Mental health of veterans’ children
All data presented is derived from the 2021 Census, with analyses by parents’ detailed service-related characteristics additionally drawn from Defence Personnel data. While this data provides a population snapshot on the Census date of 10 August 2021, it does not establish a causal link between parents’ ADF service status and the presence of long-term health conditions in specific groups of children. Further analysis, including modelling and prospective research studies, are required to determine any causal relationship between parent ADF service status and an increased or decreased risk of long-term health conditions among children.
Veterans’ children and females have higher prevalence of mental health conditions
Of children living with veteran parents, 8.3% (19,800) had a long-term mental health condition compared with 5.8% of children living with non-veteran parents. The prevalence of long-term mental health conditions by detailed age groups for children living with their parents is shown in Figure 7.
The prevalence of mental health conditions among dependent students aged 15–24 years was 11% for children of permanent and ex-serving parents, 10% for children of reserves parents and 8.1% among dependent students of non-veteran parents. The non-dependent 15–24 years group had the highest prevalence of mental health conditions among children under 25 years, irrespective of the parents’ veteran status.
In general, female children aged 15 years and older had a higher prevalence of long-term mental health conditions than male children. The sex difference was larger among the younger age groups (from 15–34 years). For example, female dependent students with a current serving permanent parent had more than double the prevalence of mental health conditions (15%) compared with the equivalent male dependent students (6.5%).
The highest prevalence of long-term mental health conditions was observed in 30–34-year-old, non-dependent male and female children with 2 veteran parents. The female children had 30% prevalence (corresponding to 30 children) which was 1.6 times higher than similar aged female children with non-veteran parents (19%). The male children had 25% prevalence (corresponding to 55 children) which was 1.7 times higher than similar aged male children with non-veteran parents (15%).
Figure 7: Proportion of children with a mental health condition by number of veteran parents, veteran status of parent and age, sex and dependency of child, 2021
Bar chart showing prevalence of mental health conditions among children of veteran and non-veteran parents across detailed age groups from 0–4 to 65+. From age 15 onwards, where mental health conditions become more common, children of veteran parents consistently showed higher prevalence. The difference was most pronounced among females aged 20–54 years, who had significantly higher prevalence compared to their non-veteran counterparts.
Note: the proportions (%) for the children of non-veteran parents are shown in tool tips.
Some of the detailed age groups should not be used for comparisons as counts are lower than 20. See supplementary Table CH3.1.
Children’s mental health is associated with veteran parents’ service characteristics
The analysis presented in this section is for the dependent children of ex-serving members only. This is because small counts prevented data disaggregation for permanent and reserve members and for non-dependent children.
This section is also limited to children with one veteran parent only. Including children with 2 veteran parents confounds the reporting of the parent’s characteristics. For example, if a child has one veteran parent who falls in the 35–44 years age group and another who is in the 45–54 years age group, it would not be possible to attribute a parent age category to that child.
Mental health conditions are more common in dependent children of ex-serving females
Irrespective of the parent’s age group, the dependent children (0–24 years of age) of ex-serving female members had a higher prevalence of mental health conditions than the dependent children of ex-serving males. Figure 8 shows that the dependent children of female ex-serving members aged 55–64 had double the prevalence of mental health conditions (16%, corresponding to 170 children) compared with the dependent children of male ex-serving members (8% corresponding to 1,100 children).
Figure 8: Proportion of ex-serving veterans’ dependent children with a mental health condition by sex and age group of veteran parent, 2021
Bar chart showing prevalence of mental health conditions among dependent children of female versus male ex-serving parents. Across parent’s age groups from under 35, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, and 65+, dependent children of female ex-serving members consistently showed higher prevalence of mental health conditions. The difference was most pronounced in the 55–64 age group, where children of female ex-serving members had double the prevalence compared to those of male ex-serving members (16% vs 8%)
| Parent sex | Under 35 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65 and older |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ex-serving male parent | 1.3 | 2.9 | 6.3 | 8.3 | 7.9 |
| Ex-serving female parent | 1.9 | 4.6 | 9.4 | 16.2 | 20.0 |
Source:
AIHW analysis of the 2021 Census of Population and Housing. http://www.aihw.gov.au
Note: comparisons involving dependent children of female ex-serving parents aged 65 years and older are not reliable due to counts lower than 20
This section is limited to children under 25 years of age with one veteran parent to avoid the confounding that occurs when considering children with 2 veteran parents.
