By Angus Livingston
Families of Australian military veterans who took their own lives want to make sure the organisations they say are part of a broken system don’t get to lead the new royal commission on veteran suicides.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the royal commission on Monday after a long-running campaign from former soldiers, their families and pressure from government and opposition MPs.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The announcement comes just days after Mr Morrison revealed Australia would remove its final 80 Defence personnel from Afghanistan in September, ending the nation’s longest war after 20 years in the country.
“Every single day the service of our veterans is something that is pressed on my mind,” Mr Morrison said on Monday. “There is a far greater cost that is borne beyond those deployments, and that is the mental toll taken on the veterans after they return. That cost is most significant when we see it in the death by suicide of our veterans.”
Julie-Ann Finney, who lost her veteran son Dave Stafford Finney to PTSD-related suicide, started a petition for a royal commission that was signed by more than 409,000 people.
“Finally, the voices of veterans will be heard. Finally, families can stand up and share their stories,” Ms Finney said in a statement.
Nikki Jamieson and Julie-Ann Finney lost their sons Daniel and David to suicide, and joined Senator Jaqui Lambie in calling for the royal commission.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Today, I urge the Prime Minister to ensure that the voices of veterans are front and centre in this royal commission. We cannot have the organisations at the centre of a broken system leading this investigation.”
Ms Finney’s petition targeted the Department of Veterans Affairs, which looks after Defence personnel when they return, and the Defence Department and the role it plays affecting people even from the point of enlistment.
The Prime Minister had previously rejected previous calls for a royal commission to be established, but instead announced plans for a permanent national commissioner to look into the issue, with the powers of a royal commission.
The government proposed the national commission model in February 2020 but has been unable to get the bill through the Senate because crossbenchers including Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie, a former soldier, wanted the royal commission.
Mr Morrison said the royal commission would now work alongside the new national commissioner.
“The royal commission will look at past deaths by suicide (including suspected suicides and lived experience of suicide risks) from a systemic point of view, while the national commissioner will have a forward-looking role, including overseeing the implementation of the royal commission’s recommendations,” he said.
Assistant Minister for Suicide Prevention, David Coleman, said from 2001 to 2018, 465 Australians who had served in the armed forces over the previous 17 years died by suicide.
While the government named Dr Bernadette Boss as the interim national commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention last year, it has not been able to legislate her powers.
“I will continue to work to understand the systemic failures and shortcomings that are contributing to the unacceptably high rate of veteran suicide,” Dr Boss said.
Senator Lambie said she had called for a royal commission into veteran suicide in her first speech in Parliament in 2014.
“It’s the end of a long fight. For me, for Julie-Ann, for Karen, for Colleen, for Nikki, for too many to name. Not just for veterans, serving and ex-serving, but their families and children. We may have won the battle, but now we start the war,” she said.
In March, Liberal National Party MP Phillip Thompson, who served in the army, addressed the public gallery to say “I’m sorry” for the pain suffered by families whose children had taken their own lives after their service.
“Every day I hear more of people I know, of people at my level, at the private level, who have died,” Mr Thompson said. “When I was on operations in Afghanistan we accepted death. I didn’t expect it when I came home. I didn’t think I would be going to funerals all the time.”
LNP MP Phil Thompson during debate on the rate of suicide among current and former serving ADF personnel.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The government anticipates three commissioners will be needed to deal with the volume of testimonies the royal commission is likely to hear.
In March, the Senate unanimously passed a motion calling on Mr Morrison to establish the royal commission, setting up the prospect that the Prime Minister could lose a similar vote in the lower house.
A number of Coalition backbenchers indicated they were prepared to cross the floor to vote for the motion, so the House of Representatives instead formally endorsed the call and the government said it would act on it.
If you are a current or former ADF member, or a relative, and need counselling or support, contact the Defence All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036 or Open Arms on 1800 011 046.