TWO separate Tasmanian veteran advocacy groups have estimated that the number of ex-servicemen and women suffering from mental health issues is as high as 70 per cent.
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The Department of Veterans’ Affairs estimates that 8 per cent of serving members will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder in a given year.
RSL training and improvement program level four advocate Bob Fitz said he had been ‘‘reliably informed’’ of 16 veteran suicides in Tasmania since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan.
Mates 4 Mates family recovery centre manager Dan Vautin said there were about 11,000 veterans in Tasmania, but it was near impossible to track them down.
‘‘There is no place, defence or anyone – no one can provide me with the exact figures, nobody can provide me with a way to contact these guys,’’ he said.
‘‘Some of them go hide in the bush and you lose them. They’re out of the family, the defence family.’’
The Police Association of Tasmania also estimates that the number of police officers affected by mental health issues such as stress, depression and PTSD is much higher than official figures suggest.
Figures supplied by Worksafe Tasmania show only one reported case of PTSD in the past five years.
Police association vice-president Gavin Cashion said the organisation had seen at least 10 cases between January and June this year.
Detective Constable Cashion said the figures probably accurately represented reported cases but did not explain the full story.
‘‘There’s a stigma attached to stress-related problems, and that’s probably why the numbers are the way they are,’’ he said.
‘‘Police generally will deal with issues themselves. They’ll either internalise it or they’ll speak about it with one of their colleagues or two of their colleagues.’’
Psychiatrist Ian Sale supported Constable Cashion’s statements, saying police had a ‘‘fairly significant risk’’ of developing PTSD. ‘‘Someone’s not recording things properly, because I see police officers quite regularly,’’ he said.
‘‘Post-traumatic stress disorder is not uncommon at all, particularly among emergency workers.’’
Former Australian Army brigadier and current Bass MHR Andrew Nikolic said the government was committed to assisting those affected by psychological wounds from conflict, but the number of those suffering PTSD was closer to 8 per cent.
‘‘Of the 34,500 personnel deployed to Afghanistan and the Middle East as part of Operation Slipper – including my daughter Captain Julia Nikolic, who did two tours – about 8 per cent suffered ongoing PTSD symptoms,’’ he said.
