Troubled Aussie veterans face 309 online forms when they turn to the federal government for help

Troubled veterans who turn to the government for help face a bewildering 309 online forms that take months to process and can be repeatedly returned due to terminology errors, leading some to end their lives before they get help. FULL LIST OF FORMS

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Troubled veterans are faced with a bewildering 309 online forms when they turn to the government for help but are instead mired in acres of red tape and long delays.

The draft of the government’s own long-awaited Productivity Commission Report says the current system spends $13.2 billion on 166,000 veterans every year but “is not fit for purpose”.

“The department has failed to adequately look after veterans’ wellbeing or mental health or effectively assist their transition into civilian life,” it said.

Jesse Bird, 32, killed himself in 2017 surrounded by paperwork from the DVA that rejected a claim for permanent impairment he had been fighting for two years. He is pictured in Afghanistan in 2009.

Veterans are forced online to apply for help and are faced with a choice of 309 detailed forms that can take months to process and are sent back repeatedly with any error of terminology.

“There are so many problems with the present system,” Vietnam Veterans Federation spokesman Graham Walker said.

“There are so many hoops veterans are advised to get an advocate to help guide them through the system,” Mr Walker said. Some of those advocates are Vietnam veterans aged in the their 90s and they are not being replaced.

“The first step is to identify yourself but the Department of Veterans Affairs does not have that information and has to apply to Defence for your record,” he said. So begins the unnecessary trail of paperwork that sometimes takes years to complete.

“Why can’t Defence share that information in the first place?” Mr Walker said.

Afghan veteran Jesse Bird, 32, killed himself in 2017 surrounded by paperwork from the DVA that rejected a claim for permanent impairment he had been fighting for two years.

He had warned the department he was suicidal and under severe financial stress.

Jesse Bird as a young serviceman.

Veteran Jesse Bird had warned the department he was suicidal.

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His friend and fellow Afghanistan veteran Jarrod Guiver, 33, said he had been “turned off” from asking for help from the DVA because of Jesse’s treatment.

“When Jesse took his life we all thought there was no point of starting the process if it can be taken from under your feet once you are eligible for compensation,” Mr Guiver said.

Eventually he started the process to help pay for help to treat his problems. He was referred to a string of different experts and said that for the past year, “I sit and wait for anyone to tell me where it’s up to”.

“The arduous process of having a claim accepted by the DVA is compounded by feelings of betrayal. The long process means that it becomes a full-time job of appointments and follow-ups and rehabilitation,” he said.

VETERAN’S WARNING TO ADF BEFORE TAKING HIS LIFE

When Royal Australian Navy Petty Officer Dan Herps signed up to do his duty for Australia, he didn’t imagine part of his role would be to see babies lost at sea.

But one of his confronting tasks during his stint on border patrol in the oceans off Christmas Island involved exactly that, as well as other harrowing situations during his multiple deployments to the Middle East.

Dan Herps as a young Royal Australian Navy seaman.

Dan Herps stands proudly in his Royal Australian Navy uniform in 2012.

He took his life on January 19, 2014, aged 38, suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome after almost 20 years of service including a deployment to protect theIraqi oilfields in Northern Arabian Gulf.

His sister Michelle Zamora said while she knew he was suffering with mental health issues when he died, she didn’t know the extent of some of the things he had to cope with until colleagues told her at his funeral.

Healthy eating, cooking and staying fit were core to Dan Herps’ mental wellbeing.

Dan Herps pictured in late 2013 after popping the question to his fiance.

She was told her brother had seen children lost at sea, prompting a dramatic change in her brother.

“When Dan signed up, he didn’t imagine part of the role would be to see a child die without helping … It goes against their moral concepts. It’s called moral injury,” she said.

Michelle Zamora, sister of Daniel Herps who took his own life in 2014. Picture: Mark Stewart

She added: “When he stayed at my home he would wake in the middle of the night with terrors and then pace the house for hours until we all woke,” she recalls.

In the final days of his life, Mr Herps wrote about his battles with Defence.

“Defence really don’t care if you’re hurting,” Dan wrote. “They care if they’re at fault or if it may look that way.

“I look and see the pathetic attempt at helping ADF members.”

Along with other families, she believes the Prime Minister Scott Morrison needs to listen to the grieving families first hand and calling a Royal Commission.

She said her brother suffered terribly in trying to get help from defence and the paperwork involved in handwriting multiple forms for multiple agencies.

“He said at the time this is just so hard, it’s a joke,” Ms Zamora said. “I didn’t understand or comprehend it at the time.”

— Clarissa Bye

PETITION FOR ROYAL COMMISSION ALMOST AT 200,000

The petition calling for a royal commission into the silent wave of deaths that is claiming the life of a veteran a week has almost reached 200,000 signatures.

Julie-Ann Finney promoted the petition after her son, 38-year-old naval officer David Finney, took his own life earlier this year. “We have had a big spike in signatures since The Daily Telegraph printed David’s story,” she said.

“The number of deaths are a national disgrace,” Ms Finney said.

Julie-Ann Finney has been campaigning for an inquiry since her son Dave lost his battle with PTSD and took his life in February this year. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards

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Like countless others, her son struggled to get help from the Department of Veterans Affairs. His appeal for a psychiatrist to help with his post-traumatic stress disorder saw him put on a waiting list until April or May 2019 — he died on February 1st.

Ms Finney has called for a royal commission into the spate of deaths and wants to meet Prime Minister Scott Morrison to push the case.

“I want to tell him that we need a royal commission because we have been looking at improvements within the DVA for too long and they are not working.”

Dave Finney as a young service-man.

Dave Finney suffered with PTSD and took his life in February 2019.

The Daily Telegraph has backed Ms Finney with its Save Our Heroes campaign and the number of signatures has jumped towards 200,000.

Despite growing public outrage Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester said again yesterday that he could not see the “point” of a royal commission. “I don’t see the point of additional money being put into lawyers rather than mental health specialists,” he said on 2GB.

— Matthew Benns

Daily Telegraph's Save Our Heroes campaign

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