‘We’re not broken’: Call for better support for Australian military veterans and their partners

Thousands of former ADF officers and their partners are being left to fend for themselves, threatening their futures and a huge missed economic opportunity.

Exclusive: Veterans who aren’t “broken” are being virtually ignored by Australia, according to an ex-senior military officer.

Mark Leatham, who served for 28 years in the ADF and 12 years with the RAAF before taking senior jobs in the corporate sector, said Australia needed to urgently overhaul the way it treated high-functioning ADF staff, who could make a valuable contribution if retrained.

He said 80 per cent of veterans and their families were not suffering serious health issues.

“Obviously we’re not trying to detract or take away anything from (wounded veterans). But there is another group out there that wants support in a different way, and we’re just trying to fill that void is the best way to put it,” Mr Leatham, who now works for Frontline Labs, a provider of veteran entrepreneur and business support programs, said.

Former ADF officer Mark Leatham in Kabul in 2020. Picture: Supplied

Frontline Labs was launched this month by InnoClub, a not-for-profit that helps former ADF members and their spouses transition to civilian life. ​

It offers Australia’s only MBA-style program focused on supporting veterans with start-up opportunities, as well as small to medium sized businesses looking for assistance to scale their operations.

In the past two years, InnoClub has seed funded and supported nearly 50 veteran businesses.

Mr Leatham said the current support system for former personnel and their families transitioning into civilian life focused on medical and health support — leaving a huge cohort of veterans, and their spouses as an untapped resource that could plug skills shortages and boost the economy.

The vast majority of soldiers finish with the ADF without serious health issues. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“I am sick of hearing the narrative that all veterans are broken – it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy for those not dealing with serious medical issues [and] has an impact on your confidence and ambition,” he said.

One example ex-ADF could help in is cybersecurity.

“The defence people come straight away with security clearances, which is a big tick straightaway. Because Mr Joe Blow off the street doesn’t normally have a security clearance. And they’re all IT savvy, they have no choice they have to become because all the training courses they do,” he said.

In the past, he hired defence people for jobs because he knew their skill set.

“They’re good at organising the chaos … crisis planning was probably the most valuable skill I ever learned in the military, if stuff happened, military people know how to deal with it. And they deal with it in a calm, calculated way,” he said.

Mr Leatham said the problem had been ongoing for many years, and could lead to drug and alcohol issues as “lost and isolated’ people drifted in civilian life – something he hoped the public and government would take more notice of.

‘STIGMA’ AROUND SOLDIERS

Former soldier Michael Handley now runs REDSIX, a mental health support app aimed at reducing suicide rates in the veteran community.

He did an InnoClub course which for him was a “no-brainer” to get involved with “to see what benefits I could get out of that”.

His wife also joined and strengthen her business skills. “It was a great little program. It builds your confidence in standing in front of crowds and talking about your product or service. And the guys have continued that mentorship with me, since leaving the course, which is fantastic,” Mr Handley said.

Michael Handley when he was in the ADF. Picture: Supplied

“There’s that stigma around, you know, that we’re broken, but I tell you there’s a huge percentage of people that do leave the defence force and transition quite well. There’s a lot of skills there that we can transfer into the civilian sector,” he said.

Many in the ADF worked under “extreme conditions’ in the most “stressful environments you can imagine”.

“When we come back … we can use those problem solving skills that we’ve developed over the years at businesses and we find there’s no need to panic, let’s resolve the issue first, and we can worry about the chaos afterwards,” he said.