Deborah’s story: Standing up to turn the tide for veteran suicide

Deborah McKenna recalls a one-time happy childhood with loving parents and three brothers. But when her Dad returned from serving his country in the Vietnam War, he was traumatised and in desperate need of support from the Australian Defence Force. When Deborah was 13, her family life ended. Here’s what happened next and how Deborah is pursuing justice for families impacted by war trauma. 

The family impact of veteran suicide 

Deborah McKenner’s father John was a decorated solider with the Australian Defence Force. He dedicated his life – and his family’s life – to military service. He served as a warrant officer in Vietnam. Mr McKenner’s war service meant he – and his family – lived with trauma. 

Discharged with no psychiatric or emotional conditions, Mr McKenner later sought help from the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 1980.  

Mr McKenner’s family made repeated calls for help from the Australian Defence Force and warned about his rapidly deteriorating mental state. 

Tragically in 1982 while Deborah McKenner was at school, her Dad killed her Mum and then himself. Eight days later, Deborah and her brothers were moved to orphanages and grew up apart. At the time, she was 13 and her brothers were 10, 14 and 15. 

Veterans and PTSD, Veteran suicide 

Forty years after her parents’ deaths, Deborah McKenner bravely gave evidence to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Deborah was supported by Shine Lawyers’ Chief Legal Officer Lisa Flynn, who she met in 2018. She was encouraged by Lisa’s advice that pursuing justice, “would be hard, but it won’t be impossible.” These simple words gave Deborah the strength to pursue litigation and led her to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to impact change for families affected by war. 

Deborah’s submissions shared the impact that veteran suicide had had on her family. If there was appropriate help for veterans with PTSD, John McKenner and Lorraine McKenner may have lived to parent their children into adulthood. Instead, Deborah’s family unit was torn apart, with Deb and her siblings unfairly left to live with the impact of war trauma, without acknowledgement or support from the Australian government. 

Image supplied by Deborah McKenner

Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide 

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide began in July 2021. It was established to investigate the high rate of veteran suicide and make recommendations to the Australian government. It conducted several public and private hearings for serving and ex-serving members, their families and supporters. 

Our client Deborah McKenner gave evidence of her lived experience to the Commission. Part of Deborah’s evidence to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was: 

A solider may receive the pay cheque, only in the Australian Defence Force the whole family is employed by the Government. It’s our family lifestyle, our legacy.

(quoted in page 10 of the Interim Report). 

The Commission handed down its Final Report in September 2024 and made 122 much-needed recommendations for improved health and wellbeing outcomes for Australia’s serving and ex-serving defence personnel, including to save lives. 

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide Final Report acknowledged that though “suicide and suicidality in a military context are extremely complex,” “suicide ... must be viewed as preventable.”   

Transition to civillian life 

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide report included a recommendation that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs “take responsibility for supporting members to transition out of the Australian Defence Force” and into civillian life. It recommended a new agency be established to carefully support this transition.  

Family members should not be left to provide emotional and mental health support to either serving or ex-military members. Nor should orphaned children be left to deal with the lifetime ripple effect caused by the trauma of veteran suicide. 

Deborah McKenner has bravely shared her family’s story. She has lived with guilt and ‘what ifs’ for her lifetime when they should not have been hers to carry. We are proud to stand by Deb and hope her story is a catalyst for change for Australia’s serving and ex-serving military members and their families.