1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,480
Speaker 1: Territorians have just one hundred days left to make a

2
00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:07,480
Speaker 1: submission to the Royal Commission into Defense and Veterans Suicide.

3
00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,200
Speaker 1: As that deadline looms, we know that new figures have

4
00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,880
Speaker 1: revealed about sixty people from the Northern Territory have sought

5
00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,480
Speaker 1: free legal help to make a submission to the inquiry.

6
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,200
Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to explain this a

7
00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,480
Speaker 1: little bit more is Jasmine Stanton, the Defense and Veterans

8
00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,560
Speaker 1: Legal Service Director. Good morning to you, Jasmine.

9
00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:29,520
Speaker 2: Hi Katie, how are you?

10
00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, really well, thanks so much for your time this morning, Jasmine.

11
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,800
Speaker 1: What kinds of support does the service offer? Yeah?

12
00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,440
Speaker 2: Really good question, Katie. Sometimes when people are thinking about

13
00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,559
Speaker 2: making a submission to this type of inquiry, it can

14
00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,720
Speaker 2: be really quite overwhelming. But we're here to help people

15
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,360
Speaker 2: to put their thoughts into words and we can also

16
00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,160
Speaker 2: help people to submit their submission to the Defense and

17
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,240
Speaker 2: Veterans Suicide Royal Commission as well. Well.

18
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,679
Speaker 1: Jasmine, how's the feedback been so far? I mean, we

19
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,040
Speaker 1: know that there is just one hundred days left.

20
00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,679
Speaker 2: Yeah, so so far. The types of issues that people

21
00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:19,240
Speaker 2: have been raising are things like abuse and bullying, and unfortunately,

22
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,279
Speaker 2: some of those assaults can be of a sexual nature.

23
00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:27,560
Speaker 2: We're also helping a lot of people to talk to

24
00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,759
Speaker 2: the Royal Commission about some of the difficulties that they've

25
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:37,880
Speaker 2: had accessing their entitlements and also talking to people about

26
00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:42,440
Speaker 2: some of the difficulties that they've had accessing rehub services

27
00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:44,640
Speaker 2: and the like when they've been injured in service.

28
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,920
Speaker 1: So at the moment, sixty one inquiries so far from

29
00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,040
Speaker 1: the Northern Territory, How does that stack up comparatively to

30
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:53,080
Speaker 1: other states.

31
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a really good question, Katie. So if you

32
00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:02,600
Speaker 2: think about the Northern Territory, it's it's got an overrepresentation

33
00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:07,520
Speaker 2: of defense people. So the first time that they kind

34
00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,120
Speaker 2: of officially counted the number of defense and veterans in

35
00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,960
Speaker 2: the community was in the twenty twenty one census, So

36
00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:20,960
Speaker 2: we know that there's roughly ten thousand people in the

37
00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:26,120
Speaker 2: Northern Territory who veterans were currently serving. So that's if

38
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,000
Speaker 2: you think about that against the population of the Northern Territory,

39
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:34,040
Speaker 2: that's a lot of people. So the Northern Territory, particularly

40
00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:39,000
Speaker 2: Darwin and also down towards Catherine, are two areas that

41
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,240
Speaker 2: we're really focusing on.

42
00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,920
Speaker 1: And so with the numbers, had you expected them to

43
00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,760
Speaker 1: be higher or you know, or is that sort of

44
00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,160
Speaker 1: within the realm that you'd expected.

45
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:55,160
Speaker 2: It's within the realm that we expected. But having said that,

46
00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,720
Speaker 2: so we've got just over sixty clients in the Northern

47
00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,600
Speaker 2: Territory who have so if are told their story to

48
00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,600
Speaker 2: the Royal Commission. But that's against ten thousand people who

49
00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,600
Speaker 2: are living in the Northern Territory who are either currently

50
00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,040
Speaker 2: serving or a veterans. So there's lots more people up

51
00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,800
Speaker 2: there that we want to reach and it's kind of

52
00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:20,040
Speaker 2: now or never that one hundred days, but until submissions

53
00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,600
Speaker 2: close is going to go really quickly. So far, the

54
00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,360
Speaker 2: Royal Commission has been accepting submissions eighteen months, but we're

55
00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,640
Speaker 2: now down to the last little bit. So if people

56
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,320
Speaker 2: are thinking about making a submission, now's the time to act.

57
00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,880
Speaker 2: If they're feeling a bit overwhelmed, I'd urge people to

58
00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:44,400
Speaker 2: come forward. There's no obligation. If they hear what we're

59
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,040
Speaker 2: about and they think it's too much, that's fine. But

60
00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,280
Speaker 2: we're here to help people and our help is free,

61
00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,880
Speaker 2: as confidential, and it's independent.

62
00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,720
Speaker 1: And you know, I guess sometimes it can seem like

63
00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,680
Speaker 1: a really overwhelming thing to do or It can seem

64
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,920
Speaker 1: like it would be a lot of work, but it

65
00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,160
Speaker 1: really matters. You know, it is so very important that

66
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,560
Speaker 1: this Royal Commission hears from everybody, you know, from anybody impacted.

67
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,560
Speaker 1: Of course, when you talk about the defense, the Defense

68
00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,560
Speaker 1: force and veteran suicide and the concerns that we've had,

69
00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:19,839
Speaker 1: and I think for us here in the Northern Territory,

70
00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:21,960
Speaker 1: we know that we do have such a strong presence

71
00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,240
Speaker 1: of defense personnel. So it is so incredibly important that

72
00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,960
Speaker 1: if they have been impacted, that they ensure that their

73
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:28,839
Speaker 1: voices are heard.

74
00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,839
Speaker 2: Absolutely. So that's why it's absolutely crucial for the Royal

75
00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:38,400
Speaker 2: Commission to hear from people who have got firsthand experience

76
00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,200
Speaker 2: of what the problems are and what is what it

77
00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:44,680
Speaker 2: is that needs to be fixed. There's been lots and

78
00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:48,840
Speaker 2: lots of reports written, and you know, I've given you

79
00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,560
Speaker 2: some statistics this morning, but really what's going to fix

80
00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,680
Speaker 2: this is hearing from people who know what's wrong and

81
00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:57,520
Speaker 2: know what it is that needs to be fixed.

82
00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,600
Speaker 1: Now tell me, I know it's one hundred dars. So

83
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:02,640
Speaker 1: when exactly do those submissions close.

84
00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,400
Speaker 2: It's the thirteenth of October this year, twenty twenty.

85
00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,760
Speaker 1: Three, thirteenth of October. Now, how can people access the

86
00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,280
Speaker 1: service if they do need some help with a submission.

87
00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the easiest way would be to give us

88
00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,320
Speaker 2: a call. It's a free call and our numbers one

89
00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:27,440
Speaker 2: eight hundred thirty three, one eight hundred and then that

90
00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,720
Speaker 2: would get the ball rolling and we can work out

91
00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,200
Speaker 2: what's the best way to assist the person, whether they

92
00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,400
Speaker 2: want to meet up with us in person, whether they'd

93
00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:36,640
Speaker 2: prefer to talk over the phone, and we can take

94
00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:37,159
Speaker 2: it from there.

95
00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:41,400
Speaker 1: Well, Jasmine Stanton the Defense and Veterans from the Defense

96
00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,719
Speaker 1: and Veterans Legal Service, the director there, I really appreciate

97
00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:46,600
Speaker 1: your time this morning. Thanks so much for having a

98
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:47,280
Speaker 1: chat with us.

99
00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:49,559
Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, thank you,