Originally published by The Big Smoke on the 13th of August 2025.
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has laid bare the devastating toll of systemic failure across Australia’s military and veteran support systems. It is a national reckoning long overdue. Yet even within this crucial inquiry, one group remains largely invisible: women veterans.
Women now comprise nearly 20% of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), and their numbers are increasing. Despite this, their voices have historically been sidelined in policy, research, and public conversation. The Royal Commission has begun to expose the unique, often invisible struggles faced by women who serve. But there remains a gaping void in targeted support services, recognition, and disaggregated data that urgently needs to be filled.
While much of the media attention has focused on the staggering rates of suicide among male veterans, the Commission’s hearings have highlighted that women veterans experience a different—yet no less harmful—trajectory of risk. Many women have reported being dismissed or disbelieved when seeking help, particularly when presenting with military sexual trauma or service-related mental health injuries. Some described feeling “invisible” after transitioning back to civilian life, with their identity as veterans routinely questioned or invalidated—especially if they were young, mothers, or had not deployed to combat zones.
Despite acquiring highly transferable skills, such as leadership, strategic thinking, crisis management, and discipline, they encounter prospective employers who hold narrow assumptions about military service. The stereotype of the veteran as male continues to shape perceptions…women are not always seen as bringing the same value proposition to civilian workplaces.
The cumulative effect of this cultural and institutional erasure is profound. Though official statistics on suicide among women veterans remain limited, emerging evidence indicates that they are more likely than their male counterparts to experience post-service mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Alarmingly, they are also less likely to access DVA support —often due to stigma, trauma, lack of awareness, or poor past experiences navigating the system.
Gendered experiences within Defence significantly compound the risks faced by women during and after service. The Royal Commission has heard extensive testimony from women who experienced bullying, discrimination, or sexual abuse—often perpetrated by colleagues or superiors. Many also spoke of being overlooked for promotion or forced to choose between advancing their careers and meeting family responsibilities. Upon transitioning out of the military, women veterans face a civilian world that frequently misunderstands or undervalues their experiences. Despite acquiring highly transferable skills, such as leadership, strategic thinking, crisis management, and discipline, they often encounter prospective employers who hold narrow, gendered assumptions about military service. The stereotype of the veteran as male continues to shape perceptions, meaning women are not always seen as bringing the same value proposition to civilian workplaces. As a result, securing meaningful post-service employment remains a significant challenge.
Women who serve in the Australian Defence Force do so with the same commitment, strength, and resilience as their male counterparts. Yet far too often, when their service ends, their contributions are overlooked and their experiences erased. Invisibility must not be the price they pay for serving their country.
Transition from service is already a high-risk period for all veterans, but for women, it often comes with additional pressures—juggling caregiving duties, managing financial insecurity, and facing an employment sector that may not value their military skills or experience. This intersection of structural and social barriers can lead to isolation, loss of identity, and in some tragic cases, suicide.
The Commission has rightly called for greater gender-disaggregated data collection and a deep cultural shift within Defence and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA). It is not enough to simply fold women into existing systems designed around male experiences. We need gender-specific support programs, trauma-informed services, and policies that acknowledge the reality of service for women—not just the imagined ideal.
One organisation that has been actively working to close this gap is Women Veterans Australia (WVA). As a national not-for-profit led by and for women who have served, WVA exists to connect, support, and amplify the voices of women veterans. Its programs offer peer mentoring, leadership development, health and wellbeing initiatives, and community-building opportunities. They are adaptive, supported by existing or emerging research, and grounded in lived experience.
WVA has also played a key advocacy role in ensuring women veterans are represented in national policy discussions, including the Royal Commission. In early 2024, WVA launched a microgrant wellbeing initiative that provided direct support to 27 women veterans experiencing social disconnection, mental health issues, or financial stress. The feedback was powerful: for many, this small but meaningful support served as a lifeline—proof that they were seen and valued.
But organisations like WVA can’t do it alone. They rely on the support of government funding, philanthropic partners, and community awareness to continue their work. Crucially, they need Australia to acknowledge that veteran support systems must be inclusive by design—not by exception.
As the Royal Commission prepares to deliver its final report in 2027, we have a rare opportunity to reshape the landscape for women veterans. That means embedding their voices into every level of reform—from how services are designed and delivered to how trauma is treated and prevented. It means challenging assumptions about what a “real” veteran looks like. And it means ensuring that women who serve are not just remembered for their courage, but supported through their recovery.
Women who serve in the Australian Defence Force do so with the same commitment, strength, and resilience as their male counterparts. Yet far too often, when their service ends, their contributions are overlooked and their experiences erased. Invisibility must not be the price they pay for serving their country.
This is not a call for special treatment—it is a call for justice.
We must listen to women veterans. But listening is not enough. We must act: by challenging outdated stereotypes, recognising their unique skills, and ensuring they receive the respect, support, and opportunities they have earned. As a nation, we owe them nothing less.