Demographic and service profile of ADF members
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- The study cohort totalled 216,640 living and deceased ADF members who have served at least one day in the ADF between 2001 and 2018. Of this cohort, 55,438 were serving, more than half (118,584, 55%) were ex-serving, and 42,618 were reserve members of the ADF.
- Of the study cohort, 54,865 serving members were alive as of 31 December 2018, over half (117,023) ex‑serving members were not known to be dead (presumed alive), and 41,971 reserve members were alive.
- Between 2001 and 2018, 465 ADF members (serving, reserve and ex-serving) died by suicide: 109 serving males, 78 reserve males, 242 ex-serving males and 36 females.
- For serving and reserve males, the age adjusted rate of dying by suicide was half that of Australian males, while the rate for ex-serving males was 22% higher.
- The age-adjusted rate of suicide for ex-serving females was 127% (or 2.27 times) higher when compared with Australian females.
In this chapter, the analysis explores service-related and demographic characteristics of ADF members who have served at least one day between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2018. Datasets used for the analysis of ADF service and suicide include the Defence Personnel Management Key Solution (PMKeyS) for the period 2001 to 2018, the National Death Index (NDI), the Defence Suicide Database (DSD), and the Defence Work Health and Safety dataset.
The study cohort
The study cohort totalled 216,640 living or deceased ADF members who have served at least one day in the ADF between 2001 and 2018. Of this cohort:
- 55,438 were serving (45,252 males and 10,186 females)
- 42,618 were reserve (35,863 males and 6,755 females)
- 118,584, were ex-serving (100,507 males and 18,077 females).
A higher proportion of ex-serving males appointed to the officer program were in older age groups, at the time of separation, compared to general enlistees. At separation, 51% of Officers were 45 years or older compared with 17% of general enlistees (Table 3).
A higher proportion of ex‑serving males who were appointed to the officer program separated voluntarily (57%) compared to general enlistees (48%).
Characteristics |
Entry pathway |
Entry pathway |
Entry pathway |
Entry pathway |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age at separation(a) |
|
|
|
|
Less than 25 |
2,290 |
12.1 |
22,302 |
27.4 |
25–34 |
2,903 |
15.3 |
28,747 |
35.3 |
35–44 |
4,097 |
21.6 |
16,889 |
20.7 |
45 years and over |
9,699 |
51.1 |
13,579 |
16.7 |
Separation reason(b) |
|
|
|
|
Medical separation |
1,264 |
6.7 |
10,892 |
13.4 |
Other involuntary |
6,207 |
32.7 |
22,668 |
27.8 |
Voluntary |
10,861 |
57.2 |
39,347 |
48.3 |
Contractual/Administrative |
657 |
3.5 |
8,610 |
10.6 |
Total(c) |
18,989 |
|
81,517 |
|
Notes
- Age at separation is calculated based on termination date from PMKeyS, extracted as at 05 September 2020.
- See Technical notes for information on separation reasons.
- Excludes one ADF member with missing entry pathway information.
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2001–2018.
As expected, a higher proportion of ex-serving males with 10 or more years of service were in older age groups at the time of separation compared with those with a shorter length of service (Table 2). 42% of ex serving males with 10 or more years of service were 45 years or older (at separation) compared with 1% who served less than one year.
Among ex-serving males with less than one year of service, 42% separated for involuntary reasons (Table 2). In comparison, a smaller proportion of ex-serving men with 10 or more years of service separated for involuntary reasons (33%).
