Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to echo the congratulations to Peter Cosgrove on his appointment to Governor-General that were expressed by the member for Riverina. We are very, very pleased as Canberrans to be welcoming him to Yarralumla. He and his family have had a very long connection to Canberra. In fact, my late mother-in-law taught his children at a Catholic primary school on the north side of Canberra. He has had a very long connection to Canberra, and we very much look forward to welcoming him to Yarralumla. Again, I would like to congratulate Peter Cosgrove on his appointment to Governor-General.

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this bill tonight, because this amendment was first introduced under Labor in 2012, by my colleague the member for Lingiari, who was then the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. The amendments contained in this bill will update and improve the operation of many aspects of the existing veterans affairs legislation.

One of the changes made in this bill is to clarify arrangements for the payment of travel expenses for medical treatment for veterans and their carers. The bill makes it clear that travel undertaken for medical treatment can be approved by Veterans' Affairs either before or after the travel is undertaken, removing the pressure on veterans to get their travel approved in advance of their treatment. Deputy Speaker, as I am sure you can imagine, in the lead-up to medical treatment, a person often has higher priorities than travel approvals. In 2012-13, the DVA processed over 165,000 claims for reimbursement for travel expenses for treatment purposes. This change will be welcomed by those veterans and their families. Other changes include replacing obsolete references and repealing redundant definitions that currently exist in this legislation.

Although the amendments in the bill will primarily give effect to relatively minor measures and technicalities, it is, nonetheless, an important bill. It is important because the role of government in supporting veterans is important. The government has a fundamental role in maintaining and enhancing the wellbeing—be it physical, financial or emotional—of veterans and their families. It is also the role of government to be the leader in acknowledging and commemorating those who served Australia and its allies in wars, conflicts and peace operations and to preserve Australia's wartime legacy.

I would like to echo the sentiments that were expressed by my colleague the member for Riverina on the Anzac Centenary grants. I am very much looking forward to meeting with my panel later this month. I have just appointed the judging panel to assess the applications for those grants. The Canberra community has been keen in making many applications for those grants. I encourage Canberrans to make more applications. We have had applications from a wide variety of groups and community organisations. I particular encourage Canberra schools to get on board on this project. It gives them the opportunity to commemorate our efforts in World War I. As the member for Riverina said, $125,000 in grants will be spread across the electorate of Canberra, to a variety of groups. I encourage RSLs, community organisations and schools to get involved in this program and to make applications. I have appointed a terrific panel, which will be meeting later this month. The panel is drawn from Defence; the ADF; the war widows; and the junior cadets, the youth development organisation. I have historians and a range of people on the panel and I am very much looking forward to meeting them later this month.

My father-in-law is a Vietnam veteran and, by all accounts, came home a changed man. So I know a little about the unique challenges faced by veterans and their families, and I want to talk about some of those challenges today. Some of you may have read the Fairfax feature on post-traumatic stress disorder that was published over the weekend, called 'The silent war'. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly suggest you do. The feature, beautifully written by Scott Hannaford, is both a powerful and a sobering insight into the world of returned soldiers, peacekeepers and police officers suffering PTSD. It details the feelings of guilt, from having left friends behind; of grief, from having lost friends and colleagues; of fear, from having witnessed so much horror; and of shock and trauma at the transition from service back to peacetime existence. The feature also serves as a warning to Australia, to our leaders, to our governments and to our people. I quote:

With Australia's decade-long war in Afghanistan coming to an end, all but a handful of the troops are returning home. For most who made it back in time for Christmas it will mean a welcome return to the routines of family life and work. For others, it will mark the start of a new, silent war that they cannot return from, played out in the homes they find themselves unable to leave, medically discharged from the jobs they love in their early 30s, and wracked by night terrors, panic attacks and isolation

Major General John Cantwell, a former Commander of Australian Forces in the Middle East, says of Australia's withdrawal from Afghanistan:

There is a large wave of sadness coming our way, and the system - DVA and Defence - needs to be ready for it. I wonder whether we are?

PTSD is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in Australia. The Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health says that between five and 10 per cent of Australians are likely to experience PTSD in their lives, while up to 12 per cent of serving and ex-serving members will be affected by PTSD in any given year. The Department of Veterans Affairs, or DVA, says that 1,713 veterans of recent conflicts are suffering from PTSD, and that, of those, 955 are veterans of either Afghanistan or Iraq. However, in reality, this number is likely to be much, much higher. Many sufferers develop symptoms years after their service, and many more remain undetected because they never seek the help they need to treat their PTSD. Of Afghanistan, General Cantwell says, 'We have exposed thousands of young and old Australians to some pretty brutal experiences.' He says the numbers of returned soldiers suffering PTSD will 'grow, and grow exponentially'. As policymakers, we must be ready. It is our responsibility to ensure that the system, Defence and DVA, is ready. Families, too, must be ready and aware of the risks of PTSD.

One thing Scott Hannaford does very well in 'The silent war' is detail the fact that PTSD affects not only returned service personnel but their families as well. He tells the story of Rebecca Clark, who calls herself a 'second generation veteran'. Rebecca has never been to war; she has never had a gun pointed at her face, never had to take a life or endure any of the other unspeakable horrors of combat. But as the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, Rebecca not only had to deal with her father's undiagnosed PTSD and the resulting volatility, temper and mood swings but she herself developed PTSD in her early 20s.

