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

I thank the people who spoke on this bill with the best interests of veterans at heart and who spoke in a very bipartisan manner because, as all of us know in this place, veterans deserve all of our attention and for us to work in this place in a very cooperative way. I thank the shadow minister again for the way that she engages with me to make sure that we can deal with these issues in a bipartisan way.

I am pleased to present the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Omnibus) Bill 2017. The bill comprises nine schedules that would implement several small but necessary amendments to veterans legislation to clarify, improve or streamline the operation of the law. Schedule 1 of the omnibus bill amends the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 to modernise and align the Veterans' Review Board's operations with those of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal following the amendments made by the Tribunals Amalgamation Act 2015. The amendments also support the alternative dispute resolution processes and the recent amendments to the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 which provide for a single appeal path for reconsidering decisions.

Schedule 2 would amend the provisions of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 concerning the Specialist Medical Review Council to improve the operation of the SMRC, streamline some of the SMRC's administrative arrangements and better reflect the manner in which its functions and processes have evolved over time. The proposed amendments would simplify the nomination and appointment process for councils, enable online lodgements of claims, streamline the notice of investigation requirements and give the SMRC an ability to pay the travel costs of applicants who appear before an oral hearing of the SMRC.

The proposed amendments in schedule 3 of the omnibus bill would enable international agreements to be made that would cover allied veterans and defence force members with service of the type for which benefits and payments, including rehabilitation, can be provided by the Repatriation Commission or the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission under the relevant acts. Currently, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs can only enter into an arrangement with the governments of countries that are or have been dominions of the Crown. This will enable the Minister for Veterans' Affairs to enter into agreements with a broader range of countries.

The proposed amendments in schedule 4 are intended to clarify that vocational rehabilitation assistance under an employer incentive scheme in the form of wage incentive payments is within the scope of the enabling provisions of the relevant legislation.

The proposed amendments in schedule 5 would amend subsection 409(2) of the Military Compensation Act 2004 and subsection 151A(1) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 to add the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation as a person to whom the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission may provide information for purposes allowed under the CSC's legislation. Those amendments would implement a recommendation by the 2011 Review of Military Compensation Arrangements intended to improve the information-sharing framework for incapacity and superannuation benefits between DVA and CSC and, therefore, reduce the time taken by DVA and CSC to process claims, which would better support injured former ADF members. In addition, enabling the CSC to use medical reports held by the MRCC to determine superannuation claims would also avoid the need to send ADF members for further medical assessment where DVA already holds relevant medical evidence that could be used by the CSC to determine superannuation benefits. ADF members would be spared from any retraumatisation from having to tell their stories. This is particularly significant for ADF members who suffer psychological conditions, including those that have arisen as a result of physical or psychological abuse.

Each of the sets of amendments is relatively modest. They enhance the operation of the department and will mean better outcomes for veterans. I thank members for their contribution to the debate and I commend this bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation for the bill, and message from the Administrator recommending appropriation for the proposed amendments, announced.

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