Characteristics |
Length of service |
Length of service |
Length of service |
Length of service |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Age at separation(a) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Less than 25 |
9,288 |
75.8 |
12,637 |
62.0 |
2,667 |
16.7 |
0 |
0.0 |
25–34 |
2,263 |
18.5 |
6,009 |
29.5 |
10,945 |
68.5 |
12,433 |
24.0 |
35–44 |
531 |
4.3 |
1,337 |
6.6 |
1,706 |
10.7 |
17,412 |
33.6 |
45 years and over |
174 |
1.4 |
409 |
2.0 |
654 |
4.1 |
22,042 |
42.5 |
Separation reason(b) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Medical separation |
556 |
4.5 |
3,262 |
16.0 |
2,954 |
18.5 |
5,384 |
10.4 |
Other involuntary |
4,550 |
37.1 |
8,051 |
39.5 |
4264 |
26.7 |
12010 |
23.1 |
Voluntary |
7,082 |
57.8 |
8,775 |
43.0 |
7,594 |
47.5 |
26,758 |
51.6 |
Contractual/Administrative |
68 |
0.6 |
304 |
1.5 |
1,160 |
7.3 |
7,735 |
14.9 |
Total |
12,256 |
|
20,392 |
|
15,972 |
|
51,887 |
|
Notes
- Age at separation is calculated based on termination date from PMKeyS, extracted as at 05 September 2020
- See Technical notes for information on separation reasons.
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2001–2018.
Of all ex-serving members, around half (51%) served for 10 or more years, while 13% had served for less than one year. Around 2 in 5 (41%) ex‑serving members had separated from the ADF for 10 or more years, noting the maximum time since separation in the ADF is 18 years.
Notes
- 8,879 ADF members with 1 day of service since 2001, who became ex-serving between 01 January 2019 and 05 September 2020, were re-assigned to either serving or reserve service status group based on their service status group from PMKeyS extracted as at 05 September 2020.
- Age, time since service, and length of service characteristics are calculated as at 31 December 2018, or at death, if this occurred prior to 31 December 2018.
- Service, entry type and operational experience for serving and reserve personnel as recorded in the Personnel database as at 5 September 2020, they may have been different at 31 December 2018. For ex-serving these characteristics are as recorded at termination of service. Excludes one ADF member with missing Entry pathway information.
- Information on operational experience is only consistently available for personnel hired on or after 1 January 1999. See Appendix A: Technical Notes for more information on operational experiences.
- Due to rounding, proportions may not sum to total.
Sources: AIHW analysis of linked PMKeyS–NDI data 2001–2018; NMD 2001–2018
Half of ex-serving ADF members (50%) separated voluntarily from the ADF, around 1 in 8 (13%) separated for medical reasons, and just over a quarter (28%) separated for other involuntary reasons2. The rest (9.6%) separated due to contractual or administrative arrangements.
2. See Technical notes for information on separation reasons.
Operational experience refers to experiences relating to deployment to a warlike conflict zone, non-warlike peace keeping mission, overseas areas for border protection activities or humanitarian aid, or domestic service in providing aid to the civilian community during emergency situations.
Among ex-serving ADF members who joined after 1 January 19991, just over one quarter (27%) had operational experience compared with nearly three quarters (72%) of those serving and 59% of reserves.
- Only operational experience since 1 January 1999 has been consistently identified across the four broad categories. To ensure comparability, analysis of operational experience includes only those hired on or after 1 January 1999. This may have contributed to the reporting of a lower proportion of ex-serving members with operational experience See Technical Note for more information.
The most commonly held ranks among ADF members were ‘Other ranks’ rather than Officer ranks. Among ex-serving ADF members in the:
- Army: around 1 in 4 (23%) was a Private Proficient at the time of separation, 1 in 6 (16%) was a Recruit, and 1 in 9 (11%) was a Private.
- Navy: 1 in 4 (25%) was an Able Seaman at separation, 1 in 5 (19%) was a Leading Seaman, and around 1 in 9 (11%) was a Recruit.
- Air Force: around 1 in 5 (19%) was a Corporal at separation, 1 in 6 (16%) was a Leading Aircraftman/woman, and around 1 in 8 (12%) was ranked Sergeant.
The majority of the ADF cohort entered as general enlistees (Table 1). Among ex-serving members four out of five (81%) entered as general enlistees, and 19% entered as officers. Around three quarters (73%) of all serving and reserve members entered as general enlistees.
