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AAP
AAP
Tess Ikonomou

Final report on veteran suicide pushed back months

Then final report into suicide among veterans and defence personnel will be delivered in September. (Tracey Nearmy/AAP PHOTOS)

An inquiry into suicide among defence personnel and veterans is now due to deliver its final report in September after being granted a three-month extension.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide chair Nick Kaldas and commissioners Peggy Brown and James Douglas wrote to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus in October about the current time frame and their ability to deliver a final report and recommendations.

The final report was due on June 17, 2024 but this has been pushed back to September 9.

The commission has previously expressed its frustration at the slow response from commonwealth agencies to requests for information, as well as claims of confidentiality, parliamentary privilege and public interest immunity.

Mr Kaldas thanked the government for its decision.

"This royal commission must be a call to action. We, as a nation, can no longer allow the preventable deaths of our serving and ex-serving Defence personnel to continue," he said.

"This short, three-month extension will help to ensure our final report is robust, evidence-based and fair to all parties, and contains recommendations that are realistic, fit-for-purpose and implementable - to ensure government is well equipped to address what is a national crisis once and for all."

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