Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As Australians, we owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who defend our nation. As a government, we owe it to them to fund the training, equipment and support that they need to carry out their duties. But just as importantly, we owe it to our veteran community to continue to provide the care and support that they may require when they leave the defence forces.

This bill ensures that we do just that by making three amendments to various acts: firstly, it creates a single appeal path under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to streamline the appeals process; secondly, it amends the Veterans Entitlements Act 1986 to make various improvements to the operation of the Veterans' Vocational Rehabilitation Scheme; and thirdly, it amends the Defence Act 1903 to clear the way for the repatriation of the bodies of Australian Defence Force personnel and dependents buried at the Terendak Military Cemetery, in line with the Prime Minister's announcement in May.

The single appeal path will make it easier for veterans to navigate what is currently a complex and often confusing system. The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission, or MRCC, adjudicates on claims in relation to eligibility for compensation and the level of compensation. Under the current system, claimants who wish to seek a review of an original determination have two appeal avenues open to them: they can either seek an internal reconsideration by the MRCC or seek a review by the Veterans' Review Board—or VRB. The next right of appeal on both paths is the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Both pathways have different time limits for the lodgement of applications and different rules relating to access to legal aid. There is no rationale for the existence of dual appeal paths and it makes sense for this process to be simplified. This bill clarifies that the VRB is the only body that should hear an initial appeal of a decision of the MRCC. I am advised that the veteran and ex-service community are strongly supportive of these changes.

The second set of amendments ensure that the Veterans' Vocational Rehabilitation Scheme can further improve the services it provides to veterans. They also ensure that the scheme is designed to minimise the risk that participating veterans suffer financial penalties for their involvement in the scheme. The Veterans' Vocational Rehabilitation Scheme—or VVRS—is a voluntary, vocational rehabilitation scheme for persons eligible under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. It was established in order to assist eligible veterans to find and maintain paid employment. There are four different categories of disability pension payments provided to veterans: the general rate, the special rate, the intermediate rate and the extreme disablement—or EDA—rate. Without going into the details of each payment, they each exist for a different reason and pay a different rate. In the context of this legislation, each payment is treated differently when a veteran who receives the payment seeks paid employment under the VVRS.

The coalition government wants to encourage veterans to utilise the VVRS, as there are clear benefits in veterans participating in the paid workforce wherever possible. This bill makes it more attractive to do so by making changes to the way that pension payments are treated when recipients find employment under the VVRS: firstly, this bill ensures that intermediate rate recipients who participate in the VVRS will not receive a lesser disability pension than an intermediate rate recipient who does not participate in the VVRS; secondly, special rate disability pension recipients who participate in the VVRS and who undertake less than 20 hours paid work per week will not receive a lesser pension than a recipient who does not participate in the VVRS; thirdly, there will be more flexibility introduced to the scheme that will reduce disadvantage for participants who are required to take a prolonged absence from the workforce; and, finally, an amount equivalent to the permissible earnings for special and intermediate rate recipients will be disregarded for VVRS participants so that VVRS participants receive the same benefit as a nonparticipant in the VVRS. These changes to the VVRS come at a modest cost to government of $700,000 over the forward estimates, but they will be of great benefit to veterans and their families.

The third part of this bill deals with enabling arrangements for the repatriation of deceased Australian military personnel from Terendak Military Cemetery in Malaysia. The Terendak Military Cemetery is located within a large military base. Originally built by the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, the base hosted the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade. Prior to 1966, it was Australian government's policy that the remains of service personnel who died in war were to be buried in war cemeteries close to where they died. As a consequence, some Australian casualties from the Vietnam War were flown to Terendak and buried there, as were other Australian servicemen and, importantly, eight service dependents.

The nature of Terendak, being an active military base, means that access to the grave sites can be difficult and requires special permission. In response to a long-running campaign from the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, the Prime Minister announced in May this year that agreement had been reached with the Malaysian government to allow for the repatriation of the remains to Australia—dependent, of course, on the agreement of the families of the deceased. At present, the director of the Office of Australian War Graves has the power to repatriate deceased Australian military personnel, but has no equivalent powers enabling the repatriation of dependents. This bill clarifies that the director now has the authority to repatriate all Australians buried at Terendak, including dependents.

Members will be aware that my electorate of Ryan is home to the Gallipoli Barracks and one of the largest populations of serving Australian Defence Force personnel. We are a community that supports our serving ADF personnel and also our veterans. On this note, in the time remaining, I want to pay tribute to the teachers and students of Ferny Grove State High School, who were successful in achieving a highly commended certificate in the 2015 Anzac Day Schools' Awards. The award is funded by the Department of Veterans' Affairs. The award recognised Ferny Grove State High School's commitment to teaching and encouraging students to learn about Australia's wartime history. This is something that is all the more important given that this year marks the Anzac Centenary. Having received an Anzac Centenary grant, the staff and students put the funding to good effect by constructing a walk of remembrance on school grounds. In doing so, they ensured that the Anzac legacy will never be forgotten by staff and students at Ferny Grove.

However, the award-winning piece was a collaborative artwork created by students to express their emotional responses relating to Anzac day and the Centenary of Anzac. They used the symbolic poppy image and depicted scenes such as soldiers waiting to enlist, battle scenes, and grave stones and crosses to represent the fallen. I am told that judges praised the work for its inspiration and uniqueness and for its creative use of lighting for dramatic effect. I commend all of the staff and students involved for their successful project.

The amendments contained in this bill ensure that this parliament and this country uphold our end of the bargain, when it comes to the treatment of the veteran community. They have served our nation with distinction and this bill ensures that they receive the support that they deserve. I commend the bill to the House.

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