Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I support the Veterans' Entitlements Amendment Bill 2018, which seeks to reinsert an inadvertently omitted provision which will allow the Department of Veterans' Affairs to offset pension overpayments from bereavement payments in one streamlined transaction. The amendment regularises the existing administrative practices and does not change current entitlements for veterans and families. The Department of Veterans' Affairs already has legal authority to provide bereavement payments and to recover overpayments of income support pensions. What this will do is to streamline these two transactions into one administrative transaction. This is a compassionate, sympathetic and unobtrusive response that avoids disturbing the family with additional interactions with the DVA while they are grieving.

By way of background, the bereavement payment is a one-off, non-taxable payment paid to a surviving spouse that is equivalent to 98 days, representing 14 weeks of service pension. It is designed to assist the widow or widower with the costs following the death of their partner and to provide a period to adjust their finances following the cessation of their deceased partner's payments. The bereavement payment is paid automatically once the family notifies the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Prior to their death, a veteran may have been receiving an income support pension under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. Generally, there is a small period of time after someone has died before the family notifies DVA, and this may result in an overpayment of a pension, usually between $500 to $1,000. The practice is that, where an overpayment occurs, DVA adjusts this amount from the bereavement payment. This amendment maintains the status quo and ensures that the adjustment is made in a single administrative process, rather than through the transfer of a more formal debt recovery process. The Department of Human Services also follows this practice in relation to deaths of Centrelink pensioners. Members of the Ex-Service Organisation Round Table, ESORT, have been consulted and have not expressed any concerns.

The government has brought into parliament a measure that was inadvertently removed under Labor's watch in 1995. The shadow minister, the member for Kingston, was briefed on this measure on 22 August. When the bill was introduced three weeks ago there were no concerns raised at that time, and nor have there been since.

The veteran community in my electorate of Moore is ably represented by the Joondalup City Returned and Services League sub-branch, which advocates for the needs of ex-service personnel. The sub-branch provides its welfare and advocacy services to an estimated 5,500 ex-service personnel within the city of Joondalup from the Heathridge Leisure Centre. Whilst welfare assistance is only available to RSL members, all ex-service people can access support and advice. A team of volunteers, including the Joondalup City RSL president, Rick Green, and the secretary, Ken Beven, liaise with the Department of Veterans' Affairs on behalf of all veterans, and a qualified counsellor is available who can provide support. There are also many other RSL sub-branches in the northern suburbs of Perth whose members perform commendable work and with which I'm pleased to have an association, including the Quinns Rocks RSL, the North Beach RSL and the Wanneroo RSL sub-branches.

Providing assistance to veterans and families of veterans is a most deserving cause, and governments of all persuasions ought to prioritise measures that promote the welfare of ex-service personnel. I support the regular review of indexation of veterans' benefits to ensure that the purchasing power of payments maintains parity with the ever-increasing cost of living and is in line with the growth in average weekly earnings.

The coalition government recognises the important role that families play in supporting our serving and ex-serving personnel, and has introduced a range of measures to support Defence families. The Extended Family Support package has been operating since 1 May 2018. This support is available to eligible veterans and their families and to the spouses or partners of veterans killed in recent conflicts or who have taken their life after returning from warlike service. Extending family support for veterans and their families is one of five new measures announced by the government in October 2017 to support current and former ADF members and their families. The additional assistance provides for expanded childcare arrangements in specific circumstances, counselling support for the immediate family members of veterans experiencing crisis, and home help and counselling support for the spouses of veterans killed in recent conflict or veterans who have taken their life after returning from warlike service.

Under the Veterans' Children Education Scheme and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme, financial assistance, student support services, guidance and counselling are provided for eligible children to help them achieve their full potential in full-time education or career training. The schemes were established under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. Children of veterans, as students, may also be eligible for a number of benefits, including education allowance, special assistance, fares allowance, rent assistance, additional tuition, guidance and counselling, tertiary student start-up and relocation scholarships, the energy supplement and the income support bonus.

