Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024
6 November 2024
The welfare of veterans and defence personnel is of the utmost importance to our Albanese government. In opposition, we fought for the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and, in government, we have acted on every single recommendation. Current and former ADF members and their families must be supported when they are engaging with the network of government services, local services and advocacy organisations that are available to them, and one of the overriding observations and recommendations out of the royal commission was the system was just far too complicated. I want to personally thank the minister, Matt Keogh, for working on this. It has been an effort to get this system simplified and to take meaningful action for our veterans.
This legislation will simplify our veteran rehabilitation and compensation system. We know the current system is so complicated. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide found that the current system of veteran benefits and support is 'so complicated it adversely affects the mental health of some veterans and can be a contributing factor to suicidality'. That is shocking. The royal commission received over 5,800 submissions from serving and ex-serving ADF personnel, their families and friends. In fact, the most common themes from the submissions to the royal commission were regarding suicidality—suicidal behaviour, mental illness and the mental health support and response network provided by the ADF.
The final report delivered by the royal commission was a disturbing read to say the least, but we have acted on it. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was announced on 19 April 2021 following tireless advocacy from families of military personnel who had taken their own lives. The goal of this royal commission was to reflect on the standards we expect from our military personnel and investigate how we can make it better and move forward—how we could take real action. I am proud to be part of a government that has done such a thing.
Overall, the veterans policies, structures and practices needed to be reformed. This message has been received loud and clear by our government, and we are working on better outcomes,. We are delivering better outcomes for our veterans. A career in the military positions an individual as someone with a unique place in our society. Their service is built on hard work, and they are there to get the job done for all of us. There are currently 89,395 current serving permanent and reserve members of the ADF across the three services, the Navy, the Army and the Royal Australian Air Force, with over 6,000 Australians enlisting every year, and we need more people to be enlisting. We are on a drive to encourage the best and brightest Australians to sign up to serve their country. We have to make it better for them when they finish their service, and that is what our government is seeking to do.
Even during times of peace, conditions for those in service are designed to be high-risk, with Defence stating that almost every aspect of uniform life comes with a risk or cost to the member and/or their families. We recognise this. We know we have to reward them for their service and we absolutely get that we have to look after them as veterans. That risk that our people in uniform take on is not lost to me in a personal or professional capacity, as I acknowledge that today is the eight-month anniversary of the passing of Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, who was injured and subsequently died on this day eight months ago. I spent the morning with his father, Joel Fitzgibbon, a former defence minister who served his country in this place for 25 years. Today marks eight months since Jack passed, so we understand what it is like to have a child serve in the ADF and lose them. We do not want to lose good, young Australian people because of how they have been treated as veterans. That is the message as well.
We have to acknowledge the strength and selflessness that individuals give in order to protect our nation and highlight the work they do to ensure we all live a free life that we do today, and I thank them for their service. There are so many positives to working in the ADF and that was recognised throughout the findings of the royal commission. People spoke about great friendships, about feeling as though they belonged to something greater than themselves and of course providing service to our nation, and we cannot lose that. Veterans have already been through such unique life experiences that we have to make sure we are looking after them and that is what this government wants to do. It's why we are proposing a new system of process and administration for DVA.
The bill will make it easier for veterans and their families to know what they're entitled to, make it easier for veterans claims advocates to assist veterans and make it easier for those families with claims to be assisted as well. It will make it quicker for DVA to process claims so that veterans and families get the benefits they need and deserve in a timely way. We want it to be easier and fairer for veterans to get the support that they are legally and, quite frankly, morally entitled to.
I also want to send a big warm shout-out to those advocates who work in my electorate of Paterson. They are incredible people who work with our veterans to help them navigate the process, and we want to make it easier for those advocates as well. These reforms are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We have evidence of a system that has let too many individuals and their families down, and we know that the system has moved people towards taking drastic action. We can't continue that. We need to act. That is what we are doing, and that's why we want to make it easier for veterans and their families to receive the benefits and support that they need.
Under these reforms we are making sure that no veteran will see a reduction in their benefits, whilst also delivering support that provides quicker resolutions for them. Over time the proposed changes will make it easier for veterans and families to understand their entitlements, make it easier for advocates to support DVA claims and make it faster for DVA to process claims so that veterans and families receive the benefits and supports they need and deserve more quickly. That's why we've employed more than 600 people to try and work through those thousands of claims that were backlogged. We have moved through those, and now we want to continue with the progress.
I want to thank the advocates who work at places like East Maitland, in my electorate. We've invested over $40 million across the country to build veterans hubs, and we're getting one in my seat of Paterson, at East Maitland, which I've just mentioned. The hubs are going to be delivered in consultation with veterans communities, and I had the great pleasure of going to an information session about the Paterson hub that will be built in East Maitland. We were able to secure $5 million to build a veteran and family hub in East Maitland. I've seen the plans; they look absolutely magnificent. The hub is going to be on the current site of the East Maitland RSL sub-Branch. They are going to incorporate the history of that magnificent sub-branch whilst also building a brand new pavilion off the sub-branch that is going to incorporate the hub where veterans and serving defence personnel—and their families, importantly—will be able to go and receive an enormous array of supports and services, not only in relation to veterans claims but also in relation to family activities. I know this is going to be a great place not only to honour our veterans but also to support our serving personnel—people that serve at not only RAAF Base Williamtown, in my seat, but also Singleton Army base, which is not very far away at all. It's going to be a real central hub for people to be able to come together. I can't wait for that to open. I've seen the plans; they look gorgeous. It really will be an exciting space for veterans, serving personnel and their families.
Veterans and defence personnel have such a unique set of lifestyle and, quite frankly, work factors at play all the time. We need to make sure that access to rehabilitation and compensation entitlements is clear and that the needs of the veteran community and serving personnel community are met. Support at our local veterans hub will include physical and mental health services, wellbeing support, advocacy, employment and housing advice, and social connection. It's going to be a one-stop shop for local veterans services that will make a clear, definite and immediate impact on these communities and on my community, which I'm so pleased about.
I can officially let you know that earlier this year I was pleased to be joined by the member for Burt and the minister as we announced the Hunter region veterans hub that will now be built in East Maitland. It's a really exciting development. Incidentally, my seat of Paterson is home to 7,200 veterans, one of the highest numbers in New South Wales. I am very much looking forward to seeing them receive the support and services that they need at this hub.
In closing I just want to congratulate RSL LifeCare, who were successful in tendering for our veterans hub. It was wonderful to join with them just last week to look over the architect's designs and the plans and join with veterans in my seat to talk about how the hub would work for them and what they wanted to see in the hub. I think this is one of the most important things. Talking about this legislation, we're talking to veterans about what they need and about how we can serve them better after they've finished serving our nation. Using a hub-and-spoke model, we're going to connect the RSL sub-branches across the region at East Maitland to provide these very important and holistic services to support veterans, serving personnel and their families. Throughout my time working for the people of Paterson, I've had the great honour of meeting many incredible defence personnel and veterans who have dedicated their lives to keeping us safe. It continues to be a major passion of my life to support them. I couldn't be prouder to be part of a government that is taking this issue of supporting our veterans so seriously. I commend this bill wholeheartedly to the House.
