It was all happening in Canberra last week, with the Albanese government making announcements about aged care funding, social media, hydrogen, and hate speech. Lost in the shuffle was the findings of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans Suicide, delivered to the government after three years’ intensive work.
The final report is scathing of defence culture and government inaction at all levels, finding that more than 2,000 serving or former defence personnel died by suicide between 1985 and 2021, with at least three dying each fortnight in the past decade.
Even without including probable suicides (such as single car accidents), ex-veteran suicides are 26 per cent higher than the national average for men, and a staggering 107 per cent higher for women.
Led by Royal Commissioner and Chair Nick Kaldas APM, the inquiry left no stone unturned, with 12 public hearings over more than 100 days, evidence from 340 witnesses, 897 one on one private sessions and 5,865 written submissions, as well as cross-jurisdictional comparisons with our military allies.
The threat within
Surprisingly, those who are at most at risk of suicide have not even been deployed overseas into traditional combat situations. Physical and sexual violence was a common experience among thousands of submissions, with those who later end in psychological crisis often facing worse violence from their fellow soldiers, sailors and airmen than from enemy combatants.
For men, this usually comes from others at their own level, with bullying taking many forms. Does anyone remember Full Metal Jacket?
For women, the main perpetrators are those who sit above them in the command structure, with sexual violence being a massive problem at all levels.
With the rank system being embedded in military justice processes, many victims find themselves further victimised, with no prospects of resolution.
These issues are often compounded with moral injury (being forced to do things in contravention of an individual’s moral code) and post-traumatic stress from experiences in military training, fighting in war zones and dealing with natural disasters.
Transitioning to civilian life is also a major challenge for many service personnel, with inadequate support from government departments, particularly in cases of physical and psychological injury, and the loss of important support structures, compounded with existing threats to marriages from long deployments and PTSD.
Chair Nick Kaldas said, ‘What is clear from some of the horrible stories that we’ve heard is that many people simply turned a blind eye, over many years, and felt that it was too hard, or they simply didn’t care enough to tackle the problems.’
The commissioners concluded by saying it was now up to the Australian government and its agencies to decide whether unacceptable rates of suicide among serving and former ADF personnel would be allowed continue, with no excuses for a culture that does not look after its own.
‘They see me as nothing’
As one ex-RAAF member told the Royal Commission, ‘Nothing will take away what it does to a person to literally sign a piece of paper to say they will go anywhere at any time and do anything – including sacrificing their own life – in the defence of our country.
‘And then for that country to turn around and say to them they are not worth anything to them broken. Not worth anything to them injured. That they see me as nothing.’
Last week the government said it would consider the 122 recommendations of the Royal Commission, having previously accepted all the interim recommendations. The key request is for a new ‘mechanism of independent scrutiny’ to be established, to continually monitor and publicly report back on the progress of suicide rates among ADF members.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the government was ‘deeply sorry for every family who has lost a loved one through suicide’.
Peter Dutton accepted the findings of the Royal Commission, saying both sides of politics had ‘let these diggers down’, but the opposition leader’s main game last week was asking the minerals lobby how high they would like him to jump, telling their major conference he would be ‘the best friend the mining and resources sector will ever have’ (he’s got some serious competition there), even if that meant tearing up existing climate commitments.
Apparently keeping Gina and her friends happy is much more important than doing anything about the climate emergency, but as with the case of veteran suicides, the cost of inaction is alarmingly clear – and ignorance is no longer a defence.
* If this story has brought up any issues for you or your loved ones, there is a confidential all-hours support line at 1800 628 036 for ADF members and their families. Open Arms also provides 24 hour free and confidential counselling and support for current and former ADF members and their families, on 1800 011 046.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning film-maker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
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