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Support for Veterans

On this page:

Need Urgent help? contacts
Homelessness Supports
Managing post traumatic stress
Worried for someone?

Options to support your mental health and wellbeing

If you have served at least one day in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), including reservists, several options are available to support your mental health and wellbeing.  Start by talking to your GP. Your GP can:

  • refer you to the right medical professionals 
  • provide you with a comprehensive Veteran Health Check

See a complete list of local GPs in Augusta Margaret River.

Who to call for urgent help

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Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling
24-hour free counselling and support for you and your family
Phone: 1800 011 046

ADF Mental Health All-hours Support Line 
Confidential 24-hour telephone service for ADF members and their families
Phone: 1800 628 036

  • Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14
    Free support services if you are in crisis and need to talk to someone

National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service.
Phone: 1800 737 732

Homelessness support

We can support you if you are homeless or risk becoming homeless. We will:

  • connect you with homelessness services in your local area
  • check you are receiving relevant DVA support
  • provide you with personal case management if it’s needed.

You can call us on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372) between 8 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday.

Open Arms Crisis Accommodation Support (CAS) aims to provide crisis accommodation to eligible Open Arms clients who require access to alternative, short-term accommodation in addition to mental health support.

The client requesting CAS will need to be engaged with Care Coordination through Open Arms.  Care Coordination aims to work with the client to address issues that contributed to the crisis.  Where required and appropriate, the client will be referred to external services for specific supports such as linkage to the housing and homelessness sector.

Access may be up to 3 nights, depending on individual circumstances.

To be eligible for assistance under this program, the person must be an eligible Open Arms client in a crisis situation, and

  • All alternative options have been exhausted and the person has no other means to fund the crisis accommodation;
  • Be engaged in Open Arms Care Coordination;
  • Is able to self-manage in the accommodation safely; and
  • Agrees to engage with Open Arms follow up support, including Care Coordination.

Phone: 1800 011 046

Managing PTSD

PTSD is a psychological disorder people may develop after experiencing traumatic events. Veterans generally experience PTSD at higher rates than the general population. You may develop PTSD as a result of critical incidents experienced during your military service.

Following trauma, it’s normal to feel some distress or change to your usual range of emotions and reactions. Most people recover within a few weeks with support from family, friends, or through formal debriefing. If these feelings continue for over a month, it might mean you are experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder.

The main symptoms of PTSD are:

  • avoiding activities, places, people, thoughts or feelings associated with the traumatic event
  • having negative or unwanted thoughts or feelings that make you feel flat, numb, afraid or angry
  • feeling alert or wound-up, making it hard to sleep or concentrate
  • re-experiencing the traumatic event through unwanted recurring memories or vivid nightmares.

DVA provides veterans with access to fully funded treatment of all mental health conditions. This means you do not have to pay for your mental health treatment for as long as it is needed. You do not need to prove that your ADF service caused these conditions. We may cover these costs through Non-Liability Health Care (NLHC).

The two best places to start are your GP and Open Arms.

Your GP will talk with you to gain an understanding of what you have been experiencing. They will help you decide what treatment is best for you. They can refer you to a mental health professional or a trauma recovery program. They can prescribe medications if needed.

You can also touch base with Open Arms. Their staff understand veteran and military culture. They provide a range of specialised services:

  • 24-hour free confidential, professional counselling
  • peer support
  • group treatment programs and workshops
  • suicide prevention and resilience training
  • crisis accommodation support

Visit the Open Arms website or call 1800 011 046

If you’re supporting a family member who’s living with PTSD, you can get help for yourself through Open Arms.

They can provide free confidential counselling to help you understand and better support your veteran family member. They can also help you to look after your own mental health and wellbeing.

Visit the Open Arms website or call 1800 011 046

Support for someone else

When you are worried about someone you care about, a partner, friend or family member it is sometimes hard to know how to offer them help.  You may have noticed they are feeling hopeless or you may have identified some signs of suicide. For immediate help when life may be in danger, call 000.

Offering help

It can be difficult to ask the hard question ‘Are you thinking of suicide?’ but you might be the only person who asks. It is important to offer them help, but equally important to look after yourself. 

If you decide to offer help to someone here are some suggestions that might help:

  1. Plan to talk and listen. Plan a time to talk without interruptions. Listen to him or her without judgement and reassure them that you care.
  2. Be direct. Ask ‘Are you thinking of suicide?’, ‘Are you thinking of killing yourself?’ or ‘Are you thinking of ending your life?’. It is a myth that you put the idea into someone’s head by asking this. It can be hard to ask this question when you are face to face with someone you care about so it would help to practice saying these words so you are prepared when you need to have the conversation. Asking them directly can lead to getting them the help they need.
  3. Be strong. Do not leave the person at risk alone or promise not to tell anyone that they are having suicidal thoughts.
  4. Choose a support person together. Jointly choose an appropriate support person – this might be a doctor or Open Arms counsellor – and offer to make and take them to an appointment.
  5. Look after yourself. Remember to look after yourself and seek help for yourself if needed.
  6. Find out more. Learn more about suicide prevention and how to protect yourself against suicide.