Royal Commission: Veteran says mental health admission was weaponised against him

A soldier who disclosed his mental health history to a commanding officer says he soon found himself the subject of a “witch hunt” and a bad-faith charge of insubordination that brought his 37 years with the Australian Defence Force to a bitter end. Warrant officer second class Simon Marshall on Wednesday painted a shocking picture of betrayal and bureaucratic incompetence during his testimony at the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and was particularly damning of the organisation’s handling of mental health matters. During his testimony at the wide-reaching inquiry Mr Marshall also shone a light on the poor culture among certain defence training units, detailing a “disgusting” 2012 incident where a junior non-commissioned officer (NCO) stomped on the head of and threatened to murder army reserve recruits. Mr Marshall told the inquiry that he and two other warrant officers made anonymous complaints about the incident to a whistleblower hotline – and not up their chain of command – because of a fear that retaliatory action would be taken against them. “You need to understand that the Defence Force has a hierarchical system, a chain of command,” Mr Marshall said. “The preference is always to go through the chain of command, but sometimes it‘s untenable to go through the chain of command because of various, I guess, bias, or various toxic environments or personalities where we found ourselves in this particular case.” The 54-year-old – who was medically discharged from service in 2019 – told the commission of his own harrowing transition ordeal that ultimately cast a shadow over his long career. Mr Marshall said his own mental health had “yo-yoed” since the mid-90s, necessitating medication and periods of medical attention. This included a period in 2017 that required him to self-admit to the psychiatric unit of a South Australian repatriation hospital. After a seven-week recovery Mr Marshall began his slow return to the workplace with the unwavering support of his chain of command. “I was – to use a term – kicking goals,” Mr Marshall said. But then came January 2018, when a completely new chain of command was installed. Mr Marshall said he proactively approached his new commanding officer to confide in him about his mental health issues and recent stay in hospital, mainly so he could be managed effectively. But instead of compassion, Mr Marshall said the officer weaponised his mental health struggles. “And basically what I can only describe as a witch hunt commenced from that point on,” Mr Marshall said. Mr Marshall said he was summoned to speak with the commanding officer after a minor incident that involved a trainee receiving their pre-course joining instruction slightly late. “Basically, and I‘ll use it nicely, (the commanding officer) ripped into me about how we look like idiots, (saying) ‘this is not good enough, we look ridiculous’,” Mr Marshall said. “And then I went on to say ‘well, I don‘t believe that’s the case, sir. This was a one off incident. It’s been rectified. It won’t happen again’” Mr Marshall said he continued to explain the situation to his commanding officer as a “robust” conversation flowed in front of two other witnesses. Mr Marshall was eventually told to leave the office. The next day he was read a formal caution by his adjutant – who also happened to be his welfare officer – and charged with insubordination. During the following investigation Mr Marshall said he was not given a chance to be interviewed or make a statement. He was later discharged on medical grounds in 2019. “As far as my transition was concerned, I can only describe it as a shambles,” he said. Mr Marshall described the end of his near four decades with the defence force as a bureaucratic mess, during which he was given wrong advice on a number of payments and entitlements and very little support. “Nine times out of ten, everything Defence told me was incorrect. There was that much incompetence and ineptness through that transition process,” Mr Marshall said. “The process needs to be slowed down, taken off the establishment. “You broke ‘em, you help ‘em – it‘s as simple as that.” The inquiry continues on Thursday.mental health factbox