Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Australian Veterans' Recognition (Putting Veterans and Their Families First) Bill 2019, which has bipartisan support. This bill creates a new act which will provide a framework for government, business and community to recognise and acknowledge the unique nature of military service, and support veterans and their families. Importantly, this bill establishes the Australian Defence Veterans' Covenant, which formalises or gives effect to the solemn pledge of a grateful nation to its veterans. It's an important development.

Many in this place would be aware that in September last year it was Labor who first announced that, if elected, we would establish a military covenant. Labor's proposed covenant would have covered both current and ex-serving personnel and their families, as we saw the need to recognise the commitment and sacrifice they make in serving our country by formalising Australia's commitment to provide them with the ongoing support they need. That is why Labor welcomes the government's adoption of a covenant through this bill. However, I must note that we would like to see the covenant extended to all Defence personnel, current and serving, as well as their families. It's unfortunate that what's before us today covers only those who have previously served, and their loved ones.

Another notable absence from this bill—but part of Labor's proposal at the last election—is an annual reporting in the form of a statement to parliament. We wanted this included to ensure that, whoever the government is, it is accountable for meeting its obligation to current and serving personnel. While we recognise that there is currently an annual statement to the parliament—indeed, the minister delivered the third such statement last week, and I gave a reply to it—that is purely a decision of government, a convention you have, not a statement to the parliament as part of legislation.

When this bill was first introduced in the 45th Parliament, we raised concerns about the omission of these elements. We therefore referred the bill to a Senate inquiry so that the veterans community had the opportunity to view and provide feedback on the government's proposed covenant. This was followed by providing additional comments on these issues as part of a Senate Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Legislation Committee inquiry report. It was Labor's view both then and now, and through thorough consultation with those who would be affected by the covenant, that this occur. Whilst it is regrettable and a missed opportunity that it does not include those currently serving, that doesn't diminish the overwhelming positives of this covenant. For this reason, Labor is willing to support the bill both in principle and in practice.

In order to not further hold up the passage of this legislation, we requested that the Senate committee conclude their inquiry by 22 March this year to enable both an examination of the legislation and the process to be completed in time to be reviewed by the Senate by early April this year. We believed that this was appropriate and would ensure there was time to review the legislation to enable the current and ex-serving community the opportunity to be involved in the process and not delay the passage of the bill. The committee indeed did report back on 22 March, recommending that the bill be passed without amendment. At the same time, Labor senators on the committee canvassed the issues of including current serving personnel and strengthening the reporting element, in additional comments to the report.

However, as it happened, while the bill was debated in April, there was not sufficient time for it to be passed in the House of Representatives in the final week before the election, and it lapsed, sadly. Given the Senate committee's recommendations and the broad support amongst veterans for the bill and the covenant itself, the delay in the bill's passage we found curious. But Labor is willing to be pragmatic and support the bill in its current form.

Our commitment to those who've served is formalised in this covenant, and it's vital we get it right. In addition to the introduction of a covenant, the bill inserts a general recognition clause, which acknowledges the unique nature of military service, the demands placed on those who serve, the additional support they require post service and the Commonwealth's commitment to supporting veterans, reflecting the fact that veterans have complex needs and need special support. Furthermore, it acknowledges the demands placed on and the sacrifices made by families of veterans. This is an important component and one which has not always been acknowledged, and it should be.

These are just some of the reasons why Labor wholeheartedly supports this recognition and the ongoing obligation to those who put their lives on hold in service of our country—and to their families, I might add. As an extension of this general recognition, the bill includes an overarching statement in relation to the beneficial nature of the Veterans' Affairs portfolio legislation, making it clear that the legislation has a beneficial purpose and should be interpreted accordingly. In this section we'll note that the Commonwealth has committed to ensuring that those who make decisions involving veterans interpret legislation in a way that benefits them and their families, where that interpretation is consistent with the purpose of the provision. I think that's a good legislative reform.

This bill will provide for departmental training and a guide to ensure that decision-makers understand and appropriately apply the beneficial legislation to support the intent of this clause, and I'm sure veterans communities around the country would appreciate that. In addition, a paragraph will also be inserted that provides that claims decisions will be made within a time that is proportionate to the complexity of the matter, acknowledging the variety of complex client claims and that there will be differences in timeliness. One of the most common complaints about the Department of Veterans' Affairs is the lengthy and complex claim process. So any commitment to timeliness will be welcomed by the veteran and ex-serving communities.

Finally, this bill will provide recognition to veterans and their families in the form of lapel pins, veterans cards and other artefacts. Labor is broadly supportive of these kinds of symbolic forms of veteran recognition through items such as cards and pins. To the extent that the veterans card would be accompanied by a discount scheme, it was hoped that it would deliver tangible benefits as well. The government has completely botched the rollout, and veterans have been waiting for almost a year now for the card and the discount scheme and would have been struggling to get even basic information on what businesses were involved and the discounts available.

