Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to consider in detail the Veterans' Affairs budget and note at the outset the shadow minister, the member for Kingston, is not here with us this evening. She's been unwell, and I wish her well in her recovery. It's important to note that the Veterans' Affairs portfolio does enjoy largely bipartisan support, and I recognise that the shadow minister, just like me, wants to make sure we're putting our veterans first and putting our veterans' families first.

In this year's budget, the government is continuing to invest in veterans and in their families to make sure we are providing the essential services they require. There's in the vicinity of $11.2 billion worth of expenditure committed to the Veterans' Affairs portfolio. I would note we've secured around $100 million in additional funding in this year's budget to continue our work on the DVA reform agenda, upgrading our internal IT systems, and ensuring better and faster delivery of services to veterans and their families.

I'll talk briefly on a couple of key points from this year's budget before allowing more time for questions from both our side and those opposite. I would note that the transformation of DVA is ongoing, and we are continuing to see further investment to provide more timely and easier access to services for our veterans and their families. By the end of the next financial year, veterans will benefit from easier access to services through the online door MyService. There will also be expanded access to information to reach out to veterans who may not be aware of the DVA services and programs which do exist and of the improved income support systems put in place.

We'll see as a result of this year's budget the removal of the stepdown for incapacity payments. We're investing $10.8 million over the forward estimates to support former members of the ADF with incapacity payments at 100 per cent of their normal earnings while they stay as part of DVA-funded return to work rehabilitation plan.

Another reform announced in the budget relates to the Long Tan bursaries, which will see an extension of the eligibility criteria for a Long Tan bursary to include not only the children of the Vietnam veterans but also their grandchildren so that we continue to provide assistance to the descendants of Vietnam veterans.

In terms of mental health care, which is clearly a focus of this government, it's important to note that the budget recognises that, not just in the wider community but also in our the veteran community, there are concerns about how we provide for mental health support services. In fact, DVA provides up to $200 million a year to support our veterans with their mental health concerns. In this budget we've provided $2.2 million to expand eligibility for mental health treatment to those reservists with domestic or international disaster relief or border protection service, or those involved in a serious service-related training accident.

In terms of our veterans' mental health care, it's important to note there is a non-liability health care system in place, in the sense that veterans will receive free mental health care regardless of how their situation develops. It doesn't necessarily need to be related to their military service. A key focus, which has been the subject of great discussion between myself and the shadow minister, relates to the transition of veterans out of the ADF and into civilian life. It's important to note, and I do so at every opportunity, that the majority of people who leave the Australian Defence Force, on an annual basis somewhere in the order of 5,500 to 6,000, make a successful transition with very little need for immediate support, but others do need additional support, and we need to work with them very closely to make sure that transition is as easy as possible.

It's also critical that we assure the broader Australian public, the corporate sector and business community that hiring a veteran is good for your business. They have great leadership and teamwork skills developed over a period of time in the services. Many have learnt skills that are easily transferrable to civilian life. Explaining to the business and corporate sector and the broader public about the easy employability of veterans is something I'm determined to do in my time in the role. A feature of our work, in terms of transition, is the Prime Minister's Veterans' Employment Program, which features the employment awards, which were held this year for the first time and were successful. We've seen an additional $8.3 million allocated to that program to further develop, promote and implement the program to support veterans as they transition to civilian life.

I'm conscious there'll be plenty of questions from those opposite and probably from this side, so I'll close with one last point about two very important inquiries that are underway at the moment. One is the Productivity Commission inquiry into the compensation and rehabilitation system for veterans. I encourage those who are interested in veterans issues to make a submission to that inquiry. This will be a comprehensive inquiry considering how the system works now, whether it is fit for purpose and how it should work into the future. The second bit of work is with regard to the Veterans' Advocacy and Support Services Scoping Study, which will be undertaken by Robert Cornall on behalf of the government.

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