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

I will start with the last question first and then go on to the questions that were asked by the member for Newcastle. Since coming into the portfolio in February I have done wide-ranging consultations. I have visited over 30 ex-service organisations around the country in every state and territory—as I have in your electorate, Deputy Speaker Wicks—to get feedback from our veterans on the ground on what matters are really important to them and what they are looking for when it comes to the government. The feedback was very clear. To start with, they wanted to make sure that they would have a standalone Department of Veterans' Affairs, and we made it clear in our election commitment that we would continue to have a standalone Department of Veterans' Affairs that would look after the interests of our veterans.

The second thing they made clear was that there was a concern with the time which was being allocated to processing claims. There were a lot of anecdotes about how a system which was still, in part, paper based needed to be updated for us to have a department which could service the veterans clientele in a proper way. On this point, I think the feedback was extremely valid—and this goes back, I think, over the last decade, goes back over successive governments—because we have failed to give the Department of Veterans' Affairs the IT, the information technology, capability that they need to operate as a department in the 21st century. One of the incredibly important things which we did in this year's budget was allocate money so that, for the first time, we could begin an upgrade of the IT system in the Department of Veterans' Affairs. This will mean that we can make the most significant changes to the way the department operates and make sure that everything they are doing is absolutely centred on the veteran.

The other important piece of feedback that I got was that, when it came to veterans who were dealing with mental health issues, sometimes the complexity of the claims process could add extra stress to those issues. What we did—and I know this is something which the member for Canning has been extremely pleased about—is we have said that from now on, if you have PTSD, depression, anxiety, alcoholism or substance issues, you do not have to, in any way, show that it is related to your service in order to get assistance and to get help. It is non-liability health care. We introduced this in the budget, and it came in on 1 July. That has made a big impact, and I would call on all members to make sure they are going out and promoting that within the veterans community. It means that you do not have to prove anything to get help—help is there. If you have served one full day in the armed services, then you are eligible for this. It, in part, fits with all the advice we get in this area which is that the earlier the intervention, the better the outcomes and results.

I also had feedback on the VAN offices and the VVCS, as the member for Newcastle knows—and I have spoken to her about this. There are no plans to close the VAN office in Newcastle. We are obviously looking at ways to make sure we are maximising the use of those VANs, and this is something that we will continue to be examining.

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