Nick Kaldas used his closing remarks at the final public hearing of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to express his wish that the inquiry would deliver a “much-needed shock to the system” of rigid and deficient and institutional systems that have so far done little to reduce the high incidence of suicide and suicidality in the Australian Defence Force.
Addressing an audience that included CDF General Angus Campbell on Thursday, the royal commission chair said that without change, Defence could not be an employer of choice nor attract the right people during a time of such geographic uncertainty.
“Fixing the cultural and systemic issues we’ve identified … will help stop the revolving door of employee turnover that poses a real risk to Australia’s Defence capability,” Kaldas said.
“We all owe it to our sailors, soldiers, aviators and families to ensure they receive the protection and support they need and deserve.”
The royal commission plans to deliver an early report in June, three months before its final report, to the governor-general, underscoring the importance of the new entity to monitor the way Defence and the ADF diarchary implements its recommendations.
Calls for oversight to hold relevant state, territory and federal government entities to account would ensure that complex and long-term reforms were prioritised, Kaldas said. This also applied to the departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs (DVA).
“This body must not only be independent, it must have the confidence of serving and ex-serving ADF members of all ranks and seek direct and significant input from them,” Kaldas said.
“It must be an ‘oversight’ body. It cannot usurp the leadership of the ADF or Defence or DVA. It must not absolve that leadership of its primary responsibility for the wellbeing of Defence members and veterans. And it must have sufficient powers to deal with the issues it faces,” he said.
The royal commission chair said that the need for an independent oversight body was clear, given the “level of distrust in Defence’s ability and willingness to change” or stay focused on the issues of suicide prevention and addressing suicidality amongst its ranks once the inquiry ends.
The veteran community has been openly critical of the political appetite for the independent body, and whether the lack of enthusiasm for the early recommendation boils down to Defence’s reservations about more external oversight.
A number of sources have expressed concern to The Mandarin that Labor ministers have been actively trying to manage the expectations of the royal commission event before the final report has been delivered to the governor-general.
At his appearance before the royal commission in March, Defence minister Richard Marles said history would ultimately judge the government.
“What is actually going to matter is what you recommend and what we ultimately implement,” the minister said.
Questions put to Marles’ ministerial office and that of minister for veterans’ affairs Matt Keogh about support for the proposed body were met with referrals back to the transcript of their testimony before the royal commission.
What the royal commission has been able to elicit is both acknowledgement and ownership from major parts of the bureaucracy concerning the significant problem of suicide amongst current and former serving members of the ADF.
Defence secretary Greg Moriarty conceded there had been failures in the past to wrest with the stigma of mental ill-health and that his department could have done more to deal with this issue. The department had let some of its own people down and in some cases with appalling consequences, he said.
“Leaders at all levels should have been very conscious of the reality of stigma, why our members didn’t want to come forward or present as needing help,” Moriarty said, also rejecting the assertion the department had experienced past blind spots.
“There have been some real challenges for us in terms of dealing with stigma and making it acceptable … for people to say, ‘I’ve got an issue here’.”
Defence plans to have a fully functioning mental health and wellbeing branch within the department, headed by Brigadier Caitlin Langford, by January 2025.
In March, a paper was presented to the elite tier 1 Defence committee, which the secretary said he chaired for about half a day each month. The paper included a proposed structure to implement the royal commission’s final recommendations due later in 2024.
Plans to have a governance structure, with an associate secretary as the highest ranking person charged with responsibility for implementing whatever royal commission recommendations the government accepted, were later gazumped by Moriarty and General Angus Campbell.
Both said they had settled on a better governance model, where the buck should stop with either the secretary or CDF as the designated ‘senior responsible officer’.
For now, it would seem the prevailing attitude within Defence is that it can handle its own problems arising from the royal commission without outside assistance.
Kaldas said serious questions remained about how urgently Defence as a whole was responding to the “deep-rooted cultural and systemic challenges” contributing to suicide and suicidality. He also took aim at “well-documented” problems at DVA, which were “disturbing to say the least”.
“[DVA] has also publicly stated it has now cleared the enormous backlog of unprocessed claims. While we acknowledge this is a significant result, we note that this does not mean those claims have been determined,” Kaldas said.
“The commission will be watching closely over coming months to see whether or not the 73,700 claims with a DVA officer as at February 29 this year are dealt with in a more timely manner and whether their “business-as-usual” approach delivers faster decisions for veterans, and their families, who historically have been driven to the brink — and in some tragic cases, beyond — while waiting years for their claims to even be looked at.”
Kaldas reflected in his closing remarks that history, alongside service members, veterans, their families and future workforce of the ADF would all be watching what those in power did to effect change.
“If a royal commission cannot be the catalyst for change, I’m not sure what can. We have known about mental ill health, suicide and suicidality linked to service since at least the First World War.
“Now that the Defence hierarchy has accepted its part of the problem, it owes to its people — past and present — to prove to them that they are indeed ‘its greatest asset’ — and embrace the urgent reforms required to ensure their lifetime health and wellbeing,” Kaldas said.
“We, as a nation, must do better to protect those who protect us. Australia has let down its veterans, and their families, for far too long. Far too many lives have already been lost.”
If you or a loved one needs support please contact:
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SafeZone (1800 142 072)
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