Overview

Veterans – permanent, reserve and ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) – and their families are an important population group for health and welfare monitoring. The unique nature of ADF service promotes protective factors that can lead to improved health outcomes but also exposes members to risk factors that may lead to poor health during and after their military service.

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Ex-serving ADF members had higher levels of income compared with the Australian population

Serving permanent and reserve males are about half as likely to die by suicide as Australian males

Ex-serving males who separate voluntarily have a similar rate of suicide to Australian males

Veterans were more likely to volunteer (19%) than people who had never served in the ADF (14%)

Nearly 1 in 10 (9.4%) veterans were socially isolated. This was similar to people who had never served in the ADF (11%)

Male veterans generally had lower rates of age-specific all-cause mortality than Australian males