Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have spoken here before about the recent veterans ministerial statement, the first ever warts-and-all frank assessment of how we're doing in supporting our ex-service personnel. I concluded at that time that this journey we're committed to, especially in areas like veterans' health and mental health, requires us to measure our performance more often, to learn quickly, to try new things, to fail fast if things aren't going to work, and, when programs do work, to ramp them up very quickly.

Last week I was again down at the RSL Queensland offices in Spring Hill. This time I took the opportunity to learn about a trial they're running to improve employment outcomes for veterans. The trial is being run by the RSL, with a $123,000 grant from this government under the Supporting Younger Veterans program. It focuses on intervention and case management in transitioning ex-service personnel into employment. Importantly, it applies to both ex-service personnel and their partners. The trial is not yet completed, but what I saw suggests that this pilot is indeed succeeding—about 90 people enrolled, good outcomes and a return on investment that appears likely to stack up quite well when compared with some other employment programs I can think of. At the end of this trial, if this program is indeed successful, it should be expanded quickly. I understand that the RSL in Queensland are planning that expansion and, when they do, we should support them.

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