The transition from military to civilian life is a significant event, not just for the member but the whole family. 

The reasons for leaving the Australian Defence Force (ADF) can be varied. The difference between an involuntary and voluntary transition can affect the flow of the process – and emotions – for members and their families. 

The transition process can impact many elements of your life. These changes can be both positive or negative including on your finances, career, education, relationships, housing, health and wellbeing. 

There is a fair amount of support given directly to members during the separation journey; however, this isn’t always the case for the families who have supported their service, often at the detriment of their own careers, education, health and personal relationships. 

Our Advocacy Around Family Transition

From our interactions with Defence families, we know they often feel invisible during and after transition. Some families have even expressed disappointment at the lack of acknowledgement for the sacrifices they have made to support Defence capability. 

For this reason, this post focuses on families as a whole. Our team works towards advocacy goals that improve the transition for the entire family unit. 

The DFA team also draws from personal experience with a number of our team having experienced the transition process themselves – from a transition and subsequent re-enlistment, to both voluntary and medical transition.

This hasn’t always meant the end of service though with some of us having our family member join the Reserves and others keeping their ties to Defence through contributing to member wellbeing programs.

Image: DFA 2022 Family Photography Project

DFA has advocated for Defence Transition meetings with a transitioning member to factor in the whole family’s transition. This includes taking into account the family’s feelings about transition, ensuring they are prepared for key changes and following up to see how they are doing down track, and not just the member. 

Some of our other actions have included:

• Requesting Defence Member and Family Support (DMFS) review and reform transition resources to factor in the whole family’s transition, not just the member. 
• Advocating for DMFS to offer childminding support and a child-friendly environment to increase family participation in transition seminars. 
• Advising DMFS on direct feedback processes to drive ongoing improvement of transition services relating to families.
• Confirming the Defence Force Transition Program (DFTP) process to ask all members who they would like to bring to their meetings with a transition coach i.e. spouse, family member or other support person. 

We hope this blog post will help encourage your family to view this process holistically and as another exciting life experience together.

Benefits for Families Who Transition

At this stage of your transition journey, families may feel nervous about what lies ahead. Here are a number of benefits you can expect once your loved one in uniforms transitions out of the ADF:

Stability On the Home Front

Transitioning from Defence can offer significant benefits for Defence families, particularly in terms of stability and continuity in their living arrangements. 

The frequent residential relocations required by military service can often be disruptive for families and may contribute to decisions to leave the service altogether. 

Research by Atkins et al. (2014) suggests that such relocations are key factors influencing service personnel’s choices regarding their careers. 

However, after leaving service, families experience a notable shift towards stability in their living situations, with two-thirds of them never moving or only moving once since their transition. 

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Education

Another benefit is that children find greater consistency in their schooling environments post-service. 

During their parents’ military careers, children often move schools frequently, with 17% attending three schools and 44% attending four or more schools, as noted in the Family Wellbeing Study. 

However, after their parent/s separation from the ADF, the majority of children experienced significantly fewer school moves. More than half of children did not change schools at all, while 38% moved only once. 

This newfound stability in children’s schooling environments following their parent’s exit from service highlights one of the key benefits of transitioning from Defence service for families. It can provide them with a sense of continuity and stability that may have been lacking during their military tenure.

For older children and even partners themselves, this period affords them the time to pursue further education and complete placements if required.

Career

For family members, the departure from Defence may provide the opportunity for their career to take the lead. The regular movements of a Defence family often make it difficult to maintain long-term employment and experience career progression. 

Transition can be an opportunity to take the skills learned during your time as a service family to find meaningful, engaging, long-term employment aligned with your skills and values. 

It also offers the opportunity to families to build long-service leave, strong local professional networks, and unlock other leadership or volunteering opportunities for a meaningful cause.

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Freedom and Flexibility

Separating from the ADF often provides more freedom to do or plan for things that may have been put off during time in service. 

This might include that long-awaited overseas holiday, ‘bucket list’ items like caravanning across the country, growing a beard (for the Army folk), or decorating your home in a way that brings joy to all its occupants.

Personal Relationships

Some members and their families experience a positive change in their relationship once the member transitions out. Families can feel relieved that there will be no more deployments or exercises, or if their member is still in the Reserves, a lower tempo.

For younger members, this could also be a time to think about starting a family; for older members, this could be a time to enjoy getting to know your children or grandchildren.

Did you know?
You may be able to apply to extend your DHA tenancy in a service residence (at market rent rates) post transition. There are also options for relocating into an RA property in advance of your discharge date.

