Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank speakers before me for the genuinely bipartisan way in which this has been approached. I think Australians want to see that from us on this issue of looking after those who have served our nation. Australians generally understand the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our armed forces over the history of our nation.

I'm a fourth-generation veteran and I have the honour of having been appointed by the Prime Minister as the Special Envoy for Veterans' Affairs. That means working with the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, who I met with today, and people like my good friend the member for Spence, who, with the member for Menzies, co-chairs the Parliamentary Friends of Veterans. They are doing a great job for veterans in that role and making sure that veterans have different points of contact within the parliament.

I want to pay great tribute to our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, the member for Grayndler, who responded to the concerns of the veterans community—including, obviously, their families—and fought for a royal commission to be announced. I also lobbied hard for that Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and I want to thank the Prime Minister for his support of me. Every day I talk with veterans, as many members in this place do, to share in their achievements; to celebrate, recognise and commemorate them and their families; and to assist them with any issues and difficulties they have along the way. I note that the final report of this very powerful and much-needed inquiry was handed to the government on 9 September. We'll respond to the full report by the end of the year.

For too long, the veterans entitlement claim systems have caused unnecessary hardship and worry for veterans and their families. One only has to view the powerful winning entry by Kat Rae in the Napier Waller Art Prize for veteran art, named Deathmin, to understand that in stark relief. It is on display in this building, and I encourage members to check it out. It is a stack of post-death admin the artist inherited after her veteran husband, Andrew, suicided in 2017. As Ms Rae said in her artist statement:

… Deathmin embodies the burden placed on veterans and their families. It asks bureaucratic institutions to care for the people they say they will.

The Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024 is the Albanese government's response to the first recommendation from the interim report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which was released a couple of years ago, in 2022. As it says in the title, the aim is to simplify and harmonise veteran compensation and rehabilitation legislation. The royal commission said the current system 'is so complicated that it adversely affects the mental health of some veterans' and their families. Veterans and their families have been calling for change to the system for years. This bill is the most significant commitment from any government toward simplifying veterans legislation since the introduction of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation act 20 years ago—full one score years ago.

Currently, veterans' entitlements are determined under one or more of three primary compensation acts: the MRCA, the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004; the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, or the VEA; and/or the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-Related Claims) Act 1988, or the DRCA. This has been further complicated by the extra layer of when the veteran served and the period of service that caused or contributed to the condition being claimed. To say the system is overly complex and difficult is an understatement. It has also been a frustration of mine when I've tried to assist veterans—in fact, former soldiers of mine—who served under multiple acts of this place.

In 2019, the Productivity Commission recommended that these three acts, the MRCA the DRCA and the VEA, be streamlined into two. But our government has taken this a step further. The bill before us streamlines the number from three acts into one. The bill would result in a single ongoing act from 1 July 2026. This will considerably simplify claims processing and give veterans and their families the support that they need faster. All new compensation claims would be dealt with under a single compensation act, the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, or MRCA, regardless of when the veteran served or when they were injured or became ill.

Honourable members in this place, if you have had any veterans come to you with frustrations you will know how this simplification is going to greatly assist particularly older veterans where they have served under several acts. But it's important to note that there'll be no reductions in entitlements determined under pre-existing arrangements—that is, under the Veterans' Entitlements Act or the DRCA. Under revised arrangements, the VEA and the DRCA will continue in a grandparented form but will be closed to new claims for compensation and rehabilitation from 1 July 2026, as mentioned.

This bill also introduces a range of enhancements to the MRCA that will make access to entitlements easier and fairer for veterans. Many of the enhancements have been shaped by feedback provided from the veteran community across two separate consultation periods in 2023 and 2024. These enhancements include compensation for funeral expenses. They will be consolidated into the MRCA. Legal and personal representatives of deceased veterans will be able to lodge a claim under the MRCA irrespective of the act that the member previously had coverage from. The cap on funeral compensation formerly under the VEA will be moved to the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and will be increased from $2,000 to $3,000. All those who have worked through funeral expenses for loved ones, friends and family, know that that will be a welcome increase.

