Australian defence force personnel and veterans have suffered “a catastrophic failure of leadership at all levels” to prioritise their health and wellbeing, according to the head of a long-running royal commission into veteran suicide.
Nick Kaldas, the former New South Wales police deputy commissioner, made the comment on Monday shortly before the royal commission he chaired provided its final report to the federal government.
After three years of work – including hearing evidence from more than 340 witnesses, conducting almost 900 private sessions and receiving more than 5,800 submissions – the commission made 122 recommendations.
Anthony Albanese said it would be “a difficult day for many people” as some families had relived “the darkest moments of their lives” to try to spare others such pain in future.
The government has yet to provide its formal response to the inquiry but the defence minister, Richard Marles, vowed to “support the thrust of the recommendations”. The Coalition said it would work with the government in a bipartisan manner.
Here are some of the key lessons learned, according to the royal commission report tabled in federal parliament.
Suicide rates are ‘unacceptably high’
The report says between 1985 and 2021 there were 2,007 confirmed suicide deaths of individuals who had served at least one day in the ADF since January 1985.
“An average of 78 serving or ex-serving ADF members have died by suicide each year for the past 10 years. This equates to an average of three deaths every fortnight,” the report said.
But the report says as large as these numbers are, they “underestimate the scale of the problem” because they do not include individuals who left the ADF before 1985, thereby excluding many Vietnam veterans and deaths where the intent of the deceased could not be determined.
“The data also revealed ex-serving ADF members who served in the permanent forces had higher rates of long-term mental health conditions, and ‘deaths of despair’, which refers to deaths caused by suicide, drug or alcohol poisoning, chronic liver disease, or cirrhosis,” the report says.
“Males and females who served in the permanent forces are 21% and 81%, respectively, more likely to die by deaths of despair than Australian males and females.”
Defence capability has been ‘hollowed’ out
The report warns workforce shortages caused by high separation rates, a failure to meet recruitment targets, and personnel who are unavailable for medical reasons “have resulted in a ‘hollowing’ of defence capability and an environment that is not conducive to supporting wellbeing”.
The associate secretary of the Department of Defence, Matt Yannopoulos, told the royal commission: “The hollowness is made up of the approximate 10% vacancy rate and 15% medically unavailable.”
The commission heard that, as of November 2023, the organisation was 4,259 personnel, or 6.8%, below the levels it is funded to achieve. The report calls for a new doctrine “recognising that operational readiness depends on a healthy workforce”.
Moral injury and military justice ‘weaponisation’
The commission says the concept of “moral injury” is relatively new and not yet widely acknowledged as a risk factor for suicide and suicidality among military personnel, but it can be experienced by people who are victims of actions that go against their moral code.
“It can also occur when a person feels responsible for perpetrating, or failing to intervene or report actions that cause injury to others,” the report says. These can include witnessing horrors in combat situations.
A former infantry commander recounted comments from others about moral injury: “I feel like I have a wounded soul, that I’ve done something really wrong or I witnessed something that was really wrong and I didn’t do anything about it.”
The report urges Defence and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to do research to better understand the problem and to “prevent, minimise and treat moral injury”.
The report also says the commission “heard detailed historical and contemporary accounts of bullying, harassment, discrimination, misogyny, and physical and sexual violence experienced during training or throughout service life”. In addition to recommending measures to protect victims of sexual misconduct from disadvantage over the course of their careers, the commission also calls on the government to launch a formal inquiry into sexual violence in the ADF.
Further, the report identifies “many factors in the military justice system that can cause or aggravate poor mental health outcomes and contribute to risks of suicide and suicidality”, including a lack of fairness and consistency and “opportunities for the ‘weaponisation’ of administrative sanctions against serving members”. It calls for an urgent inquiry by the inspector general of the ADF to investigate “how to improve accountability of commanders who are found to misuse and abuse military justice processes”.
Transition to life after the ADF is a challenge
The inquiry has explored “how many of the factors unique to military service contribute to increased risks of suicide and suicidality during transition to civilian life and following separation”. It found psychosocial challenges can arise “from the loss of military identity, purpose and levels of social connection, and the corresponding experiences of isolation and loneliness”.
As people lose access to “a collective identity and the sense of purpose inherent in being a member of a unit, service, and defence more broadly, an ex-serving member can face an uncomfortable and often isolating experience re-establishing a civilian identity”.
The report cited the Transition and Wellbeing Research Programme, which estimated – based on 2015 data – more than 20% of former members of the permanent forces who had separated or transitioned into the reserves had experienced some form of suicidality in the previous 12 months. For example, 21.2% “felt so low they thought about dying by suicide (compared to 3.3% for the general population)”.
The report recommends an expansion of healthcare services for veterans. It also says a new executive agency should be established in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to take responsibility for supporting members to transition into civilian life.
Leaders need to take responsibility
The commission extracted an apology from the then chief of the ADF, Gen Angus Campbell, who said in the final hearings: “I apologise unreservedly for these deficiencies. Defence is committed … to doing better.”
The final report says strong leadership in all levels of government and the military “will be required to build confidence among former, current and prospective ADF members and their families that their wellbeing will be prioritised”.
The royal commission calls for a new statutory entity to oversee systemic reforms – but it also calls for leadership in driving real change. Interestingly, it calls for the annual performance appraisals of ADF leaders from the rank of colonel to the rank of general to include an assessment against specific targets related to culture, health and wellbeing.
The report ends: “History will indeed judge those who are in a position to make a difference at this critical moment. Having reached the conclusion of our inquiry, we send this final message to leaders in the government, military and public service:
“Your conduct in fulfilling your responsibilities towards our serving and ex-serving ADF members and their families will speak louder than your words. The nation is waiting for you to demonstrate that people genuinely are defence’s ‘greatest asset’. The strength and capability of our country’s defence force depends on what you do next.”
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
