Motion
HON PIERRE YANG (South Metropolitan) [11.31 am] — without notice: I move —
That the Legislative Council notes the serious issues of employment transition and homelessness among veterans and commends the government for its support for the veteran community.
[Speeches and comments from various members]
HON ALISON XAMON (North Metropolitan) [12.04 pm]: I rise to make some comments on behalf of the Greens on this motion. It is a good motion and I am glad that it has been brought on for discussion. I begin my comments by noting that in many ways WA is leading the way in research on homelessness issues, which is really important. I refer particularly to a study that came out earlier this year and has already been referred to. It was produced by the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia and is called “The State of Homelessness in Australia’s Cities: A Health and Social Cost Too High 2018”. That was put together in partnership with the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness. It came out with some really disturbing figures showing that veterans and Indigenous Australians were at significant risk of homelessness and sleeping rough in Australia’s cities. “The State of Homelessness in Australia’s Cities” report found, as has been mentioned, that one in 20 homeless people are veterans. Significantly, 43 per cent of homeless veterans have suffered from serious brain injury or head trauma and a much larger proportion of homeless veterans identified as being Indigenous— 16.5 per cent, relative to the proportion of Indigenous Australians in the Australian Defence Force, which is only 1.6 per cent. This suggests that Indigenous Australian veterans may experience even greater difficulties in returning to civilian life. Homeless veterans have a higher level of educational attainment than non-veterans and on average homeless veterans are older than the rest of the population. These findings are incredibly valuable because previously this kind of data has not been available and it enables us to ensure that specific and targeted responses are developed.
We need to look at the drivers of homelessness among veterans. I listened very carefully to the contribution by Hon Tjorn Sibma and his comments about mental health issues. Nearly half of veterans who leave the Australian Defence Force will experience a mental health disorder within five years of leaving the forces. It is very hard to transition out of the Defence Force and into the community. The all-encompassing nature of the Defence Force requires veterans to completely redefine their identities and their places in the world when they are leaving the forces. Of course, the culture of the civilian employment sector is very different. It is concerning that veterans are increasingly struggling to work out how their skills may translate. It is very different these days. I recall that my great-grandparents and my grandparents, upon returning from war, were given huge amounts of assistance as veterans and indeed were given priority for employment opportunities. We do not have these opportunities anymore. I reflect on my daughter, who is a very active member of the Army Reserve and, in addition to the extraordinary skills that she is gaining through that process, the sense of leadership and teamwork are wonderfully important qualities that should be considered beneficial to any employer. It is concerning that we do not give priority to highlighting the sorts of skills that come from working within those environments.
It is really critical that when we are talking about issues of mental health among veterans—as I have already pointed out, we are talking about a high number of veterans who are going to have mental health issues—we do not gloss over the fact that many veterans will need mental health support. We know that the most common problem is anxiety, and then it is post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks and depression. These are very real. Herein lies the wicked dilemma that we find ourselves in when trying to address mental health issues at the same time as working within a culture that stigmatises people for having mental health issues or for seeking help for those issues. Even in my own profession, the legal profession, it is a wicked problem. There is an expectation, for example, that lawyers who may be experiencing mental health issues should be open about that and seek support, but, on the other hand, if they do so, they may come adversely to the attention of the Legal Practice Board and be subject to detrimental impact. It is a big problem that we need to address across worksites as a whole. In that sense, unfortunately, veterans are not immune from the stigma that comes with mental health concerns. The solution, of course, is not to hide it under the carpet but to address those issues of stigma and point out that ultimately a person who has mental health issues and then gets support and recovers can be far better and stronger for that experience. We really need to shift community thinking about that. The other concern is that veterans are four times more likely to have an alcohol disorder when compared with personnel who are still serving, and this impacts also on the path to homelessness. As has been mentioned, veterans are more likely to take their own lives, and this is a tragedy that we must address. Ex-servicemen aged 18 to 24 are at particular risk and they are twice as likely to die by suicide than other Australian men of the same age.
Around 5 000 people leave the defence forces each year but only one in 10 seeks help from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. I know from speaking to veterans that that is because they often do not feel that it is particularly helpful. This means that there is a huge unmet need out there. The mental health of veterans’ family members is also impacted when a veteran is struggling. Support services need to be tailored to ensure that they recognise this and they also need to accommodate this. It is very often the partners and children who also need to be able to get support.
What is the way forward from here? It has already been mentioned that we need to ensure that we have a bipartisan approach to addressing this issue. We need to ensure that we provide wraparound support for our veterans, or at least easy access to that wraparound support for mental health services and alcohol and other drug services, and also for things such as tenancy support, and, importantly, for employment services. We need to prioritise stable, permanent housing. I acknowledge and welcome the government’s $750000 Lotterywest grant to the WAAllianceto End Homelessness to implement its 10-year strategy and also the announcement of the government’s own 10-year homelessness strategy that will expand the work being done by the alliance and will also be co-authored by the community sector and people who have experienced homelessness, who are best placed to do that. I stress the importance of the government backing those strategic directions with ongoing funding support to provide the breadth of services that are needed, because this sector is already under significant stress. Of course, the government will have to make up ground on the provision of social housing stock.
We need to acknowledge that veterans have made a huge contribution to our country. The data is clear that veterans are struggling. They are overrepresented in poor mental health and homeless statistics. We know that this is the case and that more services are needed to smooth out their transition from the forces so that these problems do not develop in the first place; or, if they do, that they are able to be treated early. Any moves to provide targeted ongoing support for veterans is to be commended.
[Speeches and comments from various members]
Motion lapsed, pursuant to standing orders.