In addition, the Long Tan Bursary scheme provides funding to help eligible children of Australian Vietnam veterans to meet the cost of post-secondary education so they can obtain formal qualifications and skills needed to pursue their chosen career. A total of 37 bursaries of up to $12,000 paid over a three-year period of continuous study are available each year. The bursary is currently available to the children of Vietnam veterans who served in Vietnam from 31 July 1962 to 30 April 1975. As announced in this year's budget, from 1 July 2019, eligibility for the bursary will be extended to the grandchildren of Vietnam veterans.

The Veteran and Community Grants program provides funding for organisations, both veteran and non-veteran, for activities and services which sustain and enhance the health and wellbeing of the veteran community. In the 2017-18 year, $2.166 million was allocated for the grants. The program provides seed funding for projects which support a healthy quality lifestyle for members of the veteran community to assist them to remain living independently in their own homes and reduce social isolation.

The coalition government allocated $2.1 million over two years in the 2016-17 budget to the Australian Kookaburra Kids Foundation to deliver an age-appropriate pilot program for children of serving and ex-serving parents with a mental health condition. The pilot program was launched in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in mid-2017, with programs in Queensland and the Northern Territory launched in February 2018. The program is replicating the good work already being delivered in New South Wales by Kookaburra Kids, with enhancements, where necessary, to support the unique needs of the Defence and ex-service community. Since the pilot program's implementation in mid-2017, Kookaburra Kids has held 15 activity days and four weekend camps in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. In 2018, Kookaburra Kids launched in the Northern Territory and in Queensland, so far delivering three activity days and one camp in the Northern Territory, and two activity days and one camp in Queensland. Further camps and activities are scheduled for the second half of 2018 in New South Wales, the ACT, the Northern Territory and Queensland. Feedback to date from the children attending the Kookaburra Kids activities and their parents has been very positive and supportive.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs has a framework to assist contemporary widows, widowers and dependants of Australian Defence Force members who died whilst deployed in warlike or non-warlike service. Its aim is to promote health and wellbeing; facilitate access to family, social and community supports; reduce stress and anxiety; and assist with activities of daily living, particularly where the deceased Australian Defence Force member may have ordinarily provided this support.

The bereavement support services component of the framework commenced in mid-2014 and was introduced to provide assistance in the period following the serving Australian Defence Force member's death and, if required, at later, more important junctures in life. Bereavement support services include but are not limited to: domestic assistance, transport, home and garden maintenance, formal child care, in-home respite, child minding, vocational assistance, and fitness services.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs is also continuing to work with ex-service organisations to ensure that the framework remains relevant and useful. The coalition government recognises the important role of families in recovery from military trauma. That is why, in the 2017 budget, the government made the Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service even more accessible to families by extending access to the partners and children of all current and former members of the Australian Defence Force and the ex-partners of eligible Australian Defence Force members who have served for a period of five years following separation or for the duration of co-parenting responsibilities for children aged under 18.

These changes are aimed at providing simplified access to the service for more families, which will increase the level of early engagement and intervention for both members and their families. The Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service is currently running family consultation programs to ensure that the expanded eligibility is meeting families' needs. It is anticipated that this will minimise the ongoing adverse effects of family breakdown on all parties and support more effective family functioning. The coalition government recognises the important role that families play in supporting our serving and ex-serving personnel and has introduced a range of measures to support Defence families, which I have just outlined. Providing assistance to veterans and families is a most deserving cause, and governments ought to prioritise measures that promote the welfare of ex-serving personnel. I'm cognisant of the calls for the regular review and indexation of veterans' benefits to ensure that the purchasing power of payments maintains parity with the ever-increasing cost of living and is in line with the growth of average weekly earnings.

In summary, this bill seeks to reinstate an inadvertently omitted provision which will allow the Department of Veterans' Affairs to offset pension overpayments from bereavement payments in one streamlined transaction. The amendment regularises the existing administrative practice and does not change the current entitlements for veterans and families. What this will do is streamline these two transactions into one administrative transaction. This is a compassionate, sympathetic and unobtrusive response which avoids disturbing the family with additional interactions with the Department of Veterans' Affairs while they are grieving. I commend the bill to the House.

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