The most life-threatening battlefield Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel will face is the civilian world they re-enter once they get discharged, a new report has shown.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has provided greater insight into what we already knew: young former ADF personnel are at a high risk of suicide. Today’s report goes deeper on this finding, releasing data on the suicide deaths of ADF personnel between 2001 and 2015.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to go into data and actually understand certified deaths [by suicide of ADF personnel],” AIHW Director and CEO Barry Sandison told Hack.

The results paint an alarming picture of the reality for servicemen and servicewomen adjusting to civilian life. Between 2001 - 2015, 325 people with at least one day of ADF service took their lives. More than half of those were no longer serving in the ADF.

By contrast, 42 Australians have been killed while serving in Afghanistan since 2002.

For young, ex-servicemen aged 18-24, the report found they were twice as likely to die by suicide than men in the same age group in the general population. The leading cause of death in Australia for all young men is suicide.

The report also found that men who were discharged involuntarily from the ADF were 2.4 times more likely to die by suicide than those who discharged voluntarily; those who were discharged for medical reasons were 3.6 times more likely to die by suicide than those who discharged voluntarily.

The rate of suicide for young ex-servicemen was so high, the report concluded that no matter the circumstances of someone being discharged - voluntarily, involuntarily, for medical reasons or for no reason at all - ex-servicemen aged 18-29 were at a “high risk” of death by suicide.

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Life after Defence

While the rate of suicide among former Defence personnel is higher than the general population, the rate of suicide for Defence personnel currently serving is the opposite: serving members of the ADF are half as likely than the broader population to die by suicide.

Dr Peggy Brown, who runs the National Mental Health Commission, told Hack in March that the ADF offers members protection when they're serving, but that support disappears once they're back in civilian life and the transition can make people feel isolated.

“When they leave, that protection goes. Not only in terms of the services that are available to them, but the supports, the mateship, the sense of identity and purpose."

For former ADF personnel Hugh, which is not his real name, readjusting to civilian life has been an ongoing struggle for the 18 months since being released, he told Hack.

Hugh was medically discharged after five years of service as a marine technician for the Royal Australian Navy. Along with physical injuries to his shoulders, Hugh was suffering from anxiety, depression and PTSD - all which were a direct result of his service, the ADF agreed.

Leaving his life in Defence wasn’t a smooth transition, Hugh told Hack.

Everyone expected you to know what to do with a discharge. I didn’t. It was horrible.”

Hugh says he had kept quiet about his PTSD for two years during his service, due to fear of being labelled a “broken sailor” by his peers and being discharged.

Hugh was eventually medically discharged and was forced to navigate a radically different life.

“It was the first job I really loved, being at sea is fantastic. My career up to then had been filled up with achievements. But then I went from a high-achieving career with goals to having nothing.”

The ADF took responsibility for Hugh’s physical and mental injuries, which meant that things like his psychologist and psychiatrist appointments once he was discharged have been covered.

But Hugh says he feels the ADF lacked “compassion”, and could have done more - like setting up a support group with ex-servicemen facing similar struggles.

“The process wasn’t nice, It was horrible. It wasn’t thankful for your service. At times I felt like a criminal. They made me feel a bit guilty for wanting benefits that I was entitled to.

It went from a very involved medical process [while serving] to then feeling like I had no one.”

Since being discharged, Hugh says he has turned to using “small amounts” of cannabis to help manage his PTSD.

“The relief of pain [for me] is instantaneous,” Hugh says, “it’s not even getting high - it’s like meditation without the meditation.”

AIHW Director Barry Sandison said they are working on a “strategic 3 year partnership” with the Department of Veteran Affairs to look into the data further and gain a better understanding of the risks of suicide among ADF personnel.

If you're a veteran struggling with mental health, you can contact the VVCS – Veteran and Veterans' Family Counselling Service. It's available to veterans and their loved ones 24/7 on 1800 011 046.