BRISBANE Deacon Gary Stone said the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans Suicide final report was a “goldmine of information” for people interested in delivering care for Australian veterans.
“The report addresses the widest range of issues, from prevention and early intervention to structural and cultural reform, it’s a massive work of scholarship and research,” he said.
The report was handed down after three years of consultation and research.
Among 122 recommendations, the Royal Commission emphasised the need for increased accountability and resources, as well as establishing a permanent body to help veterans in civilian life.
Veterans and defence personnel disproportionately commit suicide by 24 per cent for men and 102 per cent for women compared to their civilian counterparts, something the report tries to tackle.
As a soldier and founder of Veterans Care Association, now run by his son and fellow veteran Michael Stone, Deacon Stone has experienced first-hand the challenges the Royal Commission investigated.
“A critical point is that we have been on operations, in 1999 we sent 6000 troops to East Timor on no notice, and next minute in the Solomons … it was exhausting,” he said.
“In that environment where you’ve got too much work to do and not enough capacity to recover, it is not surprising that people had catastrophic outcomes.”
Deacon Stone said the final report would give people a better understanding of what did and did not work for veterans care, with an emphasis on continuing help going forward.
“People can now look at this report and turn the information into something that will improve the lives of other people,” he said.
The major recommendation of the Royal Commission is to establish a veteran well-being agency, something Deacon Stone says is crucial.
“In our space we say to people, you know whatever you focus on gets bigger,” he said.
“So if you focus on your well-being, you can get better and you can get past your problems.”
Former Army Colonel and Australian Catholic University Professor Andrew Condon welcomed the recommendations.
Mr Condon is ACU’s first Industry Professor, Veterans and Their Families, and has called for more research into the needs and well-being of defence personnel.
Mr Condon stressed that General Practitioners should occupy a greater role as primary points of contact for veterans post-service, and that placing them at the forefront is critical to achieving the Royal Commission’s recommendations.
“The current veteran support system is more an accident of history than a carefully crafted design,” Mr Condon said.
“Research will be vital in providing a stronger evidence base to enhance health and well-being outcomes and reduce the risk of suicide.”
For Deacon Stone, the issues the veteran community face are similar to those the Church faces.
“At some point you have to draw a line and say, ‘Okay, let’s move forward together without attacking each other and come up with better solutions’,” he said.
“We need to change our culture so that it’s positive, life giving, encouraging, uplifting and energising for other people.”
Deacon Stone was the long-time president of the Veterans Care Association, which is now led by his son Michael.
“The most important thing is that, like St Francis said, ‘we need to be going out there and reaching out to people, not waiting for them to come to us’,” he said.
“We have to be missionary disciples going out and finding the lost sheep.”
