The Australian Defence Force has not formally evaluated the effectiveness of its post-critical incident mental health support since 2008, a royal commission has been told.
About 4000 critical incidents have required mental health support for traumatised ADF members in 20 years, the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was told on Tuesday.
Of those, 380 critical incident mental health support reports had occurred on operational deployments overseas or in remote locations in Australia.
Commissioner Peggy Brown wanted to hear about the accessibility and effectiveness of the response.
Dr Brown, a psychiatrist, said an almost universal complaint from witnesses in private sessions was the extent to which they felt the force had abandoned them, failing to debrief after critical incidents or offer mental health support.
"Has anyone gone and asked the ADF members what their experience is?" Dr Brown said.
"Do they (ADF members) feel that they are getting the support they require while on deployment, or even while in service on non-deployed duties?
"I hear the good intent, the question is whether it is meeting the needs."
Joint Health Command's Colonel Neanne Bennett conceded there had been no further research by the ADF on the effectiveness of its response since a 2008 evaluation, which she co-authored.
Col Bennett agreed her report noted some leadership resistance to critical incident mental health support, including the view that "some senior staff argue that it is encouraging weakness".
An expert panel of ADF witnesses was asked about the challenges for traumatised members during deployment, especially if commanders didn't recognise there was a problem and there were no accessible mental health professionals.
"There are numerous ways that a mental health professional or (specialist) coordinator can become aware of a critical incident or a potentially traumatic event," Lieutenant Colonel Alison Kaine, linked to the Sensitive and Strategic Issues Management, told the inquiry.
"It's not just reliant on the commander on the ground to identify that it is a critical incident or a potentially traumatic event.
"There are numerous reporting mechanisms that report back into the headquarters or the task force to identify that something has occurred ... particularly if there has been a death or a serious injury."
The commission's first public hearings in the Northern Territory will consider issues such as recruitment, training, deployment risks and mental health support at the Larrakeyah Barracks and HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin, as well as at RAAF Base Tindal, near Katherine.
Upcoming witnesses include John and Robyn Halloran, the parents of 21-year-old Private Thomas Halloran who took his own life on April 26 this year at Darwin's Robertson Barracks.
Opening the first day of NT hearings, Commissioner Nick Kaldas said Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell had provide public reassurance that no serving member would be penalised for speaking to the inquiry.
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