Final report to the Independent Review of Past Defence and Veteran Suicides

Web report

Last updated: 29 Sep 2021

Topic: Veterans

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2021) Final report to the Independent Review of Past Defence and Veteran Suicides, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 4 June 2026, doi:10.25816/k8m9-jy06.

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Abbreviations and symbols

Abbreviations
ABS	Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACSQHC	Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
ADF	Australian Defence Force
AIHW	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Air Force	Royal Australian Air Force
APC	Admitted Patient Care
Army	Australian Army
Better Access	Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care
Defence	Department of Defence
DHT	Defence Health and Transition
DVA	Department of Veterans’ Affairs
ED	Emergency Department
GP	General practitioner
HSC Off-base	Health Service Contracts Off-base
ICD	International Classification of Disease
MADIP	Multi-Agency Data Integration Project
MBS	Medicare Benefits Schedule
MCD	Medicare Consumer Directory
NAPEDC	Non‑Admitted Patient Emergency Department Care
Navy	Royal Australian Navy
NCIS	National Coronial Information System
NDI	National Death Index
NHS	National Health Survey
NMD	National Mortality Database
NTA	National Treatment Account
PBS	Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
PILS	Pharmaceutical Integrated Logistics System
PMKeyS	Personnel Management Key Solution
PTSD	Post-traumatic stress disorder
RACGP	The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
RPBS	Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
The interim National Commissioner	Interim National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention
The Review	Independent Review of Past Defence and Veteran Suicides

Symbols
—	nil or rounded to zero
. .	not applicable
n.a.	not available
n.p.	not publishable because of small numbers, confidentiality or other concerns about the quality of the data

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Caution: Some readers may find parts of this content confronting or distressing.

Please carefully consider your needs when reading the following information about suicide. This report contains information on numbers and rates of death, method of suicide and risk factors (including suicide ideation and self-harm). This report may be distressing to some readers.

If this material raises concerns for you, support is available. Please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, or Defence All-hours Support Line on 1800 628 036, or Open Arms - Veterans and Families Counselling, available free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or see other ways you can seek help.

The information included here places an emphasis on data, and as such, can appear to depersonalise the pain and loss behind the statistics. The AIHW acknowledges the individuals, families and communities affected by ADF member and veteran suicide each year in Australia.

The AIHW supports the use of the Mindframe guidelines on responsible, accurate and safe suicide and self-harm reporting. Please consider these guidelines when reporting on statistics on the monitoring of suicide and self-harm.

Final report to the Independent Review of Past Defence and Veteran Suicides

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