Content warning: this article contains content about self-harm and suicide.
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (DVSRC) will hand its final report to the governor-general on Monday. Then, it will be up to the government to table the report so we can all read it. Don’t expect the government to rush on this. The report will be huge, complex and, frankly, harrowing. The recommendations will be broad and, if implemented, change how Defence works.
Consequently, you can expect the government to play politics on it. The minister will also have the voices of the ADF in his ear — inevitably seeking to water down and control any change. The government will sit on the report as long as it can, release it when it can gain the most politically, then kick the can of reform down the road, past the next election. We can already picture the Minister for Defence Richard Marles saying: “A review body will be established to assess the recommendations and how they can be done.” The government will desperately not want to be wedged by the Coalition on anything to do with the ADF or national security.
The DVSRC began in July 2021, received 5,889 submissions, held hearings across the country in public and private, and documented thousands of cases of abuse, bullying and maladministration that led serving members and veterans to self-harm and suicide. On average over the last 10 years, 78 serving or ex-service members have died by suicide every year — three deaths every fortnight. Both serving members and veterans have higher rates of suicide, self-harm and suicidal thoughts than comparable Australian populations.
It took a decade of consistent agitation from the veteran community and families to finally get the royal commission established. In 2019, a 300,000-signature petition calling for a commission was rejected by the Morrison government. In March 2021, a non-binding motion calling for a royal commission passed both houses of Parliament with cross-party support. At that point, the political reality was too much for the government to resist. This history matters as it shows us that successive governments and Defence Departments did not want the commission — as they knew what it would find.
The lack of commitment to the royal commission shown by Defence and the government has been exemplified by the obfuscation and feet-dragging they have undertaken in an attempt to stymie the commissioners. Nick Kaldas, the chairing commissioner, noted in 2023 the commission had “faced significant delays in the provision of vital data and information sought from Defence” adding “we commissioners fear the defence hierarchy is simply waiting for this inquiry to end so that it can go back to business as usual.” This “wait it out” is a standard Defence tactic to any critical report, and they know they can wait out most change as ministers switch and governments fall.
The central recommendation that the DVSRC will make is a new entity be established to provide oversight of the change Defence will have to undertake and make sure there is accountability for suicide prevention. This is a key recommendation as Defence has a long history of ignoring and/or paying lip service to recommendations (the favourite being the meaningless “in-principle” support), all the while waiting out reviews, inquiries and ministers. As the commission notes, “The royal commission has identified at least 57 previous inquiries or reviews relating to Defence and veteran suicide over the last 20 to 30 years, which resulted in some 770 recommendations for change. Despite this, there has been no improvement in military suicide rates and the senseless loss of life continues today.”
Of course, we have been here before. It was 20 years ago that a Senate inquiry recommended an independent oversight body to monitor and investigate complaints outside of the ADF’s chain of command. This recommendation was rejected by the ADF and government of the day on the basis that it was essential for a military to control its own processes.
We should be prepared for this same line of argument to be used against the royal commission’s recommendations. The pro-military commentariat will claim the ADF cannot possibly fight wars if it has an independent oversight body scrutinising its conduct. This line of attack will be used to ignore or water down such a body. The ADF thinks it is exceptional and above proper scrutiny — this must change.
The Australians hurt by their service to their country are the ones who most need reform to be done. Every year wasted is another 80 lives lost. This report needs to be the one that changes Defence.
James Connor and Ben Wadham’s book on abuse in the ADF Warrior Soldier Brigand: Institutional Abuse within the Australian Defence Force will be published later this month.
For anyone seeking help, Lifeline is on 13 11 14, Open Arms Veterans & Families Counselling is on 1800 011 046, and the ADF All-hours Support Line is on 1800 628 036.
