Key Points
- Several veterans have told a royal commission that there's an unacceptable rate of suicide in their unit.
- Some say the navy has failed to provide sufficient psychological support following traumatic incidents.
- The commission has also been told the navy declined to implement safety recommendations from an independent report.
This article contains references to suicide or self harm.
Elite navy clearance divers involved in the rescue of a colleague who was attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour say there’s an unacceptable rate of suicide in their unit.
Providing evidence at the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide in Adelaide on Thursday, three former divers highlighted a failure of the navy to implement safety measures and provide psychological support following a near “catastrophic” shark attack.
Three clearance divers died by suicide in the 18 months leading up to the establishment of the royal commission.
Diver Paul de Gelder sustained traumatic injuries including the loss of an arm and a leg during a drill in Sydney Harbour in 2009.
Then supervising diver Jeremy Thomas said he clearly remembered the moment he saw de Gelder struggling with a bull shark.
“What presented was a swathe of red water, which looked as if it enveloped the whole of Sydney Harbour and the clear sight of teeth grinding away at what is his hand and, at the point, his right leg,” he told the inquiry.
He focussed on de Gelder’s right hand, noticing he could not use it to swim and later saw it was just “held together by a bit of skin”.
“His body looked as if it was cut in two. You could not quite see a connection between his hips and his legs,” said Thomas.
An independent report found de Gelder’s life was saved due to the high level of training undertaken by members of the team that allowed them to provide first aid with a makeshift tourniquet.
With no tourniquet on board, Thomas and two junior divers used three jackets to stem the blood flowing from a severe haemorrhage.
“The hole within his leg absorbed the jackets and then we used a lifejacket as a splint,” he said.
A loss of trust
The review recommended the navy install a combat tourniquet on site as a result of the incident.
The royal commission heard evidence that the navy declined to take action.
Thomas was posted to Afghanistan two weeks after the shark attack, and he told the commissioners his team received little in the way of psychological support.
In fact, the team who was working with de Gelder “was never in a room together as a whole since”, he said.
It wasn’t until he returned to Australia in 2010 that he discovered a life-saving tourniquet had not been added to the safety kit.
“And at that point what the navy had lost with me was trust.”
People First?
The commission also heard evidence that a significant number of divers resigned as a result of the navy’s failure to make the site safe.
The decision had an impact on the mental health of supervisors who were unable to assure their divers that all had been done to ensure their safety.
“There is no reason that I can come up with that would satisfy not implementing that particular Comcare recommendation,” said Thomas, referring to the national work health and safety, and workers' compensation authority.
Asked by counsel assisting Erin Longbottom KC if he thought that the organisation lived up to the motto of 'People First' - a principle the inquiry heard espoused by navy management earlier this week - he said: “It’s not people first in my view.”
'We're losing those people very, very quickly'
A colleague Ashley Semmens gave evidence that his role in the aftermath of the shark attack destroyed his love of the water.
“To this day I have a significant fear of the water, which didn't bode well for me through the 15-odd years,” the former diver said.
Semmens was given the task of dealing with the remains of de Gelder’s body parts when the team arrived at the wharf.
Ashley Semmens told the royal commission that his role in the aftermath of the shark attack destroyed his love of the water. Credit: Supplied
Semmens has been a key plank of support for members of the clearance diver community, after losing a close colleague to suicide in his early twenties.
“If you want this ability to be able to do these roles then you need the people to do it and at the moment we're losing those people very, very quickly through mental health diagnosis and then potential discharges and suicide.”
Dangerous conditions
Commissioners heard evidence the role of clearance diver was “inherently dangerous” with divers required to work in challenging marine conditions to depths of 90 metres below sea level.
Other risks included exposure to underwater blasts, responsibility for mine disposal and stints of up to 72 hours without sleep.
The commission heard divers face a high ratio of time away versus time on shore, which meant divers often flew below the radar of official wellbeing protocols.
A joint submission from the navy clearance diver community raised concerns about the high level of physical injury, medical discharge and service-related mental health and self-harm among its members.
The group surveyed 150 members of the community with the help of a university tool.
Former captain Michael Maley, who played a lead role in the research, said there was a "definite link" between work-related trauma and suicide.
It showed evidence of PTSD, trauma, family breakdown, depression, anxiety and substance abuse.
“There is a high number of proven attempted suicides, there were expressions of suicide ideation in the responses,” he said in his evidence.
“It wasn't just the suicides we had in that one year, there were eight all up over a decade."
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Soldier On Australia on 1300 620 380.
