afghanistan. Figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that, from 2001 to 2014, there were 292 Defence Force personnel who took their lives, but that figure only includes personnel who joined from 2001. Ex-servicemen aged between 18 and 24 accounted for 23 suicides during that time, a rate that is almost twice that of Australian men on average. These figures are shocking and an outrage. Our veterans fight for us, and it is time the community stood up and fought for them.

This is not just a Defence problem. This is a problem for the community to address, because mental health is everybody's responsibility. Our defence personnel are part of our community, and it will take a community to help keep the black dog from the door—or, better still, nowhere near the door. We need to focus on health services, community organisations, employment programs and financial assistance.

Communities should be honoured and proud to have defence communities. I represent the largest garrison city in Australia and I am proud that I represent an electorate of which, it is estimated, 20 per cent are currently serving and ex-serving men and women, veterans, peacekeepers and their families. Since being elected in 2016, I have continually said that I will be a strong representative for our defence community and that I will engage with our defence community to ensure that their voices are heard loudly in Canberra.

Last year, I was proud to launch the first-ever Townsville Defence Community Reference Group. This group contains a collective of 25 current, serving and ex-serving personnel and ESOs, and the first thing that we as a group tackled was that very issue of mental health. Since forming this group, in less than a year we have already had some fantastic achievements. The reference group has fought—and won the fight—for a local young veteran to be included on the national mental health review panel, and for community consultation to occur in Townsville for the veterans suicide review. The veterans suicide review panel came to Townsville to meet with defence group members. The group drafted the terms of reference and the project management job description and appointed the steering committee and the chair of that steering committee for the veterans suicide prevention trial that is currently underway in Townsville.

The reference group has fought for and won, in partnership with the state government, the Oasis Townsville hub, a one-stop shop for all veterans' needs. When it is up and running, it will have the space to house all ESOs, and additional community and health support services. Further to this, the reference group members have been involved in the RSL Queensland Employment Program for veterans, which has now commenced in Townsville. I have to say this is one of the most outstanding employment programs that I have seen in many, many years. To that end, this program is currently being considered by the government for a rollout nationally. I fought against this government when locals reported to me that it was trying to shut Townsville's Department of Veterans' Affairs office and move services to Centrelink. The minister, Dan Tehan, was forced to make a public statement that this would not happen, on the very day that I raised the alarm.

By bringing the defence community together and supporting each other, the Townsville Defence Community Reference Group have achieved so much in just one year, and we will not stop there. Locally, we are getting on with the job and supporting our defence community, but more needs to be done—and more needs to be done in this place, including more work around good, solid employment opportunities. Our soldiers need a reason to get out of bed. Our veterans need a reason to get out of bed. They need purpose and meaning, and their children need to see them going to work. We need more staff and departmental access for our veterans, more assistance for transitioning defence personnel and more assistance with community connection.

I say to our currently serving and ex-serving personnel, veterans and peacekeepers: thank you for your service to this country, and please know that my door is always open. I will continue to listen to you, work with you and fight hard for you in this place. Townsville is proud to be the largest garrison city in the nation. Defence veterans and families make a huge social and economic contribution to our community, and, for that, we are truly grateful. Defence are valued in the Townsville community.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday morning I had the privilege of joining the 336 Squadron of the Australian Air Force Cadets at their annual trophy day parade, where they displayed their skill on the parade ground and several received awards for the very hard work that they had done throughout the year. There were around 50 cadets in all. There was a look of pride on their faces, whether they won an award or not. That was matched only by the pride on their parents' and families' faces. These are young people who spend often years involved in cadets and, when I speak with the older ones who are ageing out of cadets, many express a desire to join the Defence Force. It's these bright young faces I think of when we talk about suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel. This group had within it some of our service personnel of the future, and we need to be taking steps to make sure that the trust they place in an institution like the Defence Force, and the RAAF, is well placed. It's their parents' faces, glowing with pride as they watch their children, that I think about because they're the ones who trust that this parliament and the departments that we guide will provide a safe environment for their young people to work in as they go through their career.

It is the trust that something like the cadets has developed in these young people—the trust they have for the RAAF, the trust their parents have for the way they expect their children will be supported in a respectful way—that is so important in relation to this Senate inquiry and the findings it has made into suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel, because it's clear that the trust has not always been well placed. It's beyond doubt that veterans and ex-serving personnel are not receiving the support that they have every right to expect and that their families have every right to expect for them. The 458 submissions that the Senate inquiry received from peak bodies, ex-service organisations and many individual veterans and their families show that, as does the data. It never ceases to shock us when we hear that the suicide rates of ex-serving men are more than twice as high as for those serving full time or in the Reserve. Ex-serving men aged 18 to 24 are at particular risk, two times more likely to die from suicide than other Australian men of the same age. Those who left the ADF after less than a year of service are 2½ times more likely to die by suicide than other groups, and those discharged involuntarily have a similarly high rate of suicide. Those figures show us that we haven't got it right.

