Mum who lost veteran son to suidide issues stark warning
The mother of a veteran who took his own life after a two decade Navy career has issued a sobering warning: “don’t enlist until it is fixed”.
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THE MOTHER of an Australian Defence Force veteran who took his own life after a two decade Navy career has issued a sobering warning: do not enlist.
Julie-Anne Finney’s son David took his own life in 2019. She could not be more proud of his service but says nobody else should enlist in the ADF until wide ranging and systemic issues are solved.
The senate candidate for South Australia spoke exclusively to the Bulletin during a brief visit to Townsville.
“It is not about not serving but, don’t enlist until it is fixed. Don’t,” she said.
“My son was incredibly proud of his 20 years and I am incredibly proud of him.
“Until they stop giving us back our kids in body bags they don’t deserve to have our kids.”
Ms Finney was instrumental in campaigning for the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide but said she did not realise how much it would expose.
Throughout the hearings witnesses have given harrowing evidence about their experiences of sexual and physical abuse, PTSD, suicide and bureaucracy.
Ms Finney’s warning to not enlist comes as the country grapples with the stories of veterans and their families and just months after Prime Minister Scott Morrison also recently announced the largest expansion of Australia’s military in peacetime, with a plan to grow the Defence workforce to more than 101,000 personnel.
One of the biggest focuses of the Royal Commission has been the failures within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Last month DVA secretary, Liz Cossons admitted in her evidence that the department had failed ex-military personnel and left many in limbo through the claims process, with the waitlist now ballooned to more than 60,000.
Ms Finney said a key focus for change was DVA, to ensure serving members and veterans had access to appropriate health care and to address internal leadership challenges inside Defence.
“They need to fix the issues of toxic leadership, of bad healthcare in Defence; they need to fix the issues of a backlog of 60,000 claims in DVA and having staff that really aren’t trained,” she said.
“For our veterans, they deserve the best healthcare. If Defence breaks them, there needs to be accountability.
Military researcher Dr Kay Danes who says military suicides are not just a consequence of war and links institutional abuse and the abnormal suicide risk faced by current and former serving members.
In September last year the fourth annual Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report compiled the most accurate data on suicides in the Australian Defence Force and revealed between 2001 and 2019, 1273 military suicides.
Compared to civilians ex-service women are twice as likely to take their own lives while ex-servicemen face a 24 per cent higher risk than the general public.
Ms Finney said she was “angry” about how the current system “discarded” broken veterans.
While she cannot save her son, she is committed to trying to save other lives.
“I know that to a lot of people the Royal Commission is not interesting,” she said.
“Nobody ever pays the price, there is never any accountability.”
Veterans are encouraged to contact Open Arms, a free and confidential 24-hour hotline on 1800 011 046.
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