The head of the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide has complained of “far too much talk and not enough action” on military personnel taking their own lives.
In a blistering speech on Wednesday, commissioner Nick Kaldas accused government departments of “stonewalling” the royal commission’s work, even though the “senseless loss of life” was a national crisis.
Kaldas said the Australian defence force and the defence department were moving at “a snail’s pace” in investigating and reporting on suicides, and questioned “whether they’re just going through the motions”.
He also warned of “deep-rooted cultural and systemwide issues within the Department of Veterans’ Affairs” that has left veterans “re-traumatised” and “driven to the brink”.
“The numbers are heartbreaking,” Kaldas said in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra.
“There were at least 1,600 deaths by suicide between 1997 and 2020 of veterans who served on or after 1 January 1985. That’s more than 20 times the number killed in active duty over roughly the same period.”
Kaldas said rarely a week went by without the royal commission being alerted to the untimely death of another serving or former member. “It is unquestionably a national crisis,” he said.
“When it comes to protecting the mental health and wellbeing of servicemen and women, the evidence this royal commission has uncovered to date suggests there’s been far too much talk and not enough action.”
Kaldas said the chief of the ADF, Gen Angus Campbell, had appointed a brigadier to head up a new mental health and wellbeing branch within Defence.
But he said this initiative would not be fully resourced and functioning until at least January 2025 – which he described as “extraordinary”.
“Defence’s approach to investigating and reporting on suicides has progressed at a snail’s pace; and we are yet to find sufficient evidence of urgency in responding to these complex issues holistically.”
Kaldas said the royal commission had heard about attempts by the Navy Clearance Divers Trust to offer data, expertise and advice on issues of mental health, safety and wellbeing.
“In evidence, the trust told this royal commission that despite three suicides within their ranks over a two-year period, there was no response from Navy,” he said.
“All of this raises serious questions as to whether Defence is committed to making change in the best interests of its members – or whether they’re just going through the motions.”
Kaldas said the commission had also “heard contemporary lived-experience accounts of abuse, assault, bastardisation, bullying, harassment, discrimination, misogyny – and physical and sexual violence within the ADF”.
Kaldas said some witnesses had shared their experiences of “moral injury”.
“Witness ‘BR2’, who appeared at our Brisbane hearing, spoke of recovering the bodies of asylum seekers as part of his role in the navy – and the guilt he felt after those they managed to rescue ended up in offshore detention.”
Kaldas said it was unfortunate that “putting your hand up for help in the ADF is all too often seen as a weakness in a male-dominated culture that reveres strength”.
Guardian Australia revealed last month that the Albanese government had refused a request from the royal commission for a further one-year extension of its reporting deadline, after it cited “significant delays” getting information from defence.
Kaldas said on Wednesday that the inquiry’s work had been “stymied and stonewalled along the way” and these delays were likely the result of the bureaucracy focusing on strict legal issues.
“We’re not the first royal commission to come up against these walls,” he said.
“I’m not aware of any interference from a political level.”
Kaldas acknowledged some progress in clearing backlogs at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, but said there was “still a lot of work for DVA to do to improve its ICT and data systems, its customer service – and that adversarial culture, which has left many veterans re-traumatised when forced to justify their claims for compensation”.
The government introduced legislation to parliament this week to give royal commissions more flexibility to hold private sessions, saying this would help Kaldas and his team meet the June 2024 deadline.
The minister for veterans’ affairs and defence personnel, Matt Keogh, said the government took the royal commission “extremely seriously” and believed there was “no time to waste”.
Jasmine Stanton, the director of the Defence and Veterans Legal Service, said the inquiry was “a transformative moment in Australian history” and urged anyone with information to lodge a submission by next month.
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