The majority of all ADF members either are serving or have served in the Army. Among serving members of the study cohort, half (51%) were in the Army, and around a quarter each were serving in the Navy (25%) and the Air Force (25%) (Table 1). Among ex‑serving ADF members in the study cohort, 65% had served in the Army, 19% in the Navy and 16% served in the Air Force. Among the reserves, 65% served in the Army, 18% in the Navy and 17% in the Air Force.
The age distribution of ADF members differs by service status. Serving members were younger than reserve and ex-serving members, with nearly two-thirds (66%) aged under 35 years compared with 44% of reserve and 28% of ex-serving members in the same age group (Table 1). Ex-serving and reserve members were generally older than serving members, with 41% and 34% aged 45 years and over, respectively, compared with 17% of serving members.
Among ex-serving members, the mean age of males was 44 years and for females was 42 years. The mean age for reserve males was 39 years and for females 38 years. Among serving members, the mean age for males was 34 years and for females 31 years.
Of the 465 ADF members1 who died by suicide in the study period from 2001 to 2018, 429 were males and 36 were females (Table 5). Of the 429 males who died, 109 were serving, 78 were reserve, and 242 were ex-serving members of the ADF.
- The suicide rate for ex-serving males was 28 per 100,000 per year, which was higher than the rates for serving (11 per 100,000 per year) and reserve males (12 per 100,000 per year) (Figure 1).
- The rate for ex‑serving males (28 per 100,000 per year) was also higher than the rate for ex-serving females, which was 16 per 100,000 per year over the same period (Figure 2).
- The rate for ex‑serving females (16 per 100,000 per year ) was also higher than the rate for serving/reserve females over the same period ( 3.2 per 100,000 per year) (Figure 2).
Note: 1. The number of ADF members who died by suicide will be updated in the AIHW Suicide Monitoring publication (to be released September 2021) to include for the first time the population of ADF members who served in between 1985 and 2019.
Figure 1: Suicide rates per 100,000 per year, male ADF members and Australian male comparisons(a), by service status, 2002 to 2018
Note: (a) The rate shown for Australian male comparison is based on the age range of the ex-serving male population.
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2002–2018.
Figure 2: Suicide rates per 100,000 per year, female ADF members and Australian female comparison(a), by service status, 2002 to 2018
Note: (a) The rate shown for Australian female comparison is based on the age range of the ex-serving female population.
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2002–2018.
Table 4 shows the standardised mortality ratio for ADF members by sex and service status (see Technical notes for more information on standardised mortality ratio). After adjusting for age differences, the suicide rate when compared to the Australian population was:
- 50% lower for serving males
- 49% lower for reserve males
- 22% higher for ex-serving males
- 127% (or 2.27 times) higher for ex-serving females
- 53% lower for serving/reserve females.
Standardised Mortality Ratio |
Lower CI |
Upper CI |
|
---|---|---|---|
Serving males |
0.50 |
0.40 |
0.61 |
Reserve males |
0.51 |
0.40 |
0.64 |
Ex-serving males |
1.22 |
1.07 |
1.38 |
Serving/Reserve females |
0.47 |
0.20 |
0.93 |
Ex-serving females |
2.27 |
1.47 |
3.35 |
Note: (a) See Technical notes for information on standardised mortality ratio.
Sources: AIHW analysis of linked PMKeyS–NDI data 2002–2018; NMD 2002–2018.
Between 2001 and 2018, the median age of death for ADF males who died by suicide: for ex-serving males was 35 years, 38.5 years for reservists, and 28 years for serving males (Table 5). By comparison, the median age at death for suicide among the Australian male population was 43.
Age-specific rates of suicide among ex-serving males generally decreased with age, from 36 per 100,000 per year among those aged under 25 years to 8.7 per 100,000 per year among those aged 55 years and over. This pattern was different to the Australian population who died by suicide.