I know from the experience of my husband, Chris, that the life for families of soldiers can be difficult. When my father-in-law toured Vietnam he left behind his wife and five children, all under the age of 10, at Woodside Barracks in South Australia. Woodside is in Inverbrackie in the Adelaide Hills. By 1970 there had reached a fever pitch in terms of the moratoriums and the protests against the war. There was a lot of hatred towards the war and, unfortunately, towards anyone who was associated with it—including the wives and children of those serving.

Chris tells of how he, his brothers and his sisters and other Defence kids were bullied and vilified at school, as were their mothers whenever they went out to the local shops. My husband has a vivid memory of his mother putting the bins out one night. Traditionally his father had put out the bins, and this was a dark night. Chris was there in bed—he was only little—looking out the window, incredibly worried about his mum out there in the dark night on her own putting out the bins. It is just one of those little childhood fears that we all have, but I think it highlights how children are acutely aware of the fact that they have a parent at war. And they also have a heightened sense of danger and responsibility in the absence of that parent.

As our soldiers return from Afghanistan, I urge family and friends to be on the lookout for signs of stress in their returned love one, and amongst themselves. Some signs of PTSD to watch out for include: trouble getting along with colleagues, family or friends; angry or violent outbursts; increased alcohol or drug use; more physical complaints than usual; and poor performance at work. There are a number of community organisations, such as Solider On and Young Diggers, and there are also a number of Defence and DVA programs that are designed to assist in this transition. I urge returning soldiers and their families to make the most of these.

However, there is also more that we as policy makers can do. I am particularly proud of a body of work that I was part of in my first term, which was the Inquiry into the care of ADF personnel wounded and injured on operations, done through the Defence Subcommittee as part of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. The inquiry was a comprehensive body of work which involved hours and hours of discussions and hearings with people from all over Australia—with families, with veterans, with medical professionals, with public servants and with serving soldiers. Most importantly, we heard evidence of terrible hardship and unhappiness among our service people. These are people who have fallen through the gaps, despite the best efforts of the ADF, Defence and DVA.

The report that resulted from the inquiry covers a broad range of areas—from the immediate action following an injury; aeromedical evacuation, which focuses on some of the activities that we were getting involved in in Afghanistan; rehabilitation and support following physical injury; mental health concerns, including PTSD; return from operations; and post-service issues, including DVA and veterans' support structures. The report highlights a number of gaps in areas where we need to be doing more to support the health of our returned service people. These include mental health—and specifically female veterans' mental health—and improving communications between Defence and DVA in the management of post-service transition. They are just some of the areas.

There has been progress and recognition of the need to support those with mental health issues. Steps have been taken to make improvements in streamlining the DVA and Defence processes and streamlining the information on injured soldiers.

We, as a committee, were impressed by the work done by Major General Cantwell and by community organisations such as Soldier On and Young Diggers, who work in the area of mental health and who are doing great things in changing the culture of stigma and shame that still exists in the ADF—sadly, resulting in returning soldiers ignoring the signs of mental health issues and other injuries. I would just like to take this opportunity to commend those organisations. I went to the launch of Soldier On, which was just down in Manuka here where the old RSL club was before it was burnt down. There was a tremendous spirit of energy and commitment amongst the men and their families who established that organisation to actually help returned soldiers. I commend Soldier On and Young Diggers and other organisations and groups that are established to help returning Vets who have PTSD and which also assist with their mental health issues.

The report also highlights the post-service life adjustment and how hard it is for a wounded or injured soldier to adjust from being a highly-skilled member of a professional force—a warrior, so to speak—to a seemingly constrained civilian. The inquiry grappled with this issue. In our report we have highlighted the need for greater continuity in the transition from Defence to DVA, and we have recommended expediting or streamlining information technology connectivity and a unique service veteran health ID number. That is extremely important, and it is a theme that ran through a number of the presentations in the inquiry's hearings. DVA still faces dissatisfaction from the veteran community, although we found the department is doing much to improve client service, particularly in having a single point of contact for case management—that was particularly important, and that was a point made very strongly by the Defence Families Association—and in moving to a single electronic claim process and free treatment for PTSD, depression and anxiety.

We have recommended that the department try to be less prescriptive, as well as monitoring its performance through periodic publication of claim-processing times and claim success rates. This will need constant attention, but I hope that the work of the committee will help to bring about improvements and make for better lives for our service people and their families after suffering physical or mental health injury.

I am proud to be associated with the inquiry and with the report, which was tabled in June last year. I urge the government to respond to the recommendations outlined in the report as a matter of urgency. As the 'wave of sadness' approaches—to use Major General Cantwell's phrase—it is all the more important that the government does everything in its power to ensure we are ready.

It is impossible to exaggerate what we owe to our service personnel. In thanking them for their efforts and showing our gratitude for the work they do in securing our nation and preserving our democracy, we have to ensure that we provide the highest standard of care for them upon their return.

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