The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released a report examining chronic conditions among ex-serving ADF members.
This report is the fourth in a series of publications that analysed the use of health services by ex-serving ADF members from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2020 and also draws on data from the 2021 Census.
Key findings in the chronic conditions report include:
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In 2019-20, one in five ex-serving members were living with mental health conditions.
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The most common chronic conditions were similar for ex-serving members and all Australians.
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In 2019-20, 17% of ex-serving members were living with 2 or more selected chronic conditions.
DVA commissioned AIHW to undertake this research to improve our understanding of chronic conditions and inform future policy and programs to support those in need.
The Government and DVA are continually working to make improvements to the support available to veterans and families, including those with chronic conditions.
DVA’s Coordinated Veterans’ Care (CVC) Program is designed to support eligible veterans diagnosed with one or more chronic health conditions to better manage their ongoing health care needs.
Veterans may be eligible for the CVC Program if they are either Gold Card holders and have one or more chronic health conditions, or a White Card holder with a chronic DVA-accepted mental health condition.
All current and former serving members of the ADF who have completed one day of full-time service (and some reservists) are eligible for fully funded mental health treatment through the Non-Liability Health Care program. Proof that your condition is related to military service isn’t required to access treatment.
The 2021 Census was the first to ask all Australians whether they had served in the ADF and whether they had any long-term conditions.
When age-standardised to compare with the Australian population, the Census revealed that 39.4% of ex-serving members lived with at least one selected long-term health condition. This was similar to the 39.5% for all Australians in 2019-20.
The most common chronic conditions among ex-serving members (when age-standardised) in 2019–20 was cardiovascular diseases (21.1%), mental health conditions (20.0%) and select musculoskeletal conditions (9.2%).