Skye Kakoschke-Moore (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Lambie, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) this year, Veterans' Health Week 2017 will be held from 21 October 2017 to 29 October 2017, and the theme will be Physical Activity, and

(ii) the week is an opportunity for veterans, war widows, widowers, current and ex-Australian Defence Force members, their families and friends to improve and maintain their health and wellbeing;

(b) encourages veterans, their families, friends and the wider community to participate in the many interactive activities which have been organised across Australia;

(c) congratulates Australia's Invictus Games team's performance in Toronto achieving many personal bests in many of the events, including an all-Australian podium for the 50 metre women's freestyle, with a total 51 medal haul from this year's games;

(d) acknowledges that research published in the Medical Journal of Australia in 2017 recommends that integrated health care strategies for improving psychological and physical health, as well as controlling risk factors, could improve the quality of life and survival of sufferers;

(e) recognises that:

(i) in addition to significant psychological effects, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with considerable physical comorbidity,

(ii) veterans with PTSD are more likely to suffer from physical illness and chronic disease than the general population or veterans without PTSD, and

(iii) the overall health and wellbeing of veterans must continue to be a primary focus for the Government; and

(f) calls on the Government to implement the recommendations of the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee, The constant battle: Suicide by veterans, tabled in the Senate on 15 August 2017.

Question agreed to.