Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The decision to serve your country is a momentous one. Whether in peacetime or in war, our servicemen and servicewomen put the safety, security and prosperity of our nation before their own. Whether on the front lines or not, Defence service is dangerous. The wounds go far beyond the physical, and we know the significant mental toll our veterans and their families face. So, when men and women make that decision to serve, it's fair that their government in turn takes care of them. But, as a nation, we are not doing enough to deliver on our end of this bargain.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide is a watershed moment in our nation's history. The stories we've heard are harrowing, and the release of the final report is a sombre moment for all Australians. The findings and recommendations of the royal commission are a powerful call to action, and we cannot let this moment go to waste. This must be the moment where we say, 'Enough is enough,' and commit, as a country and as a parliament, to do better by our veterans, their families and the wider community. That's why the bill before us is so sorely needed. It responds to the first recommendation of the royal commission's interim report—to fix a veterans' entitlement system that is comprehensively broken. The royal commission concluded that the entitlement system is so complex, so convoluted and so prone to delays that it contributes to the distress and suicidality of veterans. How can it have come to this, where the very system designed to support veterans and to help them, is contributing to their anguish, their pain and, in some cases, their death?

As one veteran in my electorate asked me, 'How hard can it be to get this right?' I agree. While it may be hard, we must find a way to make the entitlement system work better for veterans, because the stories I hear from veterans in my electorate are distressing. They're veterans who feel abandoned within the complex and confusing entitlement system. Connor is a veteran in my electorate living with total and permanent incapacitation. After months of searching, he finally secured the services of a cleaner in his small regional town to help him. But after only three visits, the cleaner said they could not continue working for him because of the department's failure to provide payment for invoices that were submitted. Connor says most contractors simply won't work with DVA clients because of protracted and ongoing payment delays. For veterans in regional and rural areas, this often means they simply don't get the care they need and the care that they're entitled to.

For service providers like Bluebell Services, a veteran owned business in my electorate, the impacts are extending to their employees. Bluebell's directors, Matt and Sarah, say that delays are impacting their contractor's credit scores and contributing to mortgage stress at a time when the cost of living is already making things so tough. They asked my office why veterans and their service providers are forced to beg for money from their government. We need this bill because stories like Connor's and Matt and Sarah's simply cannot continue. Report after report shows that one of the key reasons the Department of Veterans' Affairs is failing is because of the complex and byzantine entitlement system.

That's why I support the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024. This bill will simplify the veterans' entitlement system by ensuring that there is only one act dealing with all veterans' entitlements not three, which is currently the case. This bill would amend the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, MRCA, to ensure it is the only ongoing act from 2026. The bill would close the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 to new claims. Where there are currently three different systems, all overlapping and contributing to the distress of veterans, soon there will be only one.

This bill would also make several other changes that should be commended. The bill will introduce a presumptive liability mechanism for conditions known to be associated with ADF or other service. The new clause 27A will enable the minister to approve a list of injuries and diseases known to be service related. That means veterans won't be required to prove time and time again that their condition is service related; it will be automatic. While we don't know what conditions may be included on this list, it could mean that conditions such as PTSD are included. This will make it easier and quicker for veterans to receive support and care and will remove a source of distress and secondary trauma for veterans forced to prove, often on multiple occasions, that their condition is service related.

It's also encouraging that more veterans and their families currently receiving benefits under DRCA will be eligible for gold cards. For many in my community, gold cards are a crucial, indispensable source of support for things like medical treatment and counselling. I support their expansion to more veterans with high levels of impairment. However, RSL Australia raise an important concern about the hurdles veterans may have to jump to access a gold card under the new arrangements. I share their concerns that the current drafting of the legislation may result in a perverse situation where the higher the level of impairment, the more difficult it will be for veterans to access a gold card when transitioning from the DRCA to the MRCA. I hope the government will address these concerns as the bill moves through the parliament.

The bill will also streamline certain administrative processes by merging the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission into the Repatriation Commission. The bill will also make it easier for veterans to appeal adverse decisions to the Veterans' Review Board, and this will help to create the single review pathway that was recommended by the interim report of the royal commission.

The bill also harmonises entitlements such as funeral allowances and travel allowances. The introduction of an additional disability amount will ensure consistent compensation is available to all veterans who are age pension age or older with a high degree of incapacity. Changes to the way travel allowances are paid will be particularly important for veterans in my electorate of Indi and across regional, rural and remote Australia. Workforce shortages and the tyranny of distance make it so hard for veterans in my communities to access appropriate services, and ensuring travel allowances are consistently and fairly paid will reduce stress for many in my electorate.

