Of the 1,215 ex-serving ADF SHS clients, 35% (or 425 clients) were DVA clients. Of the ex-serving non-SHS clients, 37% were DVA clients.
Among ex-serving ADF SHS clients, the demographic and service characteristics of DVA clients (compared with the 790 non-DVA clients who used SHS) were as follows (Table 14):
- The proportions of men and women were similar—78% were men and 22% were women (compared with 77% and 23% respectively among non-DVA clients).
- DVA clients were older as at the end of the reporting period (30 June 2017)—71% were aged 35 and over, compared with 47% of non-DVA clients.
- DVA clients discharged from the ADF at an older age—29% were aged 35 or over at discharge, compared with 17% of non-DVA clients.
- DVA clients had a similar service group profile to non-DVA clients—68% were Army members (compared with 72% of non-DVA clients), 22% were Navy members (compared with 20% of non-DVA clients) and 10% were Air Force members (compared with 8% of non-DVA clients).
- DVA clients had served for longer—34% served for 10 years or more, compared with 14% of non-DVA clients.
- DVA clients were more likely to have operational experience—29% had operational experience, compared with 8% of non-DVA clients.
- At the start of support, DVA clients were less likely to be unemployed, but more likely to not be in the labour force, compared with non-DVA clients—31% were not in the labour force, compared with 23% of non-DVA clients. Almost half of non-DVA clients were unemployed (48%), compared with 39% of DVA clients.
- DVA clients were more likely to have been discharged for an involuntary medical reason—37% discharged for this reason, compared with 2% of non-DVA clients.
|
DVA client (%)
|
Non-DVA client (%)
|
Proportion of all ex-serving ADF SHS clients
|
35
|
65
|
Sex
|
Men
|
78
|
77
|
Women
|
22
|
23
|
Age at end of reporting period
|
17–24
|
3
|
6
|
25–34
|
26
|
47
|
35–44
|
37
|
31
|
45 and over
|
33
|
17
|
Age at discharge
|
|
|
17–24
|
28
|
55
|
25–34
|
43
|
28
|
35–44
|
22
|
12
|
45 and over
|
7
|
5
|
Service
|
|
|
Army
|
68
|
72
|
Navy
|
22
|
20
|
Air Force
|
10
|
8
|
Length of service (years)
|
|
|
Less than 5
|
43
|
74
|
5–9
|
23
|
12
|
10–14
|
15
|
6
|
15–19
|
8
|
4
|
20 or more
|
11
|
4
|
Operational experience
|
|
|
Any operational experience
|
29
|
8
|
No experience
|
71
|
92
|
Discharge reason
|
|
|
Contractual/Admin change
|
7
|
3
|
Voluntary
|
30
|
55
|
Involuntary – other
|
26
|
41
|
Involuntary – medical
|
37
|
2
|
Notes
- DVA clients were identified through linkage with the DVA client data base, see the Technical Notes for more information.
- Unless otherwise stated, the denominators used for calculating percentages in the table above are 425 for DVA clients and 790 for non-DVA clients.
- Service is recorded at discharge and is current as at 30 June 2017.
- Operational experience is only counted for ex-serving ADF members hired on or after 1 January 1999, due to a change in the data collection approach on that date (denominator of 249 for DVA clients, 638 for non-DVA clients).
Source: AIHW analysis of linked PMKeyS–SHSC data 2011–12 to 2016–17.
Among ex-serving ADF SHS clients, the profile of service use of DVA clients (compared with non-DVA clients) was as follows:
- The proportion of DVA clients homeless at the start and end of support was similar to the proportion of non-DVA clients—43% of DVA clients were homeless at the start and 40% at the end of support, compared with 47% and 41%, respectively of non-DVA clients.
- DVA clients were more likely to seek assistance for financial reasons—28% listed their main reason for seeking assistance as financial reasons, compared with 22% of non-DVA clients.
- DVA clients were less likely to use accommodation services than non-DVA clients—34% had at least 1 night of accommodation across the 6-year period, compared with 40% of non-DVA clients.
- DVA clients were very similar to non-DVA clients in the number of support days received—56% of both DVA clients and non-DVA clients had up to 45 support days across the reporting period.
- DVA clients received a similar amount of financial assistance to non-DVA clients—78% of DVA clients received between $0 and $200, similar to non-DVA clients (79%).