Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I proudly rise to support the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme Amendment Bill 2022, as it demonstrates that the Albanese government is showing up for those who are serving and those who have served our country. I reiterate the acknowledgement of service given by previous members speaking on this bill and add my voice to those remarks.

The bill will provide and help fulfil a range of recommendations from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to better support those who have served. We need to move quickly because there is a real sense of urgency about this. Far too many veterans and current service personnel are falling through the cracks and not getting the support that was promised to them. We have to improve the government's capacity to support ex-service personnel, and we must act quickly because the lack of action over the last couple of years has been nothing short of disappointing. We also know that this bill will help with personnel retention in military service. This is a key priority for this government and an important factor in making sure Australia's defence capabilities are strong and growing every day. This is one of a number of measures we are taking, and we are working with Defence to fix the current issues. I want to stress the importance of pushing this bill through to help with those objectives.

The Albanese government is determined to do better for those who are doing so much and have given so much for our country. This is especially important in communities around McEwen, where we have a high proportion of Defence housing in places like Mernda and Doreen. These housing opportunities not only give stability and opportunity to ex-service personnel but also help grow and enrich our community.

I support the bill because I'm passionate about supporting veterans, but also because I know that supporting and giving veterans the stability they need ultimately has a positive impact. This bill delivers on another one of the Albanese Labor government's election promises. We know that veterans and many service personnel have been overlooked and at times forgotten. With the cost of living rising and housing affordability being a huge issue across all of Australia, these factors are felt keenly by those who have served, which is why our government is prioritising this legislation.

We are implementing this policy to be as effective as possible by tackling this with a four-pronged approach. This can be summarised as: expanding the access to the scheme, taking the time restrictions off when people can apply, fixing the current ongoing subsidy issues and addressing the administrative processes that need to be updated.

The Labor government is committed to improving this program to make it more effective and, frankly, to help more people. We are doing this by increasing early access to the scheme, allowing defence personnel to have access to the benefits of this scheme earlier in their service. Practically, what it means is that those who are in full-time service will have access within two years of service and those who are in part-time service will have access within four years. This will have a run-on effect of decreasing the time that people will be eligible for the subsidy tiers, allowing members and ex-service personnel to have better access to the scheme more quickly.

This will be retroactive for those who have left the Defence Force for compensatable reasons and didn't qualify for the scheme. It will help push those eligible up to another tier, due to their time of previous service. This is tackling the issue of many previous personnel having slipped through the cracks.

It will give more opportunity for stability when people leave the Defence Force and undertake the big task of re-engaging in civilian life. Numerous reports have come out recently saying that it can take years in some cases, and veterans might have to work many years through that transition into civilian life. So the bill is removing the condition that veterans must apply within five years of leaving the Defence Force. We all know what the frequent moving that comes from being a member of the Defence Force means. It can take time to establish roots and find a place that can provide the best opportunity for people to transition out of military life. The removal of the time constraint will allow veterans not to rush into the scheme. And this is an acknowledgement that the circumstances of defence personnel and their families' lifestyles are incredibly unique and involve different challenges to settling down.

Growing up in Broadmeadows, we often had a school full of what we called 'Army brats' who were in and out. By the time many of these kids were in year 8 they'd travelled the country and been to nine or 10 different schools. We know the issue that caused the families then, not only just for the kids but also for their parents—particularly for the parent who wasn't a member of the Defence Force. Being shifted around and then trying to create new connections in a new community and develop that was very hard. That's why we've also got to extend this service to the surviving partners, who have similarly been impacted by the nature of having partners who've served in the military. It's so important for families to be able to have those roots and those connections.

One of the big issues facing Defence today is the shortage of personnel entering our defence forces and staying. It's getting that stability, trying to find those roots where you can settle down, give your kids the opportunity that we all want and think we all deserve but also dealing with the uniqueness that is ADF life, where you're not in the one place all the time and you're going to be moved around.

