Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide is a royal commission established on 8 July 2021 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902. The Royal Commissioners are required to provide an interim report by 11 August 2022, and a final report by 17 June 2024.

Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide
Commissioners
Inquiry period8 July 2021 (2021-07-08) – 17 June 2024 (2024-06-17)
Constituting instrumentRoyal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth)
Websitedefenceveteransuicide.royalcommission.gov.au

Background

On 22 March 2021 both chambers of the Australian Parliament passed motions in support of a Royal Commission into defence and veteran suicide. The government 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.[1]

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was established on 8 July 2021 by Letters Patent, pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902. The Letters Patent appoint Mr Nick Kaldas APM, The Hon. James Douglas KC and Dr Peggy Brown AO as Royal Commissioners.[2]

Powers
Main article: Royal Commissions Act 1902

The powers of Royal Commissions in Australia are set out in the enabling legislation, the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth).

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.[3] 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 A$1,000 or six months imprisonment.[4] A Royal Commission may authorise the Australian Federal Police to execute search warrants.[5]

Hearings

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

Reports

The Commissioners are required to produce an interim report by 11 August 2022 and a final report by 17 June 2024.[2][7]

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.[8][6] 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.[6]

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Matt Keogh 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,[6] and saying

It's devastating that Australia has lost more serving and former serving personnel to suicide than it has lost through operations over the last 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq.[6]

— Matt Keogh

See also

References
  1. Greene, Andrew; Lowrey, Tom (22 March 2021). "Parliament backs royal commission into veteran suicides". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  2. "Home page". Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Australian Government. 2021.
  3. "ROYAL COMMISSIONS ACT 1902 - SECT 2 Power to summon witnesses and take evidence". Austlii.edu.au. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  4. "ROYAL COMMISSIONS ACT 1902 - SECT 3 Failure of witnesses to attend or produce documents". Austlii.edu.au. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  5. "ROYAL COMMISSIONS ACT 1902 - SECT 4 Search warrants". Austlii.edu.au. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  6. "'Lives depend on it': Royal commission calls for Veterans' Affairs to clear backlog of 42,000 compensation cases". ABC News. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  7. Curtis, Katina (10 August 2022). "Royal commission report to examine 'outdated' system of veterans support". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  8. Curtis, Katina (11 August 2022). "'Deeply sorry': Minister apologises for system failing Defence and veterans". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.