WARNING: Content may be distressing
Aboriginal veteran Paul Walker was inspired to take up a career with the Defence Force at just 20 years old, after he saw the ad campaign, ‘The Army. The Edge.’
He’d been living out of home since he was 15, and the army looked like a space he could build a life in.
Instead, his years in defence left him with life-long mental health injuries, as he told the Royal Commission into Defence Suicides.
Commission hears of prejudice from recruits and leadership
Addressing the commission hearings in Darwin, Walker said he faced significant racism on joining, but persevered.
“There is a toxic culture,” he told the commission.
“As an Aboriginal person I experienced a lot of racism and it was hard and it was disheartening, because this is me.”
He said people in command made jokes at his expense and visiting Marines also made derogatory comments about First Nations people.
“There was one occasion where I had won the 100 metres at the regiment and the comments floating around after I ran that race was that it was because I was good at running away from the cops, or that I pretended that their was a carton or a goon bag at the end of the line,” Paul Walker said.
“Because I was the only one… you feel pretty isolated.”
Despite the challenges, Paul Walker went on to be an award winning recruit.
The young recruit showed promise, winning awards in his early years.
Promising career cut short
Displaying strong abilities in morse code, he was quickly recruited to develop those skills and deployed to East Timor.
It was while on tour in East Timor that Walker hit a challenge he struggled to cope with.
Involved in a life-threatening encounter, where a fellow soldier was shot, he reached out for support, but was told he was just looking for attention.
“He responded negatively, it was quite minimising and this was immediately after the event,” Paul Walker told the hearing.
Paul Walker said the issues escalated.
He suffered flash backs and struggled to sleep.
“So they invest in training, but not in support when there is an incident, is what I took from your statement, is that accurate?” Commissioner Dr Peggy Brown asked.
“Absolutely,” Paul Walker said.
A traumatic incident left Walker shaken, but his concerns were dismissed by his superiors.
Available benefits never explained
Paul Walker was eventually able to access a psychiatrist, but the Commission heard that by 2003 he was diagnosed with chronic PTSD and major depressive disorder, leaving him medically unfit to ever work again.
The commission heard discharge was swift, and lacked a formal process.
“I didn't understand a lot of the wording and a lot of the terminology,” Paul Walker said.
“It has been a minefield.”
No one told Paul Walker about the services and payments he was entitled to.
That's meant for the last 20 years he's struggled to keep his family afloat... working more than 30 jobs at an extreme personal cost.
Paul walked for 20 years despite being deemed medically unfit due to his PTSD. No one ever explained he was eligible for disability payments.
“Basically then you were classified as permanently unfit for work but nobody did anything… the entitlements that would’ve come with that simply weren’t followed up on or acted on by anyone?” Commissioner Kaldas asked.
“No and looking back it just seems unbelievable," Paul Walker confirmed.
Paul Walker wept as he told the commission today that he was still proud of his service.
He said great things happened in the service and he hoped his story could help improve the experience for other people, including his children who see him as a defence hero and are considering signing up.
If this story has raised issues for you, you can speak to someone by calling 13 YARN (13 92 76).
