Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my friend the member for Canberra for her questions. As she would know, and I am sure the opposition would agree, during my time as Minister for Defence Science and Personnel and Minister for Veterans' Affairs our absolute concern has been that in the past we have not really appreciated the extent of mental issues both in the defence community, current serving men and women, and also in the veteran community. That is why we had the Dunt review and all that flowed from it, why we have massive new expenditure into mental health in the Defence Force and why we did a suicide study in the veteran community. I think it is agreed across the board that there is no doubt that we are committed and Defence is committed to promoting good health but also, most particularly, good mental health.

Since 1999—these figures are quite illuminating—more than 65,000 ADF personnel have been deployed overseas and nearly 38,000 of those have deployed more than once. In the Navy, 10 per cent have deployed four times or more, and marine technicians feature very prominently. In the Army, seven per cent have deployed four times or more, with the Special Air Services and commandos featuring prominently. Some of those have done a large number of rotations. In the Air Force, eight per cent have deployed four times or more, with airborne electronics analysts and air combat officers featuring prominently. I have met a lot of these characters—they are wonderful people who have committed themselves significantly to years overseas, once you combine their service.

Recent research undertaken by the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide indicates that we can expect to see a minimum rate of personnel with diagnosable mental disorder of 22 per cent in a 12-month period. That 22 per cent is comparable with the general Australian community. Estimates of the prevalence of mental disorder, including PTSD, anxiety and depression, as well as alcohol issues, does not equate to the number of personnel who will actually seek help. The research also shows that only half of those with a mental health disorder will seek treatment in the next two years. That is an issue for us. Although the rate of those seeking help may increase, it is likely that this will occur at a gradual pace. We believe that there will be a rising tide of people seeking assistance and requiring help rather than the tsunami that people have been referring to. This research is supported by Dr Graeme Killer, the DVA Principal Medical Adviser.

We are confident that our efforts to educate and encourage our people to seek help as early as possible may also have an effect in increasing the number of those seeking treatment who require it. The whole question of resilience, of people understanding that it is okay to actually report a mental health illness or issue, is something which we have had to really drive hard. I want to pay tribute to the former Chief of the Defence Force, the current leader of the Defence Force, the previous service chiefs and the current service chiefs for their leadership in this regard. They have made very clear their expectations and the obligations of those in command positions to ensure that those beneath them are fully appraised of what they should do and have an awareness of the issues involved.

We are interested in supporting all of our personnel, no matter the source or cause of their mental health problems. Defence has improved its resilience training, screening, post-deployment reintegration activities, and treatment and rehabilitation programs to ensure our servicing men and women are supported throughout their careers. I will sit down in a moment, but I do want to say some more about this because the elements of this year's budget which deal directly with our response to mental health are quite important. It goes not only to serving personnel but also their families.

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