Enhancing wellbeing amongst partners of current serving military personnel is a growing area of interest and concern. As a direct result of their military connection, partners of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel experience unique challenges compared to those faced by the broader civilian community, including impacts on their physical health and wellbeing.

This study investigated the wellbeing of partners of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel, addressing a critical gap in understanding the unique challenges faced by military-connected families. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, we combined quantitative survey data from 444 ADF partners with insights from 31 semi-structured qualitative interviews.

Our findings reveal that both general and military-specific factors contribute significantly to partner wellbeing. Notably, external factors emerged as the strongest predictors of wellbeing scores. Social support in the current location and achieving desired employment status were identified as the most crucial protective factors. Conversely, the impact of COVID-19, older age of the partner, and lower rank of the serving member were associated with lower wellbeing scores.

Unexpectedly, factors traditionally considered stressful in military life, such as deployments and relocations, did not show significant associations with wellbeing in our quantitative analysis. However, qualitative interviews provided nuanced insights into how these factors interact with social support and employment opportunities to influence overall wellbeing.

These findings have important implications for policy development and support programme design within the ADF and similar organisations globally. By addressing the unique needs of military partners, we can enhance overall family wellbeing and potentially improve retention rates within the armed forces.

Presentation Key Learnings:
1. Social support and employment satisfaction are critical targets for interventions aimed at improving ADF partner wellbeing.

2. The impact of military-specific stressors (e.g., deployments, relocations) may be mediated by other factors such as social support and employment opportunities.

3. Partners of senior non-commissioned officers and older partners may be particularly vulnerable to wellbeing challenges, necessitating targeted support strategies.