‘It’s like they want us to die’: Veteran blasts DVA over red tape nightmare
Daniel Gibbons was left a physical and mental wreck after eight years serving his country. At his lowest point, his dog saved his life as he tried to take his life.
WARNING: Sensitive content
A former Australian Army soldier says he has “lost everything” including his house, his marriage and nearly his life due to red tape “agony” of dealing with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Former Gunner Daniel Gibbons, 36, spent eight years in the Army, initially as a Forward Observer with the 108th Battery artillery unit based in Townsville before transferring to a vehicle mechanic course at the Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (ASEME) at Latchford Barracks outside of Wodonga, Victoria.
During his time in ASEME, Mr Gibbons’ mental and physical health began to deteriorate as he attempted to speak up against pervasive bullying of trainees by superiors and physical training instructors.
“My mental health issues came from the systemic issues that Army and its incompetence and the leadership structure causes,” he said.
“I couldn’t bite my tongue. They were bullying these kids fresh out of Kapooka, starry-eyed, looking forward to a career in the Army, [they set out to] ruin these kids from the start. [They were] abusing injured soldiers, calling them essentially pieces of s**t because they were injured, but they were injured because of the poor training.”
In 2023, an internal Inspector General inquiry upheld a number of Mr Gibbons’ complaints about his time at ASEME, including that there had been “humiliating and insulting” treatment of trainees, and that his request in March 2020 to return home to his wife in Townsville should not have been denied.
“Your immediate chain of command failed in their duty to appropriately manage risks to your and your wife’s welfare, health and wellbeing in what were challenging circumstances for both you and your wife,” the report said.
Mr Gibbons was medically discharged in 2020, deemed “totally permanently impaired” at the maximum 80-point assessment. He was diagnosed with anxiety and depression along with a raft of physical injuries to his shoulder, back, neck and ankle.
“I walked straight out of Army into DVA,” he said. “What I found was I went from one broken system to another.”
Back home in Townsville, the Gold Card holder alleges the constant denials and “bureaucratic” back and forth with DVA over access to services, from prescriptions to medical scans, caused his mental health to spiral out of control.
“I started to learn that policy outweighs duty of care,” he said.
“[It was] just agony of back and forth with these people. You would have to dig through their ambiguous doctrine written by lawyers, like reading Chinese. [It felt like] they’re there to make things as hard and bureaucratic and red tape riddled as possible to try and stop me getting the treatment I need.”
During this time, Mr Gibbons began drinking heavily on top of a heavy regimen of medications.
“I was on six clonazepam a day, every antidepressant under the sun,” he said.
“DVA would call me and tell me something I didn’t like, I’d sit there all night scrolling through their info, which would deteriorate me and just made me a mess. I became an alcoholic, it completely destroyed my relationship. My wife didn’t know how to help me. I wasn’t the man she fell in love with.”
In April 2022, as his marriage fell apart, Mr Gibbons attempted suicide.
During subsequent therapy sessions in Townsville, Mr Gibbons said he was put off by the group therapy format and could not participate.
“They might as well give you a noose when you walk in because you’re in there with a bunch of crackheads,” he said.
After researching alternatives online, in August 2022 he submitted a request to attend The Banyans, a non-DVA contracted private rehab clinic based in Bowen Hills in Brisbane’s north that offers one-on-one therapy — but it was denied as being “not clinically appropriate”.
Internal DVA communications recording Mr Gibbons’ interactions with staff during this period, obtained through freedom of information, detail the lengthy internal deliberations on his request.
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“The client disclosed the ongoing issues he has been having with DVA over the years,” one DVA rep wrote in a September client note.
“From HHS, to claims, to any form of help, DVA just made it impossible for anything to be easy. He claims his Gold Card is not worth the plastic it’s on. The client disclosed this led to his recent suicide attempt, as he had had enough.”
Other messages recorded that Mr Gibbons “has a plan for suicide”, while stating firmly that The Banyans was “off the table” but he could “see his clinical psychologist daily until admission” to an alternative.
Mr Gibbons said that suggestion was “impossible”, with a three-week wait just to get one appointment.
After seven weeks — and the intervention of Tasmanian Senator and veterans advocate Jacqui Lambie — Mr Gibbons’ request for a 28-day inpatient treatment was finally approved.
Two days earlier, however, he had attempted suicide once more.
“I’d had enough,” he said. “I was … underneath my ex-wife’s house. The only thing that saved me was my dog throwing herself against the door to get to me.”
Mr Gibbons went through the rehab program at The Banyans, describing it as “amazing”, and has since sought to rebuild his life.
Now living in Melbourne and with a new partner, Mr Gibbons is seeking compensation for injuries he allegedly suffered from “defective administration” by the DVA.
