Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to sum up the debate on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023. It's an auspicious day to be doing so, because, as alluded to by some of the previous speakers, today we launched the commemorative medallions and certificates for our Vietnam veterans as part of this year's commemorations for the 50th anniversary of the end of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. It was an absolute pleasure and indeed honour to be joined by 10 of our Vietnam veterans, who received the first of those medallions. They were handed to them by the Prime Minister, and I thank him very much for being part of that event. I thank all members of parliament across all parties who were involved and came to participate in that event. That showed that this is not about politics; it's about recognising the service of our veterans who were not properly recognised at the time of their service.

I recognise and thank all members who have contributed to the debate on this bill and acknowledge the continuing tradition of non-partisan support for our veteran community, as we've seen in the speeches made on the bill before us at the moment. In particular I also thank all the members who spoke on this bill for their ongoing support for my role as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the work we are doing to support our veterans. I know that there was some discussion by members about the backlog of claims that currently confronts the Department of Veterans' Affairs. That is a serious issue. It's why, at the last election, we made a commitment to get through that backlog as quickly as we could by employing 500 additional staff in the Department of Veterans' Affairs. We've now employed 275 of those additional staff. We've seen those numbers continue to grow since we came into government. We have now, from July, turned a corner on that and are eating into the backlog of claims that we inherited from the previous government.

It's not only the resourcing of the department which is important. It is also important to reform the legislation that underpins the entitlement system for compensation and rehabilitation for our veterans. That's why we are proceeding with our Veterans' Legislation Reform Consultation Pathway, to make sure that we are engaging around the opportunities that we have committed to. We are responding to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and harmonising and simplifying the legislation that supports our veterans so it's easier and faster for veterans to bring claims and have them processed by the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I'm grateful for the support that the government has received from all sides of the parliament in the endeavour of working through this process of reform. I'm also grateful for the support that we've received from the veterans community and veterans' families for this endeavour, and the support for the proposal we have put forward as a concept to reform the legislation.

I know members also discussed the important initiative of rolling out 10 new Veterans' and Families' Hubs across the country. Hubs will be located in areas that our census demonstrates have the highest concentration of veterans across the country. It is a very important initiative. I was very happy to join the member for Corangamite in a forum—one of many that I have been holding around the country—consulting with local veteran and family communities about their needs for these hubs, because they can't be cookie cutters. The needs of veterans are different in communities around Australia. They have different service make-ups, different age demographics and different needs for a variety of reasons. We want to make sure that the hubs in each of these locations—including in Corangamite and in Caboolture, which will be able to service the Sunshine Coast as well—are designed to service the veterans' needs in those communities. We've been working through that from late last year to the beginning of this year. We're currently receiving expressions of interest from organisations with proposals to run those hubs. We look forward to assessing those and making announcements soon about the proponents and locations for these 10 Veterans' and Families' Hubs that we are rolling out across the country to support our veterans.

I thank the member for Fisher for raising the GI bill idea. It is a concept that was borne out, as he said, of the United States during the Second World War. It's quite similar to our Second World War response of providing returned servicemen with the option of either a free university education—at a time when university education in Australia, as it still is in the United States, was a very expensive and exclusive opportunity—or access to farmland so that they could take up land, be productive and grow a business for themselves and their families. My great uncle did that. That farm is still in the family, and I'm very conscious of how that land came to be part of our family through that program. In Australia, we've seen tertiary education evolve considerably since that time. We went through a period where there was free and open access to university education. We now have a HECS regime, which still provides great accessibility to tertiary education in terms of the financial impost on those wishing to participate.

But the underlining tenet is about making sure that we encourage our veterans to engage in education so that, when they transition out of the Defence Force for whatever reason—whether it's because of injury or medical reasons or because they've made the decision, early or later in their career, that it's time for them to take on the next stage of their life in the civilian world—they are ready. There are a whole range of things that we are doing and, frankly, we need to improve upon, when it comes to the transition of our Defence Force personnel leaving defence. That's why, at the last election, we committed to, and are rolling out, our $24 million veterans employment package, part of which is about doing more work to recognise prior learning in defence to assist those who wish to go on to university study. Another part of that is about recognising the prior learning of those in defence and how that relates to vocational education opportunities—whether they can be recognised as having the equivalent certificate or diploma through vocational training—and working out what that gap is so that they can make sure they get that qualification for when they go out into the civilian world.

That's just part of our employment package, which is, of course, also about making sure that all Australians but especially employers recognise the great capability that our veterans have to offer our business community. They're great at leading teams. They're great at being members of a team. They're agile, they work well under pressure and they've got great time management. With all of these soft skills, it doesn't matter what role they go into; they are the important skills that employers are looking for, and our Defence Force personnel have them in spades.

Unfortunately, though, one of the things that we have found has not been as successful as we would have liked and hoped, across the board, has been encouraging people to go into further study by providing them with greater income assistance. That has been very helpful for people who have received it, but it hasn't resulted in more people coming through to undertake tertiary study or any full-time study as part of their rehabilitation. Certainly, some do, and that's good, but it doesn't seem to be a driver encouraging people to do that. That's why we're looking at these other modes as part of the Veterans' Employment Program. I know there are other things the member for Fisher has suggested we should look at, and all I will say to him at this point is: don't feel that those issues are falling on deaf ears. I'll leave it at that for this point.

The member for Fisher also raised the issue of medallic recognition for our veterans, an issue very important for our veterans and our serving personnel. It's why a previous Labor government established the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. I know the matter he has raised is before the tribunal. I, like many, look forward to receiving the report of that tribunal, and I thank the member for raising it.

I will turn to this bill in particular. I'm very grateful for the broad support that this has received. It's support for the Albanese Labor government's commitment to the task of saving lives and delivering a better future for our veterans community. When an Australian signs up to our Defence Force, they make a solemn vow to defend Australia, to defend our nation and to operate in support of our national interests. They do so knowing that they may find themselves in harm's way and could end up making the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. That is why, as a government and as a nation, we have a solemn obligation to look after our Defence Force personnel, veterans and families and to make sure for those who find themselves injured or needing support that it is readily available.

The Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023 introduces a number of measures that will improve the way we support families and veterans, address some technical anomalies and make some minor technical improvements to the operation of veterans legislation. The amendments contained in this bill, a number of which are long overdue, demonstrate the government's ongoing commitment to implementing practical measures to better support defence personnel, veterans and families. All the while, in parallel, we're undertaking a more significant venture in looking at how we can reform to simplify the overarching veterans support legislation.

Schedule 1 of this bill will require that the Repatriation Medical Authority provide an annual report for tabling in parliament. Schedule 2 amends the language contained in section 330 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 and in section 58 of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988; that language change is to better reflect what actual processes occur. Schedule 3 fixes incorrect references in the Veterans' Entitlements Act to a provision in the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999. Schedule 4 amends the Defence Service Homes Act 1918 to clarify the determination, revocation, replacement, variation and content of the statement of conditions made under section 38A of that act. Schedule 5 will automate the alignment of the private vehicle allowance rate in the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act to continue to align with that of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.

This bill is just one of the many ways that the Albanese Labor government is working to better support veterans. We came to government with a commitment to invest in a better future for defence personnel, veterans and families, and we've been delivering, both on our commitments in the federal budget and in responding to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This government is committed to implementing practical support measures to better support defence personnel, veterans and families. The amendments contained in this bill, while modest, demonstrate our government's ongoing commitment, while we also work on the consultation pathway for our veterans legislation reform. We want our service personnel, veterans and veteran families to know that they will get the support that they not only need but deserve. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 11:51

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