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

I would like to thank all of the members who contributed to the debate on this bill and acknowledge the continued tradition of bipartisan support for the veteran community demonstrated by the opposition. This bill marks the largest reform of veterans legislation in decades. Its purpose is to bring all entitlements for Australian Defence Force members and former members with service prior to 1 July 2004 from the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, the SRCA, and duplicate that coverage under a standalone act which will be known as the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 2016. If passed, it will mean for the first time since 1988 all veterans' entitlements will sit under the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. This will acknowledge the unique nature of service and protect veterans and their families from any unintended legislation changes by other portfolios.

The government has acknowledged that this is a significant change and has been conservative in the proposed amendments. As a result, this bill simply replicates the SRCA. Eligibility and benefits under the act will be the same as those currently available to current and former ADF members under the existing SRCA. All case law and precedents will stand. The enactment provisions have been carefully drafted to ensure that eligibility and benefits under the DRCA will be the same as those that were available to serving and former Defence Force members under the SRCA at the time the injury or illness was sustained. In practical terms, this will mean that, when applying the DRCA to a compensation claim, it will be as if the DRCA existed at the time the injury or illness was sustained, as the DRCA incorporates all previous versions of the SRCA. There will be a large number of earlier versions of the DRCA as the SRCA had been amended by almost 70 acts since it was introduced. Of those acts, almost half made amendments which would have impacted on the SRCA, and now the DRCA, as it applied to Defence Force members.

To ensure that Defence Force members would not be adversely affected by the retrospective application of an earlier version of the SRCA as the DRCA, the DRCA includes a legal remedy that can be applied when the retrospective application results in an adverse outcome. A Henry VIII clause has been included in the bill. The Henry VIII clause enables the Governor-General to make regulations that modify the operation of the DRCA in the event that the minister is satisfied that it is necessary or desirable to make the regulations to ensure that no person, except the Commonwealth, is disadvantaged by the enactment of the bill. The regulation may then be applied to other members, or to a class of members in similar circumstances, which addresses any disadvantage to a person that the act may cause. All regulations made under the Henry VIII clause are required to be tabled in parliament and are subject to a disallowance period of 15 sitting days by either house of the parliament. This provides transparency and scrutiny that any use of the Henry VIII clause will address disadvantage to a person caused by the act. The government also made the commitment that, should the Henry VIII clause ever need to be used for any veteran or group of veterans, the department will have processes to proactively communicate with the veterans community and to check to see if there are any other instances of veterans who might affected.

Arrangements and transitional rules currently in place for SRCA clients with eligibility under more than one act—that is, under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and/or the Military Rehabilitation And Compensation Act 2004—are not impacted by the commencement of the DRCA. The development of what has become the DRCA was announced by government nearly two years ago, enabling comprehensive consultations on the progress and development of the DRCA, which was provided to ex-service representations and the departments of Defence and Employment. The enactment of the DRCA is a further example of the government's commitment to recognising and meeting the needs of current and former members of the Australian Defence Force and their families.

I would like to thank the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade for their work on the inquiry into the bill. In particular, I would like to thank the former Chair, Dr Chris Back, and Deputy Chair, Senator Gallacher. The committee has recommended that the bill pass the parliament. I would like to acknowledge all the contributions to the debate on this bill that have been made by members, and I look forward to the contributions of senators. I would like to particularly acknowledge the cooperation of the opposition; in particular, the shadow minister, the member for Kingston, who has engaged with the development of the bill. I commend this bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

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