Former navy chaplain Mel Baker was often at the front line of trauma. She helped soldiers battling with suicidal thoughts, led a funeral service for a sailor who had taken his own life and helped soldiers grieve when they lost friends in battle or to suicide.

But when Baker became suicidal after being bullied, threatened and sexually assaulted, she said her trauma was dismissed by the Australian Defence Force.

“The system was broken … it was not there to protect sailors,” she said. “Disclosure of suicidal thoughts could end your career.”

Baker was the only female chaplain in the Navy and the only chaplain in the history of the Royal Australian Navy to be posted to a submarine at the time, in 2013.

She said that she experienced bullying and harassment from a colleague known for poor beh

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