The following proposal was put together by Paul Patti, a
retired senior Army Officer and now Canberra-based veteran advocate and
business owner. His proposal is that the Rural Fire Service be used to provide
a sense of community and mental health support to ex-serving personnel.
The ADF community is culturally diverse and physiologically
profiled as a group that needs firm, confident tribe and family leadership
towards treatment. The ADF community is a service-oriented structure and former
members comment on the significant personal security they derive from this. My
working hypothesis therefore is that mental health support could most
effectively be delivered by an organisation that is compatible with this
service orientation. The Australian Rural Fire Service (RFS) is a nationally-based
service-oriented structure that has credibility akin to the ADF and surety of
ongoing relevance in the Australian community. The RFS has a depth of
membership roles mirroring the ADF, is mentored, and lead by a mature,
effective and action-oriented leadership. The RFS has an embedded mental health
support and counselling action plan in place which has been tested and shown to
be successful, has funding in place, and is regionally delivered. All the
elements of a compatible culture are present, including the service orientation
of the RFS, its real world community mission, and pre-existing mental health
action plan.
As veterans recover, they could be invited to join their
local RFS unit in a capacity that serves their community. There are obvious benefits
for both parties within this proposal. The RFS gains a highly-skilled,
motivated and loyal membership, while veterans gain an accessible treatment
source, membership of a new tribe with a real world focus and mission.
Additional benefits include:
- budget neutral
- not just a health solution—a whole-of-community solution
-
fast-acting
- long-term
- nationally effective and
- potential for bi-partisan support.