Suicide inquiry to shake up Defence

Allegations of bullying, sexual and physical harassment, and the mistreatment of women and young recruits are ‘commonplace’.

Nick Kaldas is the The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide chairman. Picture: AAP

Allegations of bullying, sexual and physical harassment, and the mistreatment of women and young recruits are commonplace among hundreds of submissions to a new royal commission likely to unsettle the Defence establishment.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which opened in Brisbane on Friday, will spend 18 months examining why disproportionately high numbers of current and former armed forces personnel take their own lives or attempt to do so.

The inquiry will review the findings of past inquiries and reports that did not deliver sufficient change and tackle system-ic issues that “failed to prevent such deaths, when the risks are now very well known, and in fact have been known for some time”.

Commission chairman Nick Kaldas told a formal opening hearing on Friday that he hoped the inquiry would be a “once in a generation opportunity for lasting, fundamental change.”

“If we succeed in our aims, we hope and pray that there will be no need for further inquiries of this kind into Defence and veteran suicide,” he said.

“To those affected by suicide, and on behalf of the Royal Commission, I make this promise: we will listen with empathy, we will act with compassion – and without fear or favour – and we will learn from your stories in order to make a real difference to the lives of serving and former personnel and their families.”

Fellow commissioner Peggy Brown, a psychiatrist by training, said most people who engaged in suicidal acts “don’t actually want to die”.

“What they almost always want is for their life to be different, for the things that are troubling them ... to be acknowledged, addressed and remedied, instead of continuing to cause them immense and unbearable pain, distress and suffering,” she said.

“Our job ... is to identify the real root of the problem, or problems, that are leading so many to think about suicide, attempt suicide, and to take their own lives, because they perceive, and believe, there is no other option.”

Such questions would be hard to resolve because the issues were complex, and the systems, policies, practices and cultures in which they occurred were “sometimes difficult to navigate and understand”.

“While I don’t believe that any government department, system or service in Australia sets out to fail or to lack compassion, there can be no doubt that systemic issues are contributing to the suicide deaths of our defence mem-bers and veterans. And, that is something this Royal Commission must change – absolutely,” she said.

Commissioner James Douglas, a retired judge, said the recruitment, training, service, rank, gender, sexuality and cultural heritage of victims would be among the factors the inquiry would consider. “So too will any instance of ‘hazing’, bullying or mistreatment or abuse of power, sexual assault and other forms of assault – and the institutional response to these matters,” he said. “Shame and stigma must be challenged if the institutional treatment of unwell Defence members and veterans is to improve.”

Peter Gray QC, a lawyer assisting the inquiry, said many of more than 630 submissions raised issues with “bullying, the treatment of women, sexual assaults, physical assaults, better protection for younger enlisted members, external mental health support after deployments, and loss of identity and community after the transition to civilian life”.

He said the commissioners had already exercised their coercive powers to obtain evidence, procuring more than 22,000 documents from federal and other agencies.

The commission will begin a fortnight of public hearings in Brisbane on Monday. Further hearings are expected in Sydney in February and March.

Commissioner Kaldas, a former criminal investigator and deputy police commissioner who worked with Defence personnel serving overseas, said: “Every person who joins our Defence Forces must be looked after – before, during and after their service.”