Australian veterans more likely to die by suicide than peers: report

Source: Xinhua| 2020-10-10 17:25:05|Editor: huaxia

CANBERRA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Australians who have served in the defence force are significantly more likely to take their own lives than those who have not, a study has found.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Friday published its third annual report on suicide monitoring of serving and ex-serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel between 2001 and 2018.

It found that both men and women who have left the ADF were more likely to die by suicide than their counterparts who never served.

"The report shows that men who were currently serving full-time or in the reserve were considerably less likely to die by suicide than Australian men generally," AIHW spokesperson Louise Gates said.

"However, this was not the case for ex-serving men, who were 21 percent more likely to die by suicide than their counterparts in the general community after adjusting for age.

"While the rate of suicide for ex-serving women is lower than that for ex-serving men, ex-serving women were more than twice as likely to die by suicide than other Australian women after adjusting for age.

The suicide rate among ex-serving men between 2001 and 2018 was 28 per 100,000 compared to 11 per 100,000 for active members of the ADF.

The report also identified military-related risk factors associated with higher suicide rates.

"Men who were discharged from the ADF for medical reasons were more likely to die by suicide than those discharged for voluntary reasons," Gates said.

"The rate of suicide for ex-serving men who were discharged for voluntary reasons was similar to all Australian men the same age."

In response to the report, the opposition Labor Party called on the government to establish a royal commission to investigate the issue.

"We are failing our veterans and we urgently need a royal commission into this terrible scourge," said Shayne Neumann, Labor's Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel spokesperson.

"This latest update is a wake-up call and shows we are losing the war when it comes to saving our current and former defence personnel.

"We need to do a lot more to support our ex-service men and women and prepare them for life after the military through assistance with mental health and wellbeing, employment and housing." Enditem

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