By Tess Ikonomou in Canberra

Defence personnel need better health services and stronger protection from sexual violence and toxic behaviour, a royal commission has found.

Veterans should have a smoother transition from military to civilian life and easier access to claims and entitlements.

After an exhaustive three-year investigation, a final report on defence and veteran suicides has been released.

“Just as our veterans and defence personnel step up for our country, we have an obligation to step up for them,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament on Monday.

“The government will thoroughly consider every recommendation.”

The inquiry received almost 6000 submissions and heard from hundreds of witnesses about issues ranging from bullying to abuse in the Australian Defence Force.

Chair Nick Kaldas said a failure of leadership led to the countless inquiries beforehand not being acted on.

“What is clear from some of the horrible stories that we’ve heard is that many people simply turned a blind eye over many years and felt it was too hard, or they simply didn’t care enough to tackle the problems,” he said.

“We hope that the royal commission has achieved one thing, which is to make the problems undeniable.

“It’s really up to the government and our parliament now … it should not be a political issue, united to help and support our veterans and our serving members.”

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie, who served in the military for more than a decade and called for a royal commission, said “Defence was already on the defensive”.

“If you want to fix things, then you have to be open and honest where your problems are,” she said.

“Otherwise you are never going to fix it, and that is why people are not joining, and that is why they’re leaving in droves.”

Senior officials also gave evidence at the inquiry, including former chief of the defence force Angus Campbell who apologised unreservedly for the military’s failures.

There have been at least 57 previous inquiries relating to Defence and veteran suicide over the past three decades, resulting in about 770 recommendations.

An interim report released in 2023 made 13 urgent recommendations, including eliminating the massive backlog of veteran compensation claims by March 2024.