Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

Earlier this year, an Adelaide Hills man was deployed to the Middle East on operations. Last week, his community wanted to show their gratitude for his service, and so, with the assistance of the Macclesfield RSL, students from the local primary school wrote letters of support and encouragement and gathered together treats to remind this soldier of home. It was a privilege to add my own words to the care package, and I hope that the soldier will know that his community is grateful for the sacrifices that he has made being away from family and home. We look forward to welcoming him home again soon.

While small communities find their own way of showing respect for our veterans, the Australian Veterans’ Recognition (Putting Veterans and Their Families First) Bill 2019 creates a formal framework to provide government, businesses and the public with the ability to recognise and respect the sacrifices made by veterans and their families. It does so through three measures: by enshrining the Australian Defence Force covenant in legislation, by confirming that veterans laws should be interpreted for the benefit of the veteran, and, finally, by providing for the issue of pins, cards and other artefacts.

While I support the bill and the intention that underpins it, I query the tangible benefits of pins and cards. In January this year, I hosted a roundtable forum. I was very grateful that the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, who is here in the chamber, came over to South Australia. A collection of RSL stakeholder representatives from my electorate attended the roundtable. It was an opportunity to give voice to the issues that have a real impact on the day-to-day lives of veterans and their families. Over 50 veterans attended the morning tea and roundtable and nobody mentioned a lapel pin. When veterans called for improvements, it was around the best advocacy grant funding framework to ensure a fairer distribution among ex-service organisations in all states and territories. I was very grateful to raise this issue again with the minister just yesterday afternoon. I hope that we can work towards a solution that benefits both regional and rural RSLs, as well as their metropolitan counterparts.

What veterans continue to raise with me is the continuing injustice of the DFRDB commutation provisions. I note that the ombudsman is currently conducting a review into this matter, and I eagerly await the findings in a report to be delivered later this year. What veterans raised with me was the need for a grant funding project to address accessibility issues plaguing our ageing RSLs and memorial halls across the electorate, and, of course, they raised with me the availability of affordable and veteran-specific mental health services, such as the Jamie Larcombe Centre in Adelaide.

After this bill was introduced, I took the opportunity to discuss the concept of lapel pins with veterans in my electorate. Some welcomed the sentiment behind the initiative, describing it as well intentioned but ultimately perhaps misguided in an attempt to recognise veterans and their families. Others were more forceful in their opposition, labelling the pin and veterans cards as a tokenistic gesture. In the words of one of our veterans, Mr Dennis Oldenhove, President of the Macclesfield RSL: 'We know who we are, we know what we've done and a pin won't change that.' One mother of a veteran who has spent the last few months in and out of the Jamie Larcombe Centre welcomed the sentiment behind the initiative but would rather the funds were spent on training DVA staff so that they were better equipped to deal with the complex and unique needs of veterans.

Regarding the financial impact of the bill—$11.1 million over the forward estimates—it is unclear what proportion is to be allocated to the design, manufacturer and delivery of the lapel pin, but I expect that these details will be revealed in due course. Given the purpose of the pins is to identify who has served for our nation, I'm pleased to hear that the department confirms that the pins will be designed in Australia and made with Australian materials. At this early stage, it's unclear as to what benefit will be conferred on veterans who receive a veterans card. The department states the card will enable businesses, service providers and community groups to identify veterans so they can offer their acknowledgement and respect. But it is important to understand that this card itself does not require a business to provide a discount or other concession. It's entirely a matter for the business to choose what discounts, if any, they provide to a veteran or their family, or, indeed, if they choose to recognise the veterans card at all.

On the face of it, the proposed veterans card appears to be an exercise in rebadging and redesigning the DVA's current health treatment and concession cards known as the gold, white and orange cards. It's difficult to see what additional benefit this will provide to veterans when there are already longstanding Defence family benefit schemes in operation. For example, in South Australia, Defence Families of Australia has been operating for six years and has already secured over 10,000 partnership agreements with some of the largest businesses in Australia, who are now offering discounts and benefits to veterans.

While I'm sceptical as to whether the lapel pins and veterans cards will be of meaningful benefit to veterans and their families, it should not detract from the other positive measures contained in this bill. The bill enshrines in legislation the Australian Defence Force covenant. The covenant was announced by the minister late last year and it encourages Australians to recognise and acknowledge the unique nature of military service and to support veterans and their families. The covenant includes an oath: for what they have done, this we will do. People will be encouraged to take the oath at community commemorative events, such as Remembrance Day, but this will not replace the Ode and nor should it.

The bill is also particularly important as it enshrining in legislation a commitment by the government that decision-makers will interpret veterans' affairs legislation in a way that benefits veterans and their families. This section also confirms that decision-makers will decide claims in a manner that's fair, just and consistent and do that within a time that is proportionate to the complexity of the matter. Arguably, these measures that veterans and the broader Australian public would expect are already occurring as a matter of course and should not need to be set out in legislation.

I accept that I cannot speak for all veterans in my electorate nor, indeed, for all veterans across the country, but I return to the question of action versus words: does the bill actually improve the lives of veterans and their families? For example, this bill does not help those veterans pleading for transparency around the DFRDB computations and nor does it provide a fairer distribution for advocacy grants around our regional RSLs, who must travel significant distances to provide support to veterans living outside of metropolitan Adelaide. The bill also neither gives nor takes any rights from veterans and their families, and it confers no physical or financial benefit. That's not a criticism of the bill nor is it intended to minimise the importance of the covenant. I accept that respect and gratitude are not conditional upon the provision of financial support and that genuine and meaningful acknowledgement of the sacrifices made by those who have served our nation and those families who have supported them can be an important step in helping veterans adjust to civilian life. I'm also mindful that this bill should not be viewed in isolation from other valuable reforms and initiatives that are currently being undertaken by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

I support the bill and want to convey my deepest gratitude to both those past and present serving Defence men and women. Your sacrifices and those of your family will not be forgotten. Our country's forever indebted to you. Thank you. For what you have done, this we will do.

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