Since the card was announced nearly a year ago, the only public commitment was made by Virgin Australia, who offered priority boarding. This was derided by many in the veterans community as a tokenistic gesture, and the offer was withdrawn. It's also unclear how the veterans cards will interact with other existing veterans discount schemes. Since that time, there have been no public commitments from businesses in relation to the card. There is widespread frustration among veterans over the delay, and cynicism about whether this is just a cheap stunt from the government. We hear that interest in the lapel pins has been fairly low. As to the veterans card, first it was going to be different from the DVA health cards, and then we found out it was actually to be rebadged and reissued as the DVA white card, at the cost of $11.1 million. It has been a complete mess from the start.

So we hope that the government will address the implementation issues and that more information will become available about the veterans discount card and the practical benefits it would deliver. We also hope the government briefs the opposition and the veterans communities about that. Given that these measures were first announced almost a year ago and the bill is only now coming before this chamber, we ask just how serious the government was to introduce them if they announced this about 12 months ago.

The strong feedback from veterans has been that these sorts of initiatives must be backed up by substance such as better veteran support services. While symbolic recognition is important, Labor too wants to see tangible support of veterans, including things like a more efficient military compensation and rehabilitation scheme, better access to health care, mental health and suicide prevention programs, more effective civilian transition through training, employment programs and family assistance, just to name a few. That's why Labor supported the amendments to the bill made by Senator Lambie in the Senate as a good example about practical recognition and we will be supporting them here in this place.

These amendments will ensure that the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and the Department of Veterans' Affairs commit to a 90-day time limit on determination for claims under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, commonly known as the MRCA. While Labor notes concerns about legislative time frames for the processing of claims in general, we believe an aspirational target of 90 days for MRCA determinations is reasonable, realistic and achievable. This is because it would simply reflect what's happening already in terms of significant progress that's been made when it comes to assessing rehabilitation and compensation claims as a result of DVA's veteran-centric reform project.

We have seen the average wait time for compensation claims in the MRCA come down in recent years below 90 days. For example, in response to a Labor question on notice in the last additional estimates, DVA advised that in 2017-18, the median time taken to process permanent impairment claims under the MRCA was now 78 days, the median time to process incapacity claims was 34 days and the median time to process liability claims was 72 days, all of which are obviously less than 90 days. That said, more recently, there have been reports that DVA is struggling to deal with a spike in claims through the online claims portal MyService and claims processing times have blown out.

We know DVA, like many agencies, has been hard hit by the ongoing funding reductions due to the efficiency dividend, which is affecting service delivery, and the department has pointed to the need for more staff to meet the needs of its clients. The government needs to make sure the department is properly resourced so it can do its job and meet the expectation of veterans. Any improvements or commitments to addressing the timeliness of claims will be welcome by Labor and by veterans' communities.

We on this side hope these amendments will further incentivise the government and the department to resolve these claims that continue to blow out. In addition, we would have preferred that any legislative time frames be applied in a holistic way to all relevant veterans' legislations, not just to one act, not just to MRCA. However, Labor wants to be pragmatic and we think it is a useful first step and, in that time, time frame should be considered in context of the Veterans Entitlement Act and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act, known as DRCA.

The rationale for considering legislative time frames is that there is now extensive evidence and research showing the military compensation scheme is having an adverse impact on the mental health and wellbeing of veterans and, in some cases, contributing to veteran suicide and mental health issues. A 2018 Phoenix Australia report, the 2019 review of this report and other literature by Professor Alex Collie, commissioned by DVA, have highlighted that aspect of the system such as delays in claims processing can have serious effects on applicants. As I said earlier, one of the most common complaints about DVA is the lengthy and complex claims process. While the bill already contains a general commitment to timeliness, we believe these amendments could help further mitigate the psychological impact of these processes. In addition, military compensation lawyers have pointed out Australia's military compensation system is one of the few systems that doesn't include time frames for responding to claims or for making decisions. Defence personnel in the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand are all protected by decision-making time limits. In addition, every state and territory in Australia has time frames for decision-making under civil workers' compensation schemes. The recent Productivity Commission inquiry into compensation and rehabilitation of veterans recommended the system be redesigned based on the best practice features of contemporary workers' compensation and social insurance schemes. To that end, a 90-day time frame for determination would go some way to bringing MRCA decisions in line with best practices in schemes in other jurisdictions. Such a time frame would be complemented by an allowance for extensions to be granted in certain circumstances.

In summary: Labor is willing to support the amendments to this bill. Like Senator Lambie we want to improve the timeliness of compensation claims. In closing I thank all those in the veterans communities who provided feedback to us on our side of the chamber, lobbied for recognition for the military covenant, participated in the Senate inquiry into the bill and continue to advocate for veterans each and every day. Going forward it would be good to consider the ways we can strengthen legislation through regular reporting to parliament and inclusion of current serving ADF members and their families. However, we support the principles of the bill and acknowledge the support of those who served and their loved ones. Labor's commitment to those who serve or have served is rock solid, and we welcome the changes brought by this legislation that increase recognition for veterans and their loved ones. Fundamentally this bill seeks to provide greater recognition for veterans by government and acknowledges the unique nature of military service and obligation of those that served. In conclusion, this recognition is very important. It's a message from parliament on behalf of the Australian community that we honour and thank veterans for their service and we recognise the sacrifice that they and their families have made for our country. I commend the bill to the House.

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