The government has announced that it will accept every recommendation the Senate inquiry made, and we on this side are very supportive of that. That bipartisanship is crucial as we move forward. There's obviously work to do on the detail and we look forward to a collaborative approach bringing these recommendations to a practical implementation. There are 24 recommendations in the report about providing greater assistance to veterans. There are recommendations about the compensation claims process, which in itself is a fearful process for many people. I have been told that it exacerbates mental illness by its very nature. There are recommendations about the training of the staff who work in the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and it is crucial that they understand what it has been like for people who have stepped up and served Australia as members of the Defence Force. There are recommendations about the medico-legal firms involved in the assessment of veterans, and I have to say that all of these issues touch on conversations that I've had on the doorsteps of Glenbrook, Hobartville, South Windsor or McGrath's Hill, where many defence families live. It is often a mother or a father who talks to me about the challenges that their son, often, is having, having left the Defence Force. I find it interesting that it isn't always the immediate family who wants to talk about this stuff—it's not the partner, and certainly not the person themselves. They have enormous loyalty to the Defence Force. They spent years of their life there, the family has made enormous sacrifices and it gets to a point where it's the mum or the dad who quietly talks to me and says, 'What's happening is just not right.' I think this inquiry was able to give voice to many of those issues and has fulfilled a very important role in taking away the opaqueness that was around it. People were able to speak without it being seen as a disloyalty to the Defence Force, and that's really important. The RSLs and the Blue Mountains Vietnam Veterans association have very reasonable expectations of the way people should be treated, as do, by and large, the mums, the dads, the partners and the children.

In my electorate we have RAAF Base Richmond and Glenbrook air headquarters, so we have a large number of RAAF defence personnel. We are also very lucky to have St John of God Richmond Hospital, which focuses on veterans' mental health issues. But I welcome in this report the government's acceptance that we cannot just rely on existing services and we need to see some improvement in services. I'm particularly keen to see the trial program that will provide assistance animals for veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. My electorate actually has a hand in developing these assistance dogs, because we have the Guide Dogs breeding program at Glossodia. The guide dogs that don't quite make it through the program for assisting visually impaired people are often moved into an assistance program. I like to think that my electorate is going to be part of the solution through some of these programs. We certainly have some terrific stories of the assistance dogs that have been born and bred in the Hawkesbury.

One of the key areas the inquiry touched on was the danger of transition—that it is a really vulnerable time. Anybody who has had any involvement with mental health and how it affects someone's life knows that change is a real trigger for mental illness—things are going along well but then a set of circumstances changes. Why would it be any different for our people who have served in Defence, particularly when you think about the structure and the amazing support that people have within the services? I got a taste of that at Amberley through the ADF Parliamentary Program, when I got to see the sorts of structure and support that are there. It's easy to understand why leaving it creates vulnerabilities for people. So it's great to see that there are four or five recommendations that look at how we support people as they transition. I'm particularly pleased to see that all ADF members will have access to the DVA white card while they transition into civilian life. That's a really important step. It stops there being that gap, that time when all the support they had is suddenly gone.

The gaps in medical services are important to overcome, as are the employment issues. We need to provide more work not just at the point of transition, at the point of leaving the ADF, but as people are considering their future. My experience is that a lot of people in their 30s who have families ask: is Defence really where I want to stay for the next 10 or 20 years? They may or may not decide to leave, but we know that if they do they will need education and training support to help them transition into a civilian life where their skills are identified and they are recognised for what they are: diverse, highly skilled—often multiskilled—individuals who just need some support in shifting from the Defence structure to civilian life.

I want to finish where I started, and that's with the families. Ex-Defence families carry a huge load. Anyone with a family member suffering mental health issues carries a load, but for Defence it's an even greater load. So it's very good to see recommendations 19 and 20 in particular, which talk about more support for partners of veterans and for families. It's an area in which the Labor Party certainly want to see a lot more work done. When I think of family days for Defence I think of them as being not just about getting a ride in a plane but about supporting Defence families with their mental health.

Debate adjourned.

Sitting suspended from 12:09 to 16:00