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E-mail Xinhua, March 28, 2024
CANBERRA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The head of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has apologized to veterans for deficiencies in support and care systems.
Giving evidence on the final day of public hearings for the landmark Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide on Thursday, Chief of the ADF Angus Campbell acknowledged failures in supporting current and former members of the military.
"Our people deserve and should rightly expect the wellbeing support and care they need both during and after their service," he said.
"I acknowledge that this has not always been the case and has tragically led to the deaths by suicide of some of our people. I apologize unreservedly for these deficiencies."
Campbell praised the courage of people who have come forward to give evidence to the inquiry and said the ADF was committed to doing better.
According to a report published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in November 2023, at least 1,677 current and former ADF members died by suicide between 1997 and 2021.
In that period, ex-serving females were twice as likely to die by suicide than the general female Australian population and ex-serving males were 42 percent more likely to die by suicide than the general male population.
The royal commission was established by the federal government in 2021 to investigate systemic issues and common themes among current and former ADF members who died by suicide.
It has received over 5,800 submissions and heard testimony from more than 300 witnesses at hearings.
During a previous appearance before the royal commission in June 2022, Campbell acknowledged that the ADF was not doing enough to address veteran suicide.
An interim report handed down by the inquiry in August 2022 called for urgent action to address a backlog of 42,000 veterans' compensation claims, warning the situation could lead to suicides.
Three commissioners said at the time that they were dismayed by the government's limited response to more than 50 previous reports relevant to suicide among serving and ex-serving ADF members.
The commission is due to hand its final report to the federal government in September. Enditem
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