Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The government is pleased to present legislation that will give effect to three Veterans' Affairs' 2016-17 budget measures.

This government continues to honour its strong commitment to veterans and the veteran community by recognising the unique nature of military service.

The Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget & Other Measures) Bill 2016 contains three important measures to support veterans. It:

In the 2016-17 budget, our government committed $0.2 million for this measure. It will allow interim incapacity payments to be paid to former ADF members immediately upon discharge at a level that matches their regular salary.

This is important because, currently, when a member discharges from the ADF there can be a period of time—sometimes several months—before incapacity payment amounts can be determined while superannuation entitlements are finalised.

Some members can experience financial hardship during this period. These amendments will enable veterans to receive their pre-discharge salary during this period and the Department of Veterans' Affairs will make an adjustment to a person's incapacity payments after the superannuation component has been finalised.

Schedule 2—non-liability health care

Expanding access to non-liability health care is a very important component of mental health treatment for current and former members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). In the 2016-17 budget, this government committed $37.9 million to extend eligibility for non-liability health care to all current and former permanent members of the ADF for five mental health conditions:

In addition to expanding the range of conditions for which non-liability health care may be provided, accessing this treatment has also become easier:

The treatment is known as non-liability health care because it need not be linked to a condition arising from the service of the eligible person. Further, it is completely separate from any claim for compensation.

Non-liability health care is available via a legislative instrument made under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. This has been in place since 1 July 2016 and I am encouraged by reports from the Department of Veterans' Affairs that there has been a marked increase in the number of requests for non-liability health care between July and September 2016. This is to be strongly encouraged and I urge any ADF members, or members of their family, concerned about their mental health to get in contact with the Department of Veterans' Affairs. They can call theVeterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service—VVCS—on 1800011046 or visit the website to access free and confidential Australia-wide counselling.

Schedule 3—align cut-off age inc apacity payments to pension age

The government committed $5.5 million to this measure in the 2016-17 budget to improve support for veterans by increasing the incapacity cut-off age to align with age pension eligibility.

The amendments will enable veterans to continue to receive incapacity payments up until they become eligible for the age pension. Approximately 120 veterans per annum will benefit from this change.

Currently, payment of incapacity entitlements under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) ceases when an employee reaches 65 years of age or, if the injury occurred on or after the age of 63, after a maximum of 104 weeks of incapacity entitlements have been received.

However, the legislation needs to be amended to keep pace with the scheduled age pension increases, otherwise injured veterans may be without adequate means of financial support upon reaching 65 years of age once the age pension eligibility changes take effect.

These amendments align the cut-off age for incapacity payments to 'pension age' as defined in the Social Security Act 1991. Rather than defining a set age, this approach means the incapacity payment cut-off will remain in alignment with age pension eligibility age into the future.

Conclusion

This bill will support our veterans in real and tangible ways from increasing access to vital mental health treatment, to better financial support for ADF members transitioning to civilian life and ensuring access to incapacity entitlements through to pension age.

I commend this bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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