Rates of suicide among ex-serving males aged under 25 years and 25−34 years were 1.9 times and 1.4 times the suicide rates of males of the same age groups in the Australian population (36 per 100,000 compared with 19 per 100,000 per year; 33 per 100,000 per year compared with 24 per 100,000 per year, respectively) (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Age-specific rate of suicide per 100,000 per year, ex-serving males and Australian males comparison(a), by service status, 2002 to 2018
Note: The rate shown for Australian male comparison is based on the age range of the ex-serving male population.
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2002–2018; NMD 2002–2018.
Note: (a) Due to rounding, proportions may not sum to total.
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2001–2018
This section presents suicide rates over time in 3-year periods (Figure 4). Due to small numbers, there is some variability in these rates. Over the study period:
- The suicide rate for ex-serving males varied from a minimum of 26 per 100,000 in 2009−2011 and 2010−2012, to a maximum of 33 per 100,000 in 2013−2015.
- In the most recent 3-year period (2016−2018), the rate for ex-serving males was 29 per 100,000.
The rates of suicide for the male Australian population from 2007 to 2018 are presented in Figure 5.
Figure 4: Suicide rates per 100,000 per year, ex-serving males, by three-year aggregates, 2007–2009 to 2016–2018
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2007–2018.
Figure 5: Age-standardised suicide rates per 100,000 per year, Australian males, 2007–2018
Source: AIHW Analysis of NMD 2007–2018.
The suicide rate of ex-serving males who were appointed to the officer program was lower than general enlistees (Figure 6). However, a higher proportion of ex-serving males in the officer program were older and separated voluntarily than among general enlistees.
Figure 6: Suicide rate per 100,000 per year, ex-serving males, by entry type, 2002 to 2018
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2002–2018
Ex-serving males who separated for medical reasons or for other involuntary reasons were more likely to die by suicide than those who separated for voluntary reasons (Figure 7 and Table 6).
Figure 7: Suicide rate per 100,000 per year, ex-serving males, by separation reason, 2002 to 2018
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2002–2018.
The suicide rate for ex-serving males with 10 or more years of service was lower than for ex‑serving males with less than 1 year of service and for 1 year to less than 5 years of service (Table 5 and Figure 8). However, ex-serving males with 10 or more years of service were also older and a smaller proportion separated involuntarily than those with a shorter period of service.
Figure 8: Suicide rate per 100,000 per year, ex-serving males, by length of service, 2002 to 2018
Source: AIHW Analysis of PMKeyS–NDI, 2002–2018.
Notes:
Ref. = Reference population for comparison.
- Refers to a statistically significant difference between the ADF population group and reference population. The Wald Z-statistic was applied to test whether the difference between rates is significant at the p=0.05 level, based on estimated standard errors for rate difference.
- The direction of the difference when compared with reference population.
- Reference population for comparisons within each characteristic.
- Length of service describes the period of time between enlistment in the ADF and separation. These groupings may reflect different service experiences and career pathways.
Sources: AIHW analysis of linked PMKeyS–NDI data 2002–2018.
Work Health Safety and bullying
The Work Health Safety (WHS) dataset captures a range of incidents experienced by ADF members during service. These include incidents involving bullying, or which describe bullying or associated behaviors.
Between 2001 and 2018, 96,731 ADF members (45%) had a WHS incident recorded. Among those who had a WHS incident, 286 ADF members (217 males, 69 females) had an incident relating to workplace bullying or harassment (Table 7). While no ADF members who died by suicide reported a WHS incident relating to bullying or workplace harassment, there are other reporting mechanisms available to victims of bullying and harassment, such as the Defence Ombudsman (Commonwealth Ombudsman, 2021) and Defence Abuse Reporting Taskforce (DART, 2016).
n.p. = not published due to small numbers
Note: (a) The cohort is all serving, reserve and ex-serving ADF members (all ages, males & females) who served at least one day from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2018, and had a WHS claim between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2018.
Source: AIHW analysis of PMKeyS-NDI-Defence WHS, 2001-2018