The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released its fourth annual report on suicide among permanent, reserve and ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) — the first to include all ADF members who served between 1985 and 2019.
The Report, Serving and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members who have served since 1985: suicide monitoring 2001 to 2019, is part of a continuing body of work commissioned by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Spokesperson for the AIHW, Louise Gates said the annual reports were used to inform on improvements in mental health and suicide awareness and prevention for permanent, reserve and ex-serving ADF members and their families.
She said previous reports in the series included information about members with at least one day of service in the ADF since 1 January 2001.
“This Report provides an important expansion by including members with at least one day of service in the ADF since 1 January 1985 and who died by suicide between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2019,” Ms Gates said.
“The expansion to this larger population provides results that are more representative of the ex-serving ADF population.”
She said the larger study population allowed for more detailed analysis of smaller subgroups to further inform suicide prevention policy and programs.
“Rates of suicide and comparisons with the general Australian population remain similar to those previously reported,” Ms Gates said.
“For example, after adjusting for age differences, males serving permanently in the ADF and males in the Reserves were less likely to die by suicide than the general Australian population,” she said.
“However, ex-serving males and females were more likely to die by suicide than the general Australian population.”
Meanwhile, the Preliminary Interim Report of the Interim National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention has been tabled in Parliament.
The Report, by interim National Commissioner, Bernadette Boss examines issues related to ADF member and veteran wellbeing, mental health and suicide.
It makes findings on prevalence, risk and protective factors, and highlights particular areas which require closer examination and change in relation to Defence and veteran suicide.
Attorney-General, Senator Michaelia Cash said the Report provided invaluable preliminary findings to the Government in preventing future deaths by suicide in the veteran community, as well as areas of interest for the Royal Commission as it begins its own inquiries.
The AIHW’s 81-page annual Report can be accessed at this PS News link and Commissioner Boss’s 413-page Preliminary Interim Report at this link.