Child’s mental health is associated with parent’s previous service status
For children under 25, the prevalence of mental health conditions was highest among non-dependent children aged 15–24 years with a veteran parent who had served in both permanent and reserves services. Prevalence was:
- 23% (corresponding to 30 children) for those with a parent currently serving in the permanent service who previously served in the reserves service
- 20% (corresponding to 120 children) for those with a parent currently serving in the reserves service who previously served in the permanent service
- 19% (corresponding to 355 children) for those with a parent who previously served in both the permanent and reserves services.
In comparison, the prevalence was 13% for non-dependent children aged 15–24 years with non-veterans’ parents.
Prevalence of mental health conditions was lowest among dependent children under 15 whose parent was currently serving in the reserves service and had never served in the permanent service (1.3% corresponding to 75 children).
Child’s mental health is associated with parent’s separation reason from ADF
Use of Defence Personnel linked data
The data presented below are for children with a veteran parent whose data in the 2021 Census and Defence Personnel data could be successfully linked. Therefore, the analysis is limited to children with only one veteran parent who had at least one day of ADF service since 1 January 1985. This comprises 94% (11,900) of all children with a mental health condition living with one veteran parent. When interpreting the finding in this section, it should be noted that children with 2 veteran parents, and children whose parent served before 1985, are excluded from this analysis.
Due to data limitations, the summary statistics relating to:
- separation reason are limited to ex-serving ADF members who have separated since 2003
- operational experience are limited to ADF members who have served since 2001.
The prevalence of long-term mental health conditions in veterans’ children is shown by the detailed service-related characteristics and service status of their veteran parent in Figure 9.
Children under 15 years of age
- Children with an ex-serving parent who separated from the ADF for involuntary medical reasons had a higher prevalence of mental health conditions (3.7%) than children of parents who separated for voluntary reasons (2.1%).
- Children with an ex-serving parent who had been separated from the ADF for 10 years or more had a higher prevalence of mental health conditions (3.5%) than children whose parents had been separated from the ADF for less time (2.1% for less than 1 year, 2.2% for 1 to less than 5 years, and 2.4% for 5 to less than 10 years).
Dependent students aged 15–24 years
- Dependent students with an ex-serving parent who separated from the ADF for involuntary medical reasons had a higher prevalence of mental health conditions (15%) compared with children of ex-serving parents who separated for voluntary reasons (9.8%)
- Dependent students with a current serving permanent parent without any operational experience had a higher prevalence of mental health conditions (16%) than children of current serving permanent parents with any operational experience (10%)
Non-dependent children aged 15–24 years
Non-dependent children aged 15–24 years had a higher prevalence of mental health conditions than dependent students aged 15–24 years irrespective of the service characteristics of their parents. This was consistent across children of permanent, reserve and ex-serving parents. For example, the non-dependent children aged 15–24 years with an ex-serving parent who separated from the ADF for involuntary medical reasons had a higher prevalence of mental health conditions (19%) than the corresponding group of dependent students (15%).
Figure 9: Proportion of children with a mental health condition by service-related characteristics and service status of their veteran parent, 2021
Bar chart showing prevalence of mental health conditions among veteran’s children under 15, dependent student 15–24, non-dependent children 15–24, and children 25 years and older, by service-related characteristics of their veteran parents, that is, parent’s service branch, rank, length of service, time since separation, last reason for separation from the ADF and whether the parent had any operational experience. Compared to children of non-veteran parents, both dependent and non-dependent children 15–24 of ex-serving parents who separated involuntarily showed the highest prevalence.
Notes:
- Time since separation and Last separation reason are only applicable to ex-serving parents.
- Comparisons involving proportions noted with # are not reliable due counts lower than 20.