Wounded Injured and Ill Diggers' Forum

The Chief of Army (CA) remains committed to the health and welfare of all Army members, regardless of how they have become physically or psychologically wounded, injured or ill.   As part of the Army Support to Wounded, Injured and Ill Program (A-SWIIP), the Army’s Wounded, Injured and Ill Diggers' Forum (commonly known as the Wounded Diggers’ Forum) allows the members from the Army’s wounded, injured and ill community to share their experiences with their peers, service provides and Army’s senior leadership.  

Over the years, the Wounded Diggers’ Forum as covered a range of topics.  These topics include:

• Operational Injuries,
• Rehabilitation and Return to Work,
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,
• Mental Health (particularly Depression), and
• An Army Philosophy of Welling.

Through these forums, CA has been able to implement and/or influence a number of programs and initiatives in support of Army’s wounded, injured and ill community including:

• The Wounded Digger’s Websites (Internet and DRN),
• Extended Transition,
• Improved support to Mental Health,
• Improved support to WII member’s families,
• Improved transition processes and engagement with Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA),
• Revisions to the Commander’s Guide to Mental Health,
• Improvements to Welfare Board processes,
• Improvements to Medical Employment Classification Review Board (MECRB) processes,
• Alignment of Defence and DVA medical assessment processes,
• Improvements to the understanding of Mental Health issues within the Army community,
• The Forces Command Wounded Injured and Ill Tool,
• Member Support Coordinators,
• Soldier Recovery Centres, and
• Transition for Employment (T4E).

For further information on the Wounded, Injured and Ill Diggers' Forum, please send an email to the army.swiip [at] defence.gov.au (A-SWIIP) Team.