More information
– DHA tenancy: https://www.dha.gov.au/housing/forms
– Transition location removals and housing: https://pay-conditions.defence.gov.au/transition-permanent-forces-or-reserves

Challenges Faced by Families in Transition

While many families experience transition positively, others may find it additionally challenging, which may be linked to their current life circumstances.

For some, the loss of a sense of purpose or belonging or the inability to regulate their emotions may see them choosing unhealthy coping mechanisms. This could lead to low moods and result in a dependency on alcohol and other drugs, or risky behaviours such as gambling. 

Financial Hardship

Transitioning from the Defence Force into civilian life poses numerous challenges, with one of the most pressing being secure employment. This can affect the veteran and also have profound implications for their families, leading to financial strain and heightened stress levels. 

Recent research has suggested that after transition many families found it challenging to navigate changes to their cost of living and civilian financial systems

For members who joined straight out of school at 17, we hear feedback about the potential lack of experience of ‘real life’ such as housing, healthcare, finances and employment. 

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According to the Family Wellbeing Study families of ex-serving members often face hurdles such as not being able to pay the mortgage or rent on time, and mounting credit card or bank debt. Additionally, some find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to request financial assistance from friends, family, or community organisations, while others struggle to pay essential bills like electricity, gas, or telephone bills on time.

For those awaiting benefits or pension payments, there is the added concern of how long these will take to be processed and how the family will survive financially until they do.

It’s important to remember…
there are resources available to assist your Defence family with financial aid, education and counseling. Some of these include:
– Bravery Trust 
– The ADF Financial Services Consumer Centre

Personal Relationships 

The transition from the Defence force can also strain couple relationships. 

Ex-serving members may struggle with regulating their emotions, particularly anger, or they may withdraw emotionally from family life, creating tension within their relationships. 

This can be exacerbated when individuals grapple with ongoing mental health issues. 

Such emotional instability and detachment can place significant strain on couples, leading to communication breakdowns, increased conflict, and feelings of isolation. 

Families may also be challenged by role renegotiation as family roles change e.g. the amount of time the member is at home. Families have often learnt to adapt their home routines and roles to accommodate service needs. 

On the one hand, sharing the load on things like budget, childcare and meal preparation may feel great, but you may also experience a loss of control over how things have been done. 

Additionally, you may expect your partner to now take on more of these responsibilities while you focus on career, study or personal goals, and they may not be prepared for this change. 

If you are finding that the transition process has created stress in your relationship, remember there are supports you can lean into, including: 

☎️1800 RESPECT – National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service
☎️Relationships Australia- 1300 364 277
☎️Lifeline – 13 11 14
☎️1800 VETERAN- Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Health and Wellbeing 

The period following exit from service is recognised as a particularly stressful time for ex-serving members and their families, as noted in studies by Berle & Steele (2015) and Hachey et al. (2016). 

Consequently, family members may be especially vulnerable to poor mental health or risk-taking behaviours during this transition. 

While the research indicates that partners of ex-serving members who experience mental health issues exhibit levels of distress similar to those observed among partners of current serving ADF members, this highlights the significant stressors associated with both military service and the transition to civilian life.

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Moreover, as documented in the Family Wellbeing Study certain indicators, such as suicidal thoughts (18% compared to 11%), illicit drug use (4% compared to 1%), and gambling (34% compared to 28%), suggest some heightened challenges among partners of ex-serving ADF members. 

Recent research has suggested that families facing mental and or physical health challenges in transition reported mixed experiences with support with some feeling abandoned and others finding supports and services helpful. 

Some of these sources of support available to veterans and their families include:

– Buddy Up Australia
– Kookaburra Kids

In summary

We acknowledge that while for most families, the transition goes well and is a positive change, for some transition can present challenges. 

DFA will continue to advocate for families in transition to ensure they are adequately supported for the move to civilian life.

We have also collated a number of resources to help with the transition process in our blog.

If you or a family member needs wellbeing support at any time during the transition process, you can access support and assistance from: 

• Defence All Hours Support Line: 1800 628 036 
• Defence Member and Family Helpline: 1800 624 608 
• Open Arms: 1800 011 046

Feature Image: Piotrekswat/Canva

Atkins, S., Beach, R., Green, R., Newman, J., Raad, D., Valle, J., & Walters, J. (2014). 2012 Australian Defence Force Families Survey report. Canberra: Directorate of Strategic People Research, Department of Defence.
Berle, D., & Steel, A. (2015). Families of returned defence force personnel: A changing landscape of challenges. Australasian Psychiatry, 1–4.
Hachey, K. K., Sudom, K., Sweet, J., MacLean, M. B., & VanTil, L. D. (2016). Transitioning from military to civilian life: The role of mastery and social support. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, 2(1), 9–17.