The success of new veterans' support groups such as Soldier On, Mates for Mates and Walking Wounded doesn't mean Defence and the Department of Veterans Affairs aren't doing their jobs a former chief of army has said.
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Founded in Canberra in 2012, Soldier On has gone from helping 200 people in 2013 to 300 a month nationwide this year.
Thousands of ADF members have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress syndrome since 2000 and it is feared dozens will commit suicide this year.
Professor Peter Leahy, a former chief of army and chairman of the Soldier On board, said some veterans were reluctant to seek help through the ADF and the DVA.
"People are looking for options and it is good to be able to offer options," he said.
Professor Leahy, now an an academic at the University of Canberra, said Soldier On complemented the established bureaucracy and did what it could to bring clients back into the DVA support network.
Defence and the DVA have been accused of losing the trust of veterans with some saying they did not believe the ADF was committed to getting to the bottom of post traumatic stress syndrome and ex-service suicides.
Vice chief of defence force, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, agreed there was a trust issue but said Defence and the DVA were more flexible than they had ever been.
"People don't want to deal with DVA for (many) reasons," he said. "Part of it is mythology, part of it is hearing (about) bad experiences from others and part of it is some people will never go and seek assistance."
Soldier On is independent of Government and is not a part of the RSL, Legacy or the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It works to "plug the gaps" in the support available for wounded serving and ex-serving defence personnel.
Professor Leahy said close working relationships between Defence, DVA and the independent support agencies demonstrated the commitment within the ADF senior leadership to help.
Admiral Griggs rejected the suggestion by one PTSD sufferer "top brass is trying to screw veterans out of their entitlements".
"(I know) a lot of people think that is what we do," he said. (They say) top brass are too detached from it, (that) they don't care. They are all easy rocks to throw and you've just got let them bounce off you."
The VCDF, who experienced putting people into harm's way when he commanded HMAS Arunta off the Iraqi coast in 2002, said all the service chiefs had command experience and knew what veterans faced.
"(You learn) that without your troops the ADF just doesn't exist," he said. "When you see ordinary, everyday Australians doing the things they do, day in, day out, in really challenging circumstances you can't feel anything but admiration.
"Yes, they misbehave and cause you grief in other ways but... they are pretty inspiring."
Because Soldier On and its peers were easier to access than Government bureaucracy they could catch people who "fell through the cracks" Admiral Griggs and Professor Leahy said.
"(Organisations like Soldier On and Wounded Wounded) provide an inherently more personal experience... than dealing with the bureaucracy," Admiral Griggs said.
"Any organisation (such as DVA) that spends public money has to have guidelines and criteria around how it is spent... there are always going to be cases that fall across the line or don't fall across the line. More of the criticism seems to be about how the cut-off is implemented than anything else."
That said, as of July 2014 DVA has been paying for the treatment of any defence member (current or former) with more than three years service who has been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse or substance abuse disorders.
