In past weeks, iQ has been looking at the similarities between the mining industry and the Australian Defence Force in terms of managing stresses on personnel.

This week we look at the primary relationship between the staff member and families, not only when they’re away, but when they return from onsite.

How does Defence manage it?

Time apart due to deployments, training or other service requirements is an integral feature of Defence life.

Defence seeks to inform and prepare families for these times and provide support to make these experiences manageable, positive and strengthening by providing information and resources to familiarise families with what they might expect from each stage of deployment.

The resources offer practical guidance for each stage, such as outlining administration to carry out pre‑deployment, different ways of communicating with the deployed family member and hints and tips to readjust as a family when the member returns.

Defence provides regular deployment support calls for families that opt-in to receive them, 24-hour advice and referrals, social work, and assistance with emergency and crisis, as well as assistance for children dealing with parental absence. The member’s unit is also there to help and will run programs of support for families.

By being informed, preparing and planning, and employing coping strategies, both children and adults can use the challenge of deployment as an opportunity to step up and face new responsibilities, mature and grow, and develop their self-reliance and self-confidence.

The individual’s mental and social health is just as important to their overall wellbeing as their physical health.

Defence can assist families to find help when things get too much or they need guidance and referral and the website provides information about maintaining mental health and wellbeing during challenging times. 

Defence has a range of services and resources to support partners with their mental health and wellbeing, by assisting them to prepare for challenging times, create effective support networks, and become more resilient and self-reliant. These include such things as:

• the 24/7 Defence Family helpline which is staffed by qualified human services professionals, including social workers and psychologists, who can provide all-hours assessment, assistance and referral for all ADF members and their families
• community groups which help families connect with each other, contribute to their local community and engage in the wider community of Defence and local families
• FamilySMART, a series of group programs that target challenging aspects of Defence life
• face-to-face and online events which are generally relaxed social occasions where families can meet each other and get to know their local area, build community and social networks and gain information about Defence and community-based services.

Families can find all the absence/deployment support information they need in one booklet. The Absence from home support handbook includes information about preparing for absence/deployment, what to expect before, during and after a deployment, and how to access additional support if needed.