He said the internal communications showed “the health approval team recognised I’m suicidal, recognised my attempts and then continued to force procedure or policy on me rather than trying to create a solution”.
In November 2022, DVA formally apologised to Mr Gibbons for the stress caused during the approval process.
That month, he lodged a $900,000 claim with the Scheme for Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration (CDDA), a program administered by the Department of Finance.
Mr Gibbons said he had lost “everything” through his experience. “I’m in a better place, but it’s 2025 and I’m in the position I should have been in 2020,” he said. “I should have my two acres with my wife and have kids and a house.”
The CDDA rejected his claim in March this year, concluding it did “not meet the requirements for compensation under the CDDA Scheme” and as there was “no defective administration”.
Mr Gibbons has appealed the decision with the Commonwealth Ombudsman and is awaiting a determination.
“I want somebody to take responsibility of the actions that caused not just myself pain but others,” he said.
“I’m the lucky one, I walked away — I’ve lost a mate a year from suicide. Going through it myself, I believe they could still be here if they were dealing with a system that actually cared.”
Last year, a scathing final report from the three-year Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide concluded the DVA was not trusted by diggers or up to the task of addressing the high rates of suicide in veterans.
The commission, which received nearly 6000 submissions and heard from more than 400 witnesses, came in the wake of the suicides of at least 1677 serving and former Defence personnel between 1997 and 2021, more than 20 times the number of members who died in active duty.
Among the commission’s recommendations, largely accepted by the Albanese government, was the creation of a new independent body tasked with overseeing the reforms and instructing government with evidence-based advice to combat suicide.
The Defence and Veterans’ Services Commission (DVSC), established by legislation in February, will commence operations on September 29.
Mr Gibbons, however, said he was sceptical whether the royal commission would accomplish anything.
“Speaking to other veterans, we don’t think it’s done s**t,” he said. “It’s going to sit there on the shelf like other royal commissions previously have. For me it’s just like the Army — they’ll continue to kill soldiers because they refuse to take responsibility. [We feel like] they want us to die so they don’t have to pay us anymore.”
Adam Glezer from Consumer Champion, who is representing Mr Gibbons, alleged “Daniel has been treated with sheer contempt by both the DVA and the Finance Department through the CDDA scheme”.
“What both Daniel and I are seeking is that the DVA take responsibility for their actions and provide fair compensation for the losses he has endured due to their oversight,” he said in a statement. “Most importantly, we want others to come forward who find themselves in a similar position.”
Mr Glezer said he had “grave concerns regarding Daniel’s treatment by the DVA, which has led to devastating consequences, including the loss of his home, his marriage, and two suicide attempts”.
“It is deeply disturbing that the CDDA team did not consider these profound losses as a basis for compensation,” he said.
“This decision suggests an alarming acceptance of Daniel’s treatment, which I find completely unacceptable for a veteran who has served our country.”
Mr Glezer said Mr Gibbons was “forced to expend immense effort learning the DVA system to obtain his entitlements”.
“His energy should have been directed towards recovery and reintegration into civilian life, not navigating complex bureaucratic hurdles,” he said.
“The DVA claims veterans are not expected to be lawyers, yet the system is so challenging that vulnerable veterans are compelled to master every rule and law to access what they are entitled to. I believe this difficulty is influenced by budgetary considerations, and tragically, for those who succumb to suicide due to their treatment, it becomes one less case to manage. This sentiment is shared by many veterans.”
Mr Gibbons had “presented a comprehensive case to the Commonwealth Ombudsman, detailing all the facts” and “if they conduct a truly impartial review, they will undoubtedly recognise the appalling treatment Daniel endured, which nearly cost him his life”.
“There is no question that significant restitution is warranted,” Mr Glezer said.
A DVA spokesman said the department “does not comment on individual cases to protect client privacy”.
“DVA’s number one priority is the health and wellbeing of Australia’s veteran community,” he said.
“DVA offers a range of programs to assist veterans navigate DVA services and connect to supports to meet their wellbeing needs. This includes the Client Support Program, a voluntary program aimed at streamlining communication between clients, their families and DVA — providing clients and their families with a single or primary point of contact for all services within DVA, if required.
“Additionally, veterans with one-day of full-time military service can access free mental health care for life, with no need for the condition to be linked to their service.
We urge any veteran who may be struggling to reach out for help, there is support available.
“Open Arms — Veterans & Families Counselling provides free, military-aware counselling support to veterans and their families. They can be contacted 24/7 on 1800 011 046.”
Originally published as ‘It’s like they want us to die’: Veteran blasts DVA over red tape nightmare
