Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As we approach World Suicide Prevention Day next week, it's important to reflect on what we have learned from the recent Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and the progress we, as a government, have made. On 8 July 2021, the Australian government established the royal commission. The inquiry, which concluded on 28 August last year, examined systemic issues and common themes in past deaths by suicide of Australian Defence Force members and veterans. Importantly, this included suspected suicides and the lived experience of suicide risk. The royal commission delivered its interim report on 11 August 2022, and the final report was delivered in September last year.

I sincerely thank those serving and ex-serving personnel and their families who bravely shared their stories with the royal commission. Anyone who has read the report has encountered heartbreaking and devastating stories of anguish and loss. I say to those who spoke up that your courage and your commitment have provided us all with an opportunity to learn and strengthen how we, as the federal government, approach the mental health and welfare of current serving members, veterans and, as importantly, their families.

Last year, the Albanese government released the Defence and Veteran Family Wellbeing Strategy. This delivers on Labor's commitment to identify ways to better support the families of Defence personnel and veterans, and it will further assist in responding to the royal commission. Delivering the strategy will help families to access appropriate housing solutions, offer greater certainty around locations for Defence Force personnel and their families, and provide better support during and after transition for ADF families.

I listened with great interest—and, to be frank, quite a bit of pride—this morning as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the Hon. Matt Keogh, updated the House on the progress that has been made since the royal commission and its final report. I'm fortunate to have some unique insight into the impact of Defence life on children and families. Before running as a candidate for my electorate of Griffith and stepping into this place as a member of parliament, I was the CEO of the Australian Kookaburra Kids Foundation.

Kookaburra Kids was founded by Dianne Madden more than 20 years ago to support young people impacted by family mental illness, with the aim of empowering them to build resilience and lifelong knowledge and abilities so that they can reach their potential. Kookaburra Kids also supports the children of currently and formerly serving Australian Defence Force personnel through the Defence Kids program. The Department of Veterans' Affairs funds this foundation to deliver Defence Kids across Australia. The organisation provides camps, activity days and age-appropriate mental health education, focusing on coping skills and resilience, while allowing children to bond with peers who are facing similar challenges.

For Defence families, challenges can be vast. Relocation challenges and, for children, the challenges of making new friends, changing schools, parental absence—missing mum or dad—and, sometimes, dealing with the impacts of mental ill health within families, which might look like depression, anxiety or PTSD. Through camps, activity days and online programs, these young people find connection and community. They meet peers who understand the challenges of relocations, deployments, or having a parent affected by service. This unique program is supporting the unique needs of children from serving and ex-serving ADF families, and it has been made possible by the Australian government.

The most impactful story that I encountered in my work with the Australian Kookaburra Kids Foundation involved two little boys, not much older than eight years old. I was at a camp where these boys were participating in a chat group, which is where mental health literacy is taught to young people. One of our supervisors was sharing information about different mental health conditions to raise these children's awareness of them, and they started to speak about PTSD and what that can look like for somebody experiencing it. One of the symptoms that was shared with the young people was an aversion to and a sensitivity to loud noises. One of the little boys was very distracted. He was playing with little fidget toys and was very much focused on something else, I thought. Another little boy spoke up and said, 'When my dad's home, we have to be really, really quiet. We can't make any noises,' and this other little boy who I thought wasn't paying attention looked up, as sharp as anything, and said, 'Me too.' It's those connections that children form with Kookaburra Kids and the knowledge that they gain about mental health that really empower them to go on and understand their family dynamics and how we can break cycles of mental ill health.

Our service men and women willingly stand ready to protect our nation, sometimes far from home, with their families adapting to frequent moves and managing everything that comes with the deployment. They contribute so much, and families carry hidden sacrifices every day. It's only right that we stand beside these families, not just with gratitude but with tangible, meaningful support.

In my own electorate of Griffith, I see firsthand the extraordinary work being done to support our veterans and their families. Gallipoli Medical Research is based in my electorate of Griffith and is leading world-class research into the mental health and wellbeing of our veterans. I want to acknowledge the work of Miriam Kent, their fabulous CEO, and her team. Their work on PTSD, transition and long-term health impacts is giving us insights that shape policy and improve lives. I've had the privilege of visiting the foundation multiple times over the last year, once with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and again with my colleague and good friend Luke Gosling OAM, the member for Solomon, who just addressed this place. He's a fourth-generation veteran and also special envoy for defence and veterans. Each visit to the Gallipoli centre has been a reminder of the commitment and compassion that drive their work, and this year it was my great honour to commemorate Anzac Day at a very wet dawn service at Gallipoli Medical Research. The service reinforced just how deeply their research is connected to the stories, the service and the sacrifice of our defence community.

I want also to pay tribute to Legacy Brisbane, headquartered in South Brisbane, in my electorate. Legacy Brisbane supports almost 4,000 family members of fallen and injured veterans across South-East, Central and western Queensland. They work to make a tangible difference to children, partners and ageing parents, ensuring that no-one is left behind. I especially want to thank Legacy Brisbane CEO Brendan Cox and his whole team for their tireless service and relentless advocacy. The compassion, respect and practical support that they provide is extraordinary.

We know there is so much more work to do. Too many families still struggle to access timely, appropriate support, but we are making progress. Veterans claims are being processed faster, more people are choosing to stay in the ADF for longer and our veterans and families hubs are expanding so that support is closer to home. The royal commission tasked us with nothing less than a once-in-a-generation reform, and that is exactly what we are delivering. As the minister outlined this morning, we are not limiting ourselves to just the work of the royal commission. We are already seeing more people choose to stay longer as a result and we have expanded our veterans and families hubs so people can access their support close to home. We're working hard to ensure we achieve the most comprehensive reforms to the systems, processes and culture to support Defence personnel, veterans and families ever undertaken in Australia. Implementing these reforms from the royal commission is vital to ensuring that Defence personnel, veterans and also families receive vital care, services and support.

I stand here not just as a parliamentarian but as someone who has walked alongside families in this space in my career prior to coming to this place. I have found it an enormous honour in my career to have been able to work with those families and with those children and their parents. I see everything that they give up to support our country, and it is right that we support them in return. I know the difference that that support can make, and I have also seen firsthand the cost when it is absent. Our task is clear: to serve those who serve, to honour those who sacrifice and to ensure that no family ever feels alone. Together, with the voices of lived experience guiding us, we will continue this vitally important work for our Defence personnel, for veterans and for their families. As our minister said this morning, it is not just what they need; it is what they deserve.

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