Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel. As we mark World Suicide Prevention Day, why is swift action on the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide report important?

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Spence for his very important question, and I recognise his advocacy for the veterans in his community and acknowledge his service in our Australian Defence Force. This morning, I joined Lifeline and my colleagues the member for Cooper and Senator Stewart at the Out of the Shadows Walk to remember those lost to suicide and reflect on the work ahead.

Veteran suicide is a national tragedy. That's why we supported the establishment of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has confirmed some 1,677 known cases of suicide amongst serving and ex-serving personnel between 1997 and 2021. Some three years and thousands of submissions later, the royal commission has handed down their final report. It's the culmination of the most significant inquiry conducted into suicide and suicidality in our defence and veteran communities. The royal commission and all of us have heard the harrowing stories of serving members, former serving members and the family members of those who have taken their own lives.

The report is comprehensive. It is some seven volumes long, containing over 3,100 pages and 122 recommendations. We're already putting in the work to properly understand and consider the recommendations and the detail behind them. It's incumbent on all of us—government, Defence, the ADF, the Department of Veterans' Affairs—to take the action necessary to identify and combat the drivers of suicide and suicidality in our defence and veteran community. We moved swiftly when we received the royal commission's interim report, taking action on all 13 of its recommendations. We recognise the urgency of the recommendations in this final report and we'll move swiftly to develop the government's response.

I want to thank everyone who helped campaign for and who contributed to the royal commission for their bravery in sharing their often harrowing stories about their own experience in service and those who have given a voice to loved ones no longer able to share their own story. I also thank the commissioners for their important and sensitive work. One death is one too many. We must do what we can as quickly as we can to prevent suicide across our defence and veteran community. For those who require support, please reach out to Open Arms on 1800011046.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I'd like to concur with the remarks of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and note the coalition's willingness to expedite the process as quickly as we can. I don't think there's any person in this House who wants to see one other person harm themselves, and it is incumbent upon all of us to do something. We all wear the responsibility of where this has come to, and we all wear the responsibility of finding, as best we can, some solution. But not for one second am I holding up a panacea and saying that what we will do will fix everything, but we will do our utmost.

In conclusion, it's an incredible thing that some people sign on the dotted line knowing full well that they may get the order that brings an end to their life, and a culture that asks that is a culture that is sometimes a hard thing to rewind from. We understand that, and we acknowledge that the esprit de corps that is part of the Defence Force also relates to the huge loss that so many families have when they ask us for so much. We know that, deep in their hearts, what they really want is their mother, their father, their brother, their sister, their son or their daughter back, and that is one thing our chamber tragically is not able to provide to them.