When Australians think about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the image that often comes to mind is a soldier returning from combat. The public narrative around military trauma has largely been shaped by stories of war, firefights, roadside bombs and exposure to life-threatening events on deployment.
These experiences are real, significant and deserving of recognition. They remain an important cause of PTSD among veterans.
But they do not tell the whole story.
Across Australia, many women veterans continue to live with the long-term consequences of trauma that remains poorly understood because it does not fit the traditional narrative of military PTSD. Their injuries may not stem from a single combat-related event, but rather from cumulative exposure to military sexual trauma, workplace harassment, discrimination, bullying, exclusion, abuse of power and institutional betrayal. For many, the effects persist long after service has ended, shaping their relationships, careers, health and sense of self.
The evidence tells us that PTSD remains a significant issue within the Australian military and veteran community. Yet the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide highlighted that psychological injury in military service extends well beyond combat. It heard extensive evidence relating to bullying, harassment, sexual violence, workplace toxicity and institutional failures, and the profound impact these experiences can have on serving and former members.
For many women veterans, trauma is not always linked to a single defining event. Instead, it can arise through prolonged exposure to unsafe environments and repeated experiences of harm. These experiences often align more closely with the characteristics of Complex PTSD, a condition associated with sustained or repeated trauma that affects not only a person's sense of safety, but also their identity, relationships, emotional regulation and trust in others.
Importantly, this is not an attempt to redefine PTSD as a uniquely woman experience, nor to diminish the reality of combat-related trauma experienced by women who have served. Women have deployed to operational environments, experienced direct and indirect exposure to conflict, witnessed death and injury, and carried the same operational burdens as their male counterparts.
Rather, the issue is that our collective understanding of military trauma has largely been shaped through a combat lens. While combat-related trauma remains a significant cause of PTSD, it does not fully capture the experiences of many women whose injuries arise through military sexual trauma, harassment, bullying, discrimination and institutional betrayal. When trauma falls outside traditional narratives of military service, women may be less likely to recognise their symptoms as service-related, less likely to seek support, and more likely to encounter systems that struggle to understand the origins of their injury.
This challenge is compounded by stigma, shame, self-blame and fear of judgement. Over the past decade, I have listened to the stories of hundreds of women veterans in Australia and internationally. While every experience is different, a common thread emerges: too many women continue to carry injuries that remain unseen because they do not fit our traditional understanding of military trauma. Many describe years spent appearing resilient and successful while privately struggling with hypervigilance, anxiety, depression, disrupted relationships and a persistent sense of isolation.
Research consistently demonstrates that Military Sexual Trauma is one of the strongest predictors of PTSD and other adverse mental health outcomes among serving and former military personnel. International evidence shows that women who experience sexual trauma during service are significantly more likely to experience PTSD, depression, substance misuse and suicidal ideation. When these experiences occur within institutions built on trust, cohesion and mutual reliance, the injury can be compounded by what researchers describe as institutional betrayal, the experience of feeling unsupported, ignored, disbelieved or retaliated against after reporting harm.
The Royal Commission concluded that military sexual violence remains a systemic issue within the Australian Defence Force. Defence records identified almost 800 reported sexual assaults over a five-year period, while evidence before the Commission suggested that the true prevalence is likely to be substantially higher due to under-reporting. More recent SeMPRO reporting recorded 215 sexual offences reported to the Joint Military Police Unit in a single year, a significant increase on the previous reporting period.
These findings matter because the consequences extend far beyond the individual. The Transition and Wellbeing Research Programme found that transitioned women veterans experienced higher rates of several mental health conditions than their male counterparts, including anxiety disorders, panic attacks, social phobia and PTSD. Research has also shown that women veterans experience significantly higher rates of suicide than Australian civilian women, with those who leave Defence through involuntary medical discharge facing particularly elevated risks.
Yet the impacts do not end there.
Too often, discussions about military sexual violence focus solely on individual incidents, investigations and legal processes. While these matters are critically important, they tell only part of the story. Every member lost through trauma, psychological injury, disengagement or premature transition represents a loss of capability, experience and leadership potential.
This is why Women Veterans Australia welcomed the Australian Government's decision to implement the Recommendation of the Royal Commission and establish an independent Inquiry into Military Sexual Violence in the Australian Defence Force.
The Royal Commission was unequivocal in its findings. Military sexual violence is not simply a workplace behaviour issue. It is a contributor to cumulative harm, psychological injury, PTSD, moral injury and elevated suicide risk. It also identified a troubling pattern: many of the issues raised in previous reviews remain persistent despite years of policy reform.
Women Veterans Australia argues that the Inquiry and other recommendations linked to Military Sexual Trauma must move beyond a compliance-focused assessment of policies and procedures. Success should not be measured by the number of policies written or training packages delivered. It should be measured by whether serving members feel safer, whether reporting pathways are trusted, whether perpetrators are held accountable and whether reforms result in sustained cultural and systemic change.
Women Veterans Australia also argued that military sexual violence must be understood as a Defence capability issue.
Defence invests years, and often hundreds of thousands of dollars, recruiting, training and developing its people. When talented personnel leave because they no longer feel safe, supported or valued, Defence loses far more than a position on an organisational chart. It loses experience, corporate knowledge, leadership capability and future workforce potential.
This loss is particularly significant for women. At a time when Defence is seeking to increase women's participation, strengthen leadership representation and address workforce shortages, the impacts of military sexual violence and institutional betrayal directly undermine these objectives.
The consequences continue long after service ends. With the average age of separation from the ADF occurring in the late twenties for many personnel, those leaving with significant psychological injury should still have decades of productive employment ahead of them. When trauma limits their ability to fully participate in the civilian workforce, the costs are borne not only by the individual and their family, but also by workplaces, communities and the broader economy.
For this reason, Women Veterans Australia is advocating for a forensic examination of the true cost of military sexual violence to Defence, including health impacts, compensation liabilities, workforce attrition, replacement training expenses, lost productivity and the long-term loss of future leadership capability.
The question is no longer whether women veterans experience PTSD. The evidence is clear that they do. The challenge is whether our systems are prepared to recognise the forms it takes, the pathways through which it develops and the long-term consequences of leaving those injuries unseen.
Only by understanding the full human, organisational and capability costs of military sexual trauma and institutional betrayal can we ensure that no woman's service, and no woman's injury, remains invisible.