The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide is a royal commission established on 8 July 2021 by the

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

pursuant to the

Royal Commissions Act 1902 The Royal Commissions Act 1902 is an Australian Act of Parliament which authorises the Australian Governor-General to initiate an investigation, referred to as a Royal Commission. Royal Commissions are a major independent public inquiry into an ...

. The Royal Commissioners are required to provide an interim report by 11 August 2022, and a final report by 15 June 2023.

Background

On 22 March 2021 both chambers of the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...

passed motions in support of a Royal Commission into defence and veteran suicide. The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

had resisted calls for such a broad-ranging and powerful inquiry, preferring the option of establishing a

National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention The National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention is a statutory official in Australia, independent of the Government of Australia, established under Australian law. History On 5 February 2020, the Prime Minister of Austral ...

. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was established on 8 July 2021 by Letters Patent, pursuant to the

. The Letters Patent appoint Mr Nick Kaldas , The Hon. James Douglas and Dr Peggy Brown as Royal Commissioners.

Powers

The powers of Royal Commissions in Australia are set out in the enabling legislation, the . Royal Commissions have powers to issue a summons to a person to appear before the Commission at a hearing to give evidence or to produce documents specified in the summons; require witnesses to take an oath or give an affirmation; and require a person to deliver documents to the Commission at a specified place and time. A person served with a summons or a notice to produce documents must comply with that requirement, or face prosecution for an offence. The penalty for conviction upon such an offence is a fine of or six months imprisonment. A Royal Commission may authorise the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

to execute

search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countries, ...

Hearings

Hearings began in November 2021 with 6 hearings held around Australia before the release of the interim report in August 2022.

Reports

The Commissioners are required to produce an interim report by 11 August 2022 and a final report by 15 June 2023.

Interim report

The interim report was released on 11 August 2022 and included 13 recommendations. Of the 13 recommendations 8 related to how the Royal Commission operated and 5 relating to the claims process at the Department of Veteran's Affairs which, as of the end of May 2011, had a backlog of nearly 42,000 claims for compensation. Kaldas said that lives and livelihoods depend on getting providing assistance as soon as possible. The interim report also identified that, since 2000, there have been 50 reports containing over 750 recommendations relevant to the suicide and potential suicide of veterans. The Minister for Veterans' Affairs,

Matt Keogh Matthew James Keogh (born 11 November 1981) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel in the Albanese government since 2022. He ...

responded to the interim report by stating that the department had started the process of hiring 500 people to help clear the current claims backlog saying, calling it a national tragedy, and saying

References

External links

* of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
Interim report of the Royal Commission
{{Commonwealth of Australia Royal Commissions, state=autocollapse Commonwealth of Australia royal commissions 2021 establishments in Australia 2021 in Australia Morrison Government