Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week, I visited the veteran wellbeing centre at Repat hospital in my electorate, which has been set up by the Plympton Glenelg RSL. This groundbreaking centre not only provides a one-stop shop to veterans and their families in my electorate and across Adelaide but also provides outreach to rural areas of South Australia and fields calls from across the country. The volunteers on reception are veterans themselves, and they talked to me about the importance of a friendly voice on the end of the phone, someone who knows the veteran journey and experience. The RSL assists veterans to access the services they need, apply for entitlements and submit claims, and Open Arms provides confidential counselling for veterans and their families, including a very valuable peer mentoring service. The service is supported by SA Health with access to services at the hospital.

When I was campaigning prior to the last election I met many veterans who told me about their experience of trying to lodge a TPI claim. I heard from people who had lodged claims and not heard anything for 18 months or more, so I am very pleased that this government has invested $87 million to improve the claims processing system and reduce waiting times and has also increased allowances. Our veterans and their families deserve all the support we can provide, and we thank them for their service.

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