This bill is an important step, and it will help veterans in my electorate who are being failed by the status quo. However, while this bill will improve the situation, any change will be slow. Implementation of these reforms is delayed until the second half of 2026, two years after the royal commission recommended. Veterans will still be forced to deal with a broken system for a few years yet. So, while I support this bill, it must be improved. The defining feature of this bill is the government's promise that no veterans will be worse off because of the changes. We must hold the government to account on this, and the government must listen to community concerns and amend this bill where necessary.

Having met with and listened to veterans and heard the concerns arising from the inquiry into the bill, I've identified several parts of this bill that could and should be improved. Firstly, the existing definition of a 'wholly dependent partner' needs to be revised. I share the concerns of stakeholders such as Legacy, RSL Australia and Australian War Widows that the term 'wholly dependent partner' is outdated, fails to reflect the reality of modern relationships and does not reflect the care and support dynamic that exists between a veteran and their partner.

Secondly, I support a no-detriment clause being included in the bill for claims between the passing of the bill and the start of the new single act system on 1 July 2026. While the department has recommended veterans delay their claims until 2026 where possible, this is unreasonable for so many veterans, widows or widowers. A no-detriment clause would ensure the government lives up to its commitment that no veterans will be worse off and would ensure that the more beneficial provisions apply when the old and new systems come into conflict. I hope to see these issues addressed in amendments in the Senate.

I support this bill because it will make a difference for veterans living in my electorate. I hear too often from veterans at breaking point, forced to deal with a broken system, and, while I support the intent of this bill, it alone is not enough and certainly not soon enough. This government and any future government must be prepared to respond to the final report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide with more action and more funding to help veterans. This bill is just the start.

Doing better by veterans cannot happen in two years time and not after the next election. It needs to happen now. The way we failed to support veterans in this country is to our shame. It's not good enough. If the minister is right and this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get the system right for veterans and their families, then they should be willing to work with the community to improve this bill further.

I want to take this chance to speak directly to veterans in Indi and to those still in service. Indi has many defence connections, most notably Gaza Ridge Barracks and Wadsworth Barracks in Bandiana and Latchford Barracks in Bonegilla, on the outskirts of Wodonga. We also have defence manufacturing, which employs many people in Indi. In the 2021 census, more than 5,000 people in Indi said they had previously served or were currently serving in our defence forces.

Knowing these deep links to the Defence Force, when I became the member for Indi, I made a concerted effort to grow my knowledge of what it means to be a serving member of the Defence Force and the issues facing veterans. This includes taking part in the Defence Force Parliamentary Program, joining Operation Resolute with the Australian Border Force last year. Throughout my time as the member for Indi, I have worked closely with our veterans' organisations, including the RSL, through the Tim Fischer AC Veterans and Families Hub at Wodonga, and the Goorambat Veterans Retreat, just to name a few.

I especially want to acknowledge the partners and families of those who serve. The husbands, wives and partners face significant challenges of their own, not just in supporting their partners. The children of ADF members also deserve recognition. Many move schools and towns often as they follow their parents' work. I've attended schools taking part in the Defence School Mentor Program, which is a vital support.

Indi is home to two units of Army cadets in Wodonga and Wangaratta, and 420 Squadron of the Air Force cadets in Wangaratta, and these young people give me great optimism about the future of our nation. In just the last few months, I held an event marking 25 years since Australians served in peacekeeping forces in Timor Leste, and the stories of those veterans and their families, particularly the mother of two of the men who were sent, taught me so much. I want to acknowledge the contribution of the member for Solomon here in the House today in making this event happen. He too served in Timor Leste and he continues to advocate on behalf of veterans in the parliament, and I appreciate and applaud his service.

I also recently met with members of the Wodonga and Rutherglen RSLs to speak about the findings of the royal commission. They asked me to tell them about the findings but, as always, I feel like I learned so much more from them. It feels pertinent to give this speech as we approach Remembrance Day. It is a vital role of our RSLs to host ceremonies on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day, managing dozens of volunteers, maintaining local cenotaphs and keeping the memories alive. The work that goes into these days is so valued by our veterans and by the wider community. I thank them and I respect them.

As a nation, Australia pays respect to those who served, rightly. We pay that respect with dignity and solemnity. But truly understanding the experiences of servicemen and women is the work of many conversations, of listening deeply, and, even then, I am not sure if we do truly understand what we have not experienced ourselves. I would like to say thank you to Indi's serving and veteran community, both for your services and for the experiences and stories you have so generously shared with me from Vietnam, from Timor Leste, from Afghanistan, from Iraq, from across the world. I know sharing these stories is not easy and I want you to know that my office and I are here to help you. We will always do everything we can at our disposal to give you the support you so rightly deserve and we must give so fulsomely.

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