While mental health services have been evolving, veterans have also been changing. The duration and nature of recent and current military conflicts has materially changed the mental health profile of modern veterans. Veterans, current serving members, service providers and ex-service organisation (ESOs) all collaborated on the design of this strategy document.

The Family Wellbeing Study focuses on how families are faring at two of the major stages of a military career: during service, and in the first years after the transition to civilian life. An additional focus is how differing types of family members are faring.

Darren Chester, Federal Veterans’ Affairs Minister, announced this scoping study to improve advocacy and support services for veterans and their families. The Terms of Reference are set out at Attachment A to this discussion paper.

The largest study undertaken to examine the impact of military service has confirmed the need for the Australian government to focus on assisting veterans to transition into civilian life.