Let’s Talk: Join Adelaide mother Julie-Ann Finney for a live Q&A on the state of veterans’ mental health

Watch a replay of our Let’s Talk Q&A with Julie-Ann Finney, the mother of an ex-Navy sailor son who tragically took his own life after battling PTSD.

Julie-Ann Finney’s son David was an engineer in the navy and took his own life after a battle with PTSD. Photo: Mike Burton

Veteran mental health became a national talking point last week with the release last Thursday of a returned soldiers report into war crime allegations involving Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan.

The mental health ripple effects of this report will be felt by a veteran community that has buried 53 to suicide this year and has been left all the more vulnerable post-COVID.

A special Let’s Talk report by the Advertiser and Sunday Mail reveals veteran suicides have increased 32.5 per cent so far this year compared to 2019.

WATCH THE FORUM BELOW

Veterans are waiting up to 164 days for some claims to be processed – a known risk factor to self harm – and are unlikely to see a psychiatrist until April 2021 unless an emergency.

They are not the improvements Adelaide mother Julie-Ann Finney has been searching for since her son – naval petty officer David – took his own life last year.

The forum is part of the Let’s Talk: Our State of Mind 2020 campaign by The Advertiser and Sunday Mail to help our community address mental health challenges now and into the future.

If you’ve got a question for our forum, you can post it ahead of the event in the comments box below.