Federal Government commitment to The Oasis Townsville - Operation NAVIGATOR

At the last Federal election, Labor committed to funding The Oasis Townsville’s Operation NAVIGATOR – a three-year pilot to support the preparation of life-plans for serving veterans early in their careers. This is a recommendation of the Productivity Commission (2019) and the Interim Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention (2021). It has also been raised to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (2022). It is a fundamental lesson from the National Suicide Prevention Trial for Veterans and Families – Operation COMPASS.

An organisation outside Defence must provide this planning support. These life-plans are about the whole person and their family and their community, not just about their career in the ADF. Importantly the planning will support decision-making for the day they and their family depart the ADF. The 18 Veteran and Family Hubs being rolled out by the Government, like The Oasis Townsville, will be with the individuals and their families during the transition out of the ADF and for the long haul in the community, well after they have left the ADF.

The Oasis Townsville serves everyone who serves now or has served in the ADF and their families and their closest friends. It provides a ‘home base' for the veteran community in Townsville to conduct meetings, activities, events – or just coffee. It is also a single-front-door for any support a member of our veteran community (serving (more than one-day) and ex-serving) might require, for which we refer to the best veteran-friendly services in Townsville.

Our operations focus on three requirements for happiness. The first is connections. No one who has been personally involved in the mental health crisis and suicide prevention disputes that connections with family, friends and colleagues are paramount. This is the most important lesson from Operation COMPASS. Our mission is to create a connected community that is resilient and thriving. The second is about a job, owning a business or volunteering – something to do. The feeling of being valued, contributing, and personal and social identity is central to what we aim to achieve at The Oasis Townsville. The third is the key and most intangible – having a plan.

Immanuel Kant called it “someone to love, something to do and something to look forward to”.

Goals and action plans are central to having something to look forward to. A bit of guidance from a coach who has lived the experience of ADF, and has transitioned successfully, is most likely to offer a sense of confidence about the future. A simple set of goals for three, five and ten years and a few well-thought-out actions to support their achievement will help individuals feel more assured about their future. As all good planners know, the plan is not likely to pan out exactly, but the thought that went into devising it helps make better choices about options as they arise. Feeling confident about how to respond to life events significantly contributes to maintaining good mental health. Central to good mental health is understanding what the future can hold and what can be done to prepare for those possibilities.

Operation NAVIGATOR intends to develop an understanding of the people, processes and tools needed to support soldiers, sailors and aviators posted to Townsville for their first posting after completing Service and corps/branch ab initio training to establish life goals. The intent is to give them a sense of what life will likely be like when they transition out and what they can do to make that a soft landing in the civil community. It is not about commencing transition early, but it is about preparing for the eventuality. We know that for most servicemen and women, their ADF service will last less than 10 years.

The goal for the veteran and family hubs and the planning to be piloted on Operation NAVIGATOR is to create a resilient veteran community. We want to be able to get past the need to focus on saving the lives of veterans and their families suffering from mental health problems. We all want a veteran community that is proud of its achievements and actively supports the communities they re-join after ADF service. The most significant issue to be addressed, widely recognised by the veteran community, is where those mental health problems are associated with a poorly thought through or prepared for transition.

Operation NAVIGATOR will establish the formula for how veterans and their families can best prepare for the inevitable transition back to their civilian communities for the rest of their lives.?