As Anzac Day approaches, I think about what the day means. It is without a doubt one of the largest days of remembrance and acknowledgement of sacrifice that Australia knows.
And rightfully so.
Over 100 years ago our veterans fought for our country, our freedom, and the country we know and love today. Since this difficult time a lot has changed, yet one thing remains true — for every person who signs up to protect our country, at home, they have a family or network protecting them. This article is for those people.
Throughout the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, we have heard the harrowing stories and experiences of veteran families.
We have heard the struggles of those who lost a loved one as a result of their service and the difficulties faced by those who have faced the unique experiences, opportunities and challenges that come with being a part of a veteran’s support network.
As the royal commission has already found, families help veterans join, stay in, serve and when the time is right transition back into civilian life. Families care for veterans if they become unwell due to their service and are the ones left behind and left out when a veteran passes away.
Families in all their forms are the constant in a veteran’s life, they are without doubt a protective factor and have positive impacts on transition and wellbeing outcomes for veterans.
Unfortunately, as a result, it is not uncommon for families to feel impacted by their loved ones service. We know that 16.8% of partners and 14% of parents show high or very high levels of psychological stress as a result. Families are very much on the frontline supporting their veteran’s health and wellbeing. But who is supporting them?
Those who stand in the shadow of their veterans do so with humility. They sacrifice their own needs in order to enable their loved ones to serve Australia. In this way, they too serve Australia. They are on the front line of veteran support, they bear the cross of their loved one’s service.
In Australia, a small segment of the veteran family community has some support available to them. These are the families of those who have died in or as a result of their service and the system rightly supports this group comparatively well. However, not all families of veterans are bereaved yet, they bear the impacts of the unique nature of military service on behalf of our grateful nation.
There is limited relief offered for the broader group of veterans’ families, yet the system and the institutions within the system continue to expect them to take on more and more when it comes to enabling ADF service and caring for and supporting veterans following that service. They are expected to move across the country, maintain long-distance relationships, and manage the mental and emotional load of their families. The list goes on.
I know how hard this can be because I am part of a veteran family.
I have at times carried the mental load of my family. I have been a carer. I have been a fierce advocate for my husband. I have navigated a veteran support community that is opaque and struggles to adapt to changing needs.
This is why I write this article today, to salute those who stand behind and beside our veterans. I see you. I hear you. I know what you carry. I thank you.
But I know we need to go much further than this. This is why I am proud to lead Australia’s first Families of Veterans Guild (formally War Widows Guild NSW). When War Widows NSW stood up in 1946 it fought hard for recognition and entitlements for war widows.
It has protected those entitlements ever since and advocated for their further application. It provided a peer community of social and emotional wellbeing support that ensured war widows had a place to call their own and a community that understood. We continue this legacy for the families of Australian veterans because a veteran shouldn’t have to pass away before their families are seen, heard, and supported.
At the Families of Veterans Guild, we are heeding the words of our founder and the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide — we are becoming the inclusive organisation the families of our veterans need because the time to act is now.
I call on the government and all decision-makers to likewise heed these calls because families of veterans beyond those bereaved by Defence service need support. We know this, so we must act, and we must act now.
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