If one of our members does have a mental health condition and they are receiving help for it, and if we actually know about their mental health condition in defence, then we can alert the chain of command so that the member may not go on operational deployment. It just depends on the seriousness of their condition. If they have been treated in the past for a mental health condition and they are now better, then the doctor makes a determination as to whether they are able to be deployed.
We are very sensitive about these sorts of things. We don't want to send a member on deployment if they've only just recently recovered from a mental health condition and deployment could cause them to have a relapse of their problem. We've very careful about these sorts of things.
Normally a member who does have a mental health condition is assessed by the doctor. Everyone who goes on deployment needs to have a pre-deployment medical, so if a member has a disclosed mental health condition, that would be discussed with the doctor. Unfortunately--and I'm not sure if this is the same in your military--there are a number of our members who, if they have a mental health condition, may not come forward to ADF mental health professionals, such as psychologists or doctors. They may go outside defence and seek help for their condition outside, so we won't have any knowledge of their mental health conditions. A member like that, who is being treated by someone outside defence, could potentially go on deployment, and we would have no visibility of their problem. Their mental health issue may flare up in the operational theatre, and then we would have to bring them back home to Australia. That is an issue for us.