Today marks one year since the release of the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which made 122 recommendations to reform the culture, systems and processes across the Defence and veteran eco-system to prevent suicide and improve the mental health and wellbeing of serving personnel and veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Albanese Government has made significant progress in response, with nine recommendations fully implemented and 110 other recommendations underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the result of intensive and collaborative work across Government, building on the work undertaken on recommendations from the Royal Commission\u2019s Interim Report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Government\u2019s focus has been on reforms that address the immediate health and safety of current and former serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This includes establishing a new legislated oversight body, the Defence and Veterans\u2019 Service Commission, which the Royal Commission called its most important recommendation. It will commence operations later this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consultation and co-design work on a new agency for veteran wellbeing has been undertaken, and work is underway to establish it next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Work has already started on the terms of reference for the recommended inquiry into military sexual misconduct, with research to inform the inquiry also about to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This whole-of-Government effort on implementing the Royal Commission\u2019s recommendations will continue at pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The anniversary coincides with the release of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare\u2019s (AIHW) report on suicide rates among ADF personnel and veterans; a sobering reminder of the importance of implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While one death is too many, it\u2019s encouraging to see the suicide rate for ex-serving personnel has been declining in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadly, suicide remains the leading cause of death for younger and ex-serving members who separate from the ADF involuntarily, with higher rates of suicide than those who separate voluntarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This emphasises the importance of implementing Royal Commission recommendations to better support members in their transition as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The findings of the 2025 AIHW report, together with the recommendations of the Royal Commission will help Defence and DVA better target our support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister for Veterans\u2019 Affairs and Defence Personnel, the Hon Matt Keogh MP<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Royal Commission provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity for cultural change and reform. We heard harrowing experiences throughout the three-year inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Albanese Government is implementing meaningful and lasting reform in response to the findings, to be overseen by the statutory Defence and Veterans\u2019 Service Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur focus has been, and will continue to be, on improving both the experience of our people and the supports in place for them and their families during and after service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discussion of these issues may be distressing for some people. All serving and former ADF personnel and their families should know that if they need support, they can contact Open Arms for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on 1800 011 046<\/a> or visit www.openarms.gov.au<\/a>, or Lifeline on 13 11 14<\/a> or by visiting www.lifeline.org.au<\/a>. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports are available on its website at www.aihw.gov.au<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The full speech delivered to Parliament on 4 September 2025 is available online at: www.minister.defence.gov.au\/speeches\/2025-09-04\/royal-commission-into-defence-veteran-suicide<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today marks one year since the release of the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which made 122 recommendations to reform the culture, systems and processes across the Defence and veteran eco-system to prevent suicide and improve the mental health and wellbeing of serving personnel and veterans. The Albanese Government … Continue reading “Better supporting Defence and Veteran wellbeing 12 months on”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34819,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34818\/revisions\/34819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}