UNCLASSIFIED

Thank you for emailing the Department of Defence (Defence) Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

Your inquiry, should it be a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), will be considered and you will be advised the status of your inquiry by an FOI team member shortly. At this stage you inquiry has not been validated as a formal FOI request.

Proof of Identity
If you are requesting access to your personal documents please provide proof of your identity with your request. For example: Driver’s licence, passport or Defence ID.
Access to Service personal, health and psychology records In the first instance, you should seek access to your Service personal, health and psychology records via administrative means – this applies to current and ex-serving members. More information can be found here http://www.defence.gov.au/Records/

Response due date
If your inquiry is deemed a valid FOI request, it will be processed in accordance with the timeframes outlined in the FOI Act.
In accordance with the FOI Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner, if the last day for notifying a decision falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the statutory timeframe will expire on the first day following which is none of those days.
If you request is received outside of normal business hours, it will be actioned the following weekday.

Exclusion Clause
Should your request be deemed valid, Defence excludes personal email addresses, signatures, personnel (PMKeyS) numbers and mobile telephone numbers contained in documents that fall within the scope of an FOI request, unless you specifically request such details. Defence also excludes duplicates of documents and documents sent to or from you. Furthermore, Defence only considers final versions of document.
If you do require these details, please inform us within five days of receipt of this email.

Charges
If you are requesting documents that relate to your own personal information, no charges will be applied to your request. In accordance with section 29 of the FOI Act, all other requests may attract processing charges and you will be advised accordingly.

Should you have any questions relating to your FOI inquiry, please do not hesitate to contact our office via email to [email address]

Regards,
Freedom of Information
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-6-008 | PO Box 7910 | Campbell Park CANBERRA BC ACT 2610
E-mail: [email address]
Phone: 02 6266 2200
http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Good morning Ms Brandis-Dalton

Thank you for your email. To enable our office to assist you with your request the FOI Directorate sought advice from Joint Health Command for access to:

" The study conducted by Defence per Recommendation 9 of the 2013 Parliamentary Report ‘Care of ADF Personnel Wounded and Injured on Operations Inquiry of the Defence Sub-Committee."

No documents were identified as matching the scope of your request. Joint Health Command has advised that Recommendation 9 was only ‘agreed in principle’ in the Government response and a specific study was not agreed or completed.

At this time the departments of Defence and Veterans' Affairs are working collaboratively on a strategic framework to facilitate and prioritise research programs, with families as one of the initial four research domains for the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA).

However the recommendation of a specific study into the psychological support of partners and families of ADF members and ex-ADF members is not [was not] supported.

The departments of Defence and Veterans' Affairs have numerous programs and services in support of partners and families of ADF and ex-ADF members that have been developed from existing available research and evidence base in recognition of their psychological and social needs.

Separate from any claim for compensation, treatment for all mental health conditions is now free for anyone who has served just one day in the full-time Australian Defence Force through the Non-Liability Health Care. Applying for treatment can be achieved by phoning the Department of Veterans’ Affairs on 133 254 (metropolitan callers) or 1800 555 254 (regional callers), or emailing [email address]. Alternatively, applications can be made using the paper or online forms that are available on the Department’s website. Further information about free mental health treatment is available at www.dva.gov.au/nlhc.

The Government and Defence see suicide prevention amongst serving and former serving ADF members as a priority. The Australian Defence Force has operated a suicide prevention program since 2002. Since 2009 Defence has invested approximately $252 Million (as at 01 June 17) to provide a range of education and awareness programs (including suicide prevention), access to mental health treatment and rehabilitation programs including referral Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service and the All Hours Support Line for all Defence members.

If our office can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-6-008 | PO Box 7910 | Campbell Park CANBERRA BC ACT 2610
E-mail: [email address]
Phone: 02 6266 2200
http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp

show quoted sections