Summary
Children of veterans may face unique opportunities and challenges related to their parents' service in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Reporting on the health of children in veteran families provides important contextual information that can be used to inform targeted support services and improve long-term outcomes for the wellbeing of veterans and their families.
This report, commissioned by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, is the first of its kind to examine the demographic characteristics and long-term health conditions of children living with their veteran parents in Australia. The report is a descriptive snapshot in time of this population. It leverages the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing linked with Defence Personnel data via the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA), to provide this valuable snapshot.
The report does not establish causal links between the veteran parent’s service history and the demographic characteristics or the presence of health conditions in their children. While comparisons to other population groups are provided, they are purely for the purpose of context. Any differences between veteran and non-veteran-related groups cannot be directly attributed to ADF service.
In the 2021 Census, 238,000 children were identified as living with 152,000 veteran parents, representing 3.5% of all children living with their parent(s) on Census night. 'Children' in the context of this report refers to the parent-child relationship and is defined as persons, regardless of their age, who are living with their parents. Children who were living away from their veteran parent could not be counted in this report.
Of the children identified as living with veteran parents, around 93% (222,000) had one veteran parent and just under 7% (15,900) had 2 veteran parents. Of those with one veteran parent, 81% (180,000) of children had an ex-serving parent, 12% (26,600) had a current serving permanent parent and 7% (15,400) had a current serving reserves parent.
The age distribution of children differed between veteran parent groups: children of current serving members (permanent and reserves) tended to be younger, while children of ex-serving members were more likely to be older.
Just over one-fifth (21% or 49,800) of veterans’ children, and 17% of children with non-veteran parents, had a long-term health condition. For both groups of children, mental health conditions and asthma were the most common health conditions.
Female children in general had a higher prevalence of having 2 or more long-term health conditions than male children. For example, female full-time students aged 15–24 years (dependent students) with ex-serving parents were twice as likely to report multimorbidity than dependent male students (2.8% compared with 1.4%).
When examining all children living with their parents, the prevalence of mental health conditions was 8.3% for children living with veteran parents and 5.8% for children living with non-veteran parents. Around half of the veterans’ children with a long-term health condition, aged 15 years and older, had a mental health condition. The group with the highest prevalence of mental health conditions was non-dependent children aged 15–24 years with one or more veteran parents. Irrespective of the number of veteran parents or the parents’ service status, female children aged 15 years and older, in general, had a higher prevalence of long-term mental health conditions than male children.
Dependent students and 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 (15% and 19% respectively) compared with corresponding children of ex-serving parents who separated for voluntary reasons (9.8% and 15% respectively).
The observations in this report suggest that certain groups of veterans’ children may be more vulnerable than others. Further research will improve our understanding and facilitate the delivery of support services for veteran families.