The Last Post performed by Navy band member Orson Paine. Video / Dean Purcell
Better data was urged in 2017 report on veterans.
There is still no way of tracking veteran suicides.
Minister for Veterans Chris Penk pledges support to those who served.
WARNING: This story discusses suicide
The deaths of three military veterans by suspected suicide over just three weeks has one support group trying to crowd-source similar cases to plug a data hole and come up with a system that will show the extent of self-harm among those who served.
The veterans’ welfare group No Duff says the crowd-sourcing attempt is necessary because government agencies haven’t done the job.
The recent suspected suicides include two serving veterans and one who had left the military. They were a Royal New Zealand Air Force sergeant, a New Zealand Army Warrant Officer 2 and a former New Zealand Army rifleman.
It is a vexed issue in the veteran community with the prospect of a database that recorded suicides being raised during the 2017 review of the current veterans’ law.
The estimate of contemporary veterans ranges from 25,000 to 45,000 but is unknown.
The final report by Professor Ron Paterson recommended better data collection through the development of a register of veterans.
The current number of contemporary veterans is unknown to Veterans’ Affairs with estimates sitting between 25,000 and 45,000 people.
Paterson also recommended Veterans’ Affairs seek to have a military service question on GP forms to better track the health of those who had served.
Those recommendations were updated as “closed” by Veterans’ Affairs in October last year although a question has not been included on GP forms or a register of veterans completed.
On the GP forms, it said it had resolved the issue with its own systems. With the register, it was now current to 2018.
The situation has spurred No Duff co-founder Aaron Wood to call for those who know a veteran who has died by suicide to confidentially make information available to the welfare support group so a database can be developed.
“That’s not the first time we’ve seen a cluster of three in three weeks – and that’s the clusters that we know of.
“Something has to be done. We’ve seen this over such a length of time.
“Yes, it’s anecdotal and it has had to be because the data is not there. Imagine if it had been developed – lives would have been saved, people would not be dead now.”
Wood said the only known data work on New Zealand veterans was a 2018 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) study which found that from 2005-2014 veterans were taking their lives at a rate almost half-as-much again as the general population.
The study was considered flawed by the NZDF with weaknesses including a lack of knowledge as to the size of the veterans’ population.
He said on the basis of that report the New Zealand rate sat between that endured by veterans in the United Kingdom and United States – and above the population baseline.
Wood said the recommendations in the Paterson report, if followed, would have provided data that could have been used to develop intelligence around mental health harm suffered by veterans – and those who died by suicide.
“We’re going to do what NZDF was meant to do and finish the job. We’re going to throw it open to the country. We’re going to have to rely on the country itself because they are the ones who know.”
New Zealand troops in Afghanistan.
Wood said those with information could provide it through the No Duff email or by direct message on its social media sites. The information would be cross-checked with Official Information Act requests targeting coronial records and those held by NZDF Courts of Inquiry.
Andrew Brown, Returned and Services Association general manager of support services, said building a database was essential to meeting the needs of the veteran community.
“Good data is the basis of good public policy. We’re not happy about [the lack of] it. Others in the veteran support community aren’t happy about it either.”
Brown said he understood that data projects involving NZDF records were difficult – service records are held across multiple computer systems – as was collecting information about suicide because it could not legally be described as such until a coroner made a ruling.
Brown also cautioned that the veteran community was broad with a range of experiences and impacts from service. It was recognised overseas that multiple tours in combat zones exacerbated mental health issues.
“Some veterans suffer significantly and some veterans do (die by) suicide and that’s a national tragedy.”
Penk said an update was imminent after a meeting with the Veterans’ Advisory Board but acknowledged the ongoing issue.
He was seeking an update on the Te Arataki framework and the planned work schedule for the next few years.
“There are real challenges around establishing suicide data for the veteran community. Most significantly, only the coroner can rule a death as a suicide.
“During this process, there is no mechanism for recording occupational data – including whether a person is a veteran. This means the Ministry of Health does not record this data in its annual suicide figures.”
Minister for Veterans Chris Penk – himself a veteran – has pledged support to those who served. Photo / Mike Scott
He said Veterans’ Affairs only held information on its own clients.
“There is currently no mechanism for recording centralised data for all former service personnel. This is a systemic issue, which we are working to resolve.”
Penk said Veterans’ Affairs and the NZDF had collaborated since 2024 to automatically register those who left the military.
“If we can register more people, we can build a better picture of the issues they are facing,” he said.
“While most New Zealanders transition successfully into civilian life after operational service, I will not ignore the reality some within our veteran community are vulnerable to poor mental health.
“Our veterans make sacrifices in the service of our safety and security, and they deserve to feel supported when they come home. I am committed to improving their wellbeing.”
Veterans' Affairs was approached for comment on Tuesday but has yet to respond.
Veterans’ Affairs did highlight addressing suicide in its Veteran, Family and Whānau Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy Framework plan – “Te Arataki” – which has just completed its 18-month-long first stage.
It had forecast building links with the Suicide Prevention Office to try and develop its understanding of suicide in the veterans’ community.
In its wellbeing framework launch report, it said “the prevalence of suicide in Aotearoa New Zealand’s veteran population is unknown.
“International evidence indicates that veterans are at higher risk of suicide than the general population”.
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004.
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