Summary

In Morbidity of Vietnam Veterans: A Study of the Health of Australia’s Vietnam Veteran Community (DVA 1998) it was reported that children of Vietnam veterans had a substantially higher rate of suicide than that experienced by the general Australian community. This report was based on a self reported survey of 49,944 male veterans about their own and their children’s health. The elevated suicide rate in the veterans’ children was subsequently confirmed by the Validation Study (AIHW 1999) conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), which validated a range of reported conditions from the Morbidity Study (DVA 1998).