CANBERRA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel are at greater risk of suicide than the general population, research from a government-commissioned inquiry has found.
According to the research, which was released by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide on Thursday, the suicide rate for males serving in the ADF was 30 percent higher than that for the male employed population nationally between 2011 and 2020.
The findings contradict evidence given to the inquiry by the Department of Defence in 2021 and the Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Campbell, in 2022 that being a serving member of the military offered a level of protection against suicide.
Their testimony was based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) research that found the suicide rate was 50 percent lower among males serving in the ADF than the general community but 21 percent higher for ex-serving men and 127 percent higher for ex-serving women.
Asked by commissioners to respond to the new research, Richard Marles, Australia's Minister for Defence, said the government wanted to get to the bottom of the issue.
The royal commission was established by the former government in 2021 to inquire into the systemic issues and common themes among military and veteran suicides.
It is due to hand down its final report in September after the current government in 2023 rejected a request from the three commissioner's for a second 12-month extension.
Marles on Thursday conceded the decision to deny an extension would leave the evidence of some families of veterans who took their own lives unheard but said the government needed to get started on implementing change.
"We need to see change happening now -- like we need to get moving on this," he said, "We wanted to get your recommendations this year."
The inquiry handed down its interim report in August 2022, making 13 urgent recommendations, five of which related to clearing a backlog of 42,000 pending veterans' compensation claims. ■
