1 week Ago By Tess Ikonomou
A "failure of leadership" led to the cultural problems within the Australian Defence Force, the chair of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide says. / (min cost $ 0 ) or signup to continue reading Three years on, the seven-volume final report will be given to Governor-General Sam Mostyn on Monday, before it is tabled in parliament later in the day by Defence Minister Richard Marles. The inquiry received almost 6000 submissions and heard from hundreds of witnesses about issues ranging from bullying to abuse in the Australian Defence Force.
Chair Nick Kaldas said a "failure of leadership" led to the countless inquiries beforehand not being acted on. "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 it was too hard, or they simply didn't care enough to tackle the problems," he said. "We hope that the royal commission has achieved one thing, which is to make the problems undeniable.
"It's really up to the government and our parliament now ...
it should not be a political issue, united to help and support our veterans and our serving members." Mr Kaldas said the inquiry had been stymied when it requested documents or reports to be produced. "The Australian government solicitors have relied on .
.. the legislation that exists, to use parliamentary privilege to stop us from using a number of inquiry reports," he said.
"That has happened. That's a fact." Independent senator Jacqui Lambie, who served in the military for more than a decade and called for a royal commission, said "Defence was already on the defensive".
"I have to say this to Defence: If you want to fix things, then you have to be open and honest where your problems are," she told ABC's RN on Monday. "Otherwise you are never going to fix it, and that is why people are not joining, and that is why they're leaving in droves." Senior officials also gave evidence at the inquiry, including former chief of the defence force Angus Campbell who apologised "unreservedly" for the military's failures.
A key recommendation of the 122 made in the final report, will call for a permanent body to be set up after the inquiry to monitor progress on the recommendations and to report publicly. There have been at least 57 previous inquiries relating to Defence and veteran suicide over the past three decades, resulting in about 770 recommendations. An interim report released in 2023 made 13 urgent recommendations, including eliminating the massive backlog of veteran compensation claims by March 2024.
The first recommendation was to simplify the claims processing system. The inquiry was told the complex process had harmed the mental health of ex-personnel and their families and had led to suicide. Lifeline 13 11 14 Open Arms 1800 011 046 Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.
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