The legislative basis for benefits like the acute support package, household services and attendant care, the Victoria Cross allowance, ex gratia payments and recognition supplements for former prisoners of war will all move to the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Some aspects of veteran treatment arrangements will move from the VEA to the MRCA, including the legislative basis for non-liability health care and the commission's powers to determine specific treatment programs and classes of eligible persons. These moves will result in no changes to coverage.

A legislative basis for the Repatriation Commission to accept liability based on a presumption that the person's defence service caused their injury or disease will operate by providing the commission with an instrument-making power to specify the relevant injuries or diseases.

A new payment, called the additional disablement amount, or ADA, will also be introduced into the MRCA. Like the extreme disablement adjustment, or EDA, this new payment will benefit veterans over the pension age with significant service related impairments. Knowing a few of those who are affected by that, I can say that is again very welcome. Like with the EDA, dependants of deceased ADA veterans will also have access to the gold card and other benefits in the event of the veteran's death. Importantly no individual veteran will suffer a reduction to their existing payments. As such, compensation previously awarded under the DRCA or VEA will not be disrupted. Again they will be grandparented.

Funding for the enhancements delivered through these changes was included in the May budget this year. A commencement date of 1 July 2026 ensures the veteran community is well informed on what these important changes mean for them and provides enough time for individuals to consider their circumstances. This date also allows for adequate training for advocates and DVA staff ahead of commencement. With that mention of advocates, I just want to give a shout-out to all the advocates in my electorate and in fact across the Territory and across the country. As veterans they do such awesome work to help their fellow veterans. I had a coffee catch-up with George Koulakis up in Darwin last week. He really cares. He's one of those many advocates around the country who give up heaps of their own time to help their fellow veterans. We owe them a great debt.

The 2024-25 budget included $222 million of additional funding for veteran and family entitlements and supports to be made available through this new simplified legislation, ensuring veterans and their families can better understand and access the support they are entitled to but faster. Again faster is the imperative word. It is worth noting another part of the response to the royal commission that complements this bill. Our government has delivered additional staff to process the claims backlog. DVA is processing claims at record levels because of the significant additional funding provided to DVA by the government and the dedication of the DVA staff. I give those staff a huge shout-out. It is important that you do your work briskly, professionally and with empathy.

The backlog of initial liability, incapacity and permanent impairment unallocated claims identified by the royal commission has been cleared, and DVA is now managing 'business as usual' levels of these types of claims. It's business as usual but the new usual where we move with a sense of purpose to look after those who have served our nation. DVA aims to allocate all new claims within two weeks for processing by an officer. As at 30 June this year, 93.9 per cent of the claims backlog of almost 42,000 noted in the interim report of 2022 had been finalised, and the remainder were being processed. The 2024-25 budget provides additional funding and staffing to ensure DVA can continue to meet the needs of veterans and their families for high-quality services and faster. Again, the onus is on getting through the backlog. The only way you can do that is if you've got more resources, and this harmonisation will lead to quicker processing in the future.

A range of measures and initiatives continue to be implemented to improve the claims process to support the veteran community. MyService enhancements are making it easier, for example, for veterans to submit claims. The compensation medical form review project has now been completed and has resulted in a reduction of 210 medical forms to 84. That is a significant decrease in the amount of paperwork, which was reflected on by Ms Rae in that powerful work. This has also realised a reduction in the amount that needs to be read and filled out, down from 658 pages to 183. A common complaint of veterans is that it is just too much—too much to comprehend, too much to work through. This simplification is definitely going to help. DVA has also updated its claims processing webpage to make it easier for veterans to know how to make a claim and view key data.

Our government welcomes the findings from the final report of the royal commission, tabled on 9 September, and will respond to the new recommendations by the end of the year. I want to recognise all those who have served our nation, including those in the chamber, as well as those members on both sides of parliament who've worked in a bipartisan way to do what the Australian Defence Veterans' Covenant says that we will do, and that is to honour those who have served our great nation.

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