Fight goes on as defence suicide reforms slowly kick in
Rachel Jackson and Tess Ikonomou |
A mother who successfully lobbied for a royal commission into defence and veteran suicide says people are still fighting for justice and accountability as reforms are introduced.
Nine recommendations had been fully implemented, with a further 110 under way almost a year after the inquiry’s final report was handed down, Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh told parliament on Thursday.
Julie-Ann Finney’s son, Royal Australian Navy petty officer David Finney, took his own life in 2019.
Carrying photos of her son, Ms Finney said she was a “little scared” as the progress gave her hope.
But there was still a long way to go with reforming defence culture, she said, standing by the call “don’t enlist until it’s fixed”.
“There’s still so much bullying going on and people are still fighting for justice and accountability,” Ms Finney said.
Mr Keogh said the government wanted Australians to join the military and know they and their families would be looked after.
“We will continue to do what’s right to take action on the royal commission as quickly as we can,” he said.
“It’s the least we can do.”
Labor provided its response in December, accepting the overwhelming majority of the commission’s 122 recommendations.
A task force set up in 2024 to guide reform found four priority areas, such as establishing a Defence and Veterans’ Service Commission and addressing military sexual misconduct.
The commission, legislated within three months of the government’s response, will receive $44.5 million across four years and lead implementation of other recommendations.
It will be operational by the end of September, as the government recruits a commissioner to head the body.
Sexual misconduct remained a “systemic” issue for the Australian Defence Force, with the government agreeing to a standalone inquiry into the issue.
Measures that will allow defence force personnel convicted of sexual crimes to be booted from the military would be in place by the end of 2025, Mr Keogh said.
Work continues to ensure troops convicted of serious crimes during their military service get a civilian record of their offending.
This involves co-operation between civil agencies and government departments to feed records into the national police reference system.
Opposition veterans’ affairs spokesman Darren Chester accused Mr Keogh of “putting lipstick on a pig”.
“It was extraordinary that the minister came in here and endeavoured to pretend this is a good reform when it actually disenfranchises our veterans and their families,” he said.
Mr Chester told parliament he agreed with the broad themes in the royal commission, but was concerned its findings risked a false narrative of “despondency, desperation and helplessness”.
Greens defence spokesman David Shoebridge said he did not think anyone could be confident cultural changes had taken place.
“My office continues to hear from current and former members of the ADF who are being bullied, who have been belittled, who are not being heard when they’re making complaints about sexual violence in the ADF,” he said.
“But I think it’d be wrong to say no progress has been made.”
Following the royal commission, an independent inquiry by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force began in 2024 into claims the military justice system had been “weaponised” to cause harm to some personnel.
The royal commission found 1677 serving and former serving defence personnel had died by suicide between 1997 and 2021 – more than 20 times the number killed in active duty during the same period.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Open Arms 1800 011 046
AAP