These challenges are hard, which is why locally we push really hard to try to get as much information as we can about Defence homes in our area, to make sure that as new people come in we can give them the opportunity by saying just the simple things like, 'Here's your local Men's Shed,' or 'Here's your local social services,' or 'Here are the better pizza shops.' These are all things that, when you move into a community, make a local community, but it also gives them the opportunity to meet up with social groups and like-minded people, ensuring that, when they come into our communities, they feel welcome, they feel part of us and they enjoy their time there, because we know—as is the nature of defence—that they're going to move on eventually. But if we can make their time and stay in our communities better, then that's a very positive thing that we can do for defence personnel and their families. This is a sensible and responsible approach in making sure that we provide stability and look after their families, even during a transitional period.

In addition to those measures, the bill tackles the shortfalls in current legislation by creating a power to make sure that there is a way to continue paying subsidy amounts even when an error might have been made. It will mean that people who are recipients of the scheme are protected from administrative mistakes that can suddenly make the entire subsidised amounts due. The hole in the legislation put people who were in precarious financial positions under unnecessary stress. This measure is responding to concerns raised by Defence, and the government is doing what it does in acting quickly to make sure no more personnel are put under the unnecessary stress that comes from being suddenly cut off through no fault of their own. The current inflexibility does not allow for human error and genuine human mistakes, with many people being taken off the scheme for small personal mistakes or mistakes made by a third party. As we know, we need to have that human interaction when we're doing these things so we don't end up with robodebt situations where automatic things are done, you have no say in it and you get the bill later on. That is unacceptable and easily avoidable. Allowing some room for genuine error is only right and fair.

This bill seeks to support the administrative side of the scheme and create a process to adjust payments that have already been made. It will allow for both the making and the recovery of any payments that are out of order. We are making sure there are proper processes and guarantees of good governance and transparency to make sure that this scheme is doing its job. This small change will not only streamline the process to handle any issues, taking stress off recipients in the scheme, but also ensure that the scheme is working effectively. If passed, this legislation will come into effect on 1 January 2023. That cannot come soon enough.

We are making sure that anyone who has missed out due to the previous restrictions and policy gaps can be allowed to resubmit their applications. This is a testament to this government's commitment to making sure that current and future defence personnel are actually receiving the support they deserve. We know the sacrifices they've made can have huge impacts on the lives and livelihoods of those who have served. So the Albanese government is working hard to reduce those challenges.

I do acknowledge that the opposition is supporting the bill. That's important. I think it shows that we can have bipartisan bills where we sit there and focus on what is right and what is fair rather than on what is politically good. There are many veterans that we deal with every single day who have suffered dramatically through their time in service. The more that we can do to help them and help support their transition back into civilian life to be active and positive members of our community—we should be doing more of that. It's important for us as legislators to make sure that we do the right thing when we see there's a problem and act quickly to say, 'We know this is an issue. We've got to fix it and fix it quickly.' I think that's what we've seen being done in this. Within five months in office, we've brought this in and we'll bring this forward. It's part of a program that's focusing on veterans.

In saying that, I think of Minister Keogh yesterday. We had a veteran who'd been waiting over 1,000 days to have his claim heard—not even approved; just to have it heard. That's just appalling. That is not what we should be doing. I don't think any of us sitting in this room would say that that's fair and reasonable. The DVA has had a real problem in the way that it has been working with veterans and how it has been supporting veterans. Through contacting Minister Keogh directly, we were able to make sure this veteran had his claim not only assessed but approved in 24 hours. For nearly three years, this poor fellow had been under stress, waiting. But he's not alone. He's one of many who are going through this situation. He is one of many who have been suffering because of the backlog that is being worked through at the DVA. That's something we've really noticed. We often say, 'Change the government, change the nation.' Well, we've seen a change of government, a change of minister and a change to a positive attitude.

I know there are many other veterans out there who are in this desperate situation, but we have to do everything we can to work together to get this sorted as quickly as possible. It is important that governments always stand to support the wellbeing of veterans and defence personnel. It is why I support this bill. I hope that we can have a speedy passage of this bill and get it through so that we can get things rolling as quickly as possible together as an entire parliament to do the right thing for the people from whom we expect so much.

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