Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024 is important, long-overdue legislation. Over the years, I have had cause to form friendships with numerous veterans in my community and work closely with them over many years. Through those friendships, I've come to better understand the unique nature of military service and some of the struggles that many of the veterans I talk to endure each and every day. Our service men and women choose a career where their life is on the line, where they are separated from their families for long periods, where they and their families are frequently relocated from one region to another and where discipline and taking orders is ingrained into them. For those who serve in a conflict zone, the experience can be traumatic and life changing. Not surprisingly, many defence personnel leave their service emotionally and physically scarred and in need of support from those around them and from the government and the defence department which they served.

Regrettably, for too long, Australia has failed our veterans. Long delays to assess their claims, inconsistent decision-making and cumbersome claims processes have all left too many veterans frustrated and disillusioned. The after-service treatment very likely adds to their trauma and emotional wellbeing and a feeling of abandonment. All of which, in turn, contribute to family breakdowns, alcoholism, drug abuse, homelessness and, sadly, at times even suicide. All of these outcomes were clearly brought home in the royal commission.

Their plight would be much worse were it not for the various support services that their own defence mates initiate, not government departments or government funded organisations but quite often the very people who are their mates and who served with them in their time of service—people that are associated with, in my region, the RSL clubs, the Vietnam Veterans Association of South Australia northern sub-branch, the Peter Badcoe rehabilitation centre, the National Servicemen's Association Para District Branch in South Australia, and Operation Unity. All of those groups are groups that I have personally had reason to work with, and I understand the terrific work that they do each and every day to help their mates.

The extraordinary length of time taken to process veterans' claims was of itself a major problem with the process. In response to a question in this parliament on 29 May this year from the member for Solomon about veterans' claims, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs provided the following answer. I won't read it out in full, but I want to read a substantial part of it because I think it brings home the frustration that I referred to just a few moments ago. The minister said:

When we came to government, DVA was underresourced, it was underfunded and it was facing a crisis. There was a backlog of some 42,000 claims in the department that had not even been looked at …

The vast majority of claims that are brought are under the MRCA. The first step is establishing initial liability. Back in 2022-23, it took on average 332 days just to allocate a claim to someone for them to look at it. It took a further average of 113 days for that claim to be determined, which meant in 2022-23 the average time to process claims was 441 days. Addressing this crisis is why the government have made the investments that we have. DVA is now better funded than it had been in three decades. We funded 500 additional APS in the October 2022 budget to get about clearing that backlog. We have added funding for 141 permanent staff in the budget this year. The use of labour hire to process claims has fallen from a third to just 10 people. As of right now, it takes 14 days—no more—for that claim I mentioned to be looked at. On average, since 1 December, it takes six days. The average time taken to determine a claim, since 1 December 2023, is now 44 days. That means it is an average of 60 days now to process a MRCA initial liability claim. Of course, there are claims that a more complex and where further medical information might be sought. It does take some time for those claims.

… That's why we've put in the work to get these claims assessed as quickly as possible. It's the processing of this backlog of claims that we inherited that means we are spending an additional $6.5 billion over five years to give veterans the benefits that they deserve.

I think that answer beautifully summarises the backlog of claims and the time taken to process them, which, in turn, was directly contributing, in my view, to the frustration and disappointment of many of the veterans—and certainly many of the veterans that I was speaking to. I'm pleased to see that those processing times have now improved markedly.

This legislation is important. Again, for the benefit of anyone following the debate, I will cover some of the key points about what this legislation actually does. Under the current legislative model, veterans entitlements are determined under one or more of three primary compensation acts. That is the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, otherwise known as the MRCA, the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, otherwise known as the VEA, and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988, which is the DRCA. It depends on when the veteran served and which period of service caused or contributed to the condition being claimed.

The bill simplifies and harmonises the current tri-act framework of legislation by providing for all claims for compensation and rehabilitation received from 1 July 2026 to be determined under the MRCA. The new regime will mean it is easier for veterans and families to understand what they are entitled to, easier for veterans' advocates to assist veterans and families with their DVA claims and simpler and quicker for DVA to process veterans' and families' claims so that veterans and families will receive the benefits and supports that they need and deserve more quickly. No veteran will be worse off under this legislation, and nobody will receive lower benefits than they are already receiving.

Again, without going through every detail of the legislation, there are some other issues that I will mention in my contribution. Schedule 1 closes the VEA and the DRCA to future grants of compensation and specifies that new claims will be assessed under the MRCA benefit structure. Schedule 2 contains changes which harmonise access to certain allowances and support services under the single ongoing act model. It introduces a new payment, the additional disablement allowance, for veterans who are prevented from accessing the extreme disablement adjustment under the VEA, which, like the EDA, will benefit veterans who are over pension age and who have a high degree of incapacity due to service related conditions.

It introduces presumptive liability, which means the Repatriation Commission will be able to specify injuries and diseases that can be determined on a presumptive basis where they are known to have a common connection with military service. It consolidates household and attendant care, travel for treatment and retention of automatic granting of VEA funeral benefits in the MRCA. It also increases to $3,000 the funeral allowance for previous automatic grant categories under the VEA and the availability of reimbursement of funeral expenses—up to $14,062—for all service related deaths. It goes on. It provides a higher travel reimbursement amount for some applicants. It standardises allowances and other payments. It enhances the commission's ability to grant special assistance to veterans and their dependants and moves some aspects of veteran arrangements from the VEA to the MRCA.

Lastly, in respect of some of the key matters that this legislation addresses, schedule 3 confers jurisdiction on the Veterans Review Board to review original determinations under the DRCA. Previously, these appeals went directly to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Schedule 4 transfers the powers and functions of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission to the Repatriation Commission and prescribes a single governance body—that is, the Repatriation Commission—under the MRCA. There are other changes which time does not allow me to go to, but I believe that what I've just outlined gives a fairly good picture of all of the improvements that are related to this legislation.

In closing, giving veterans the recognition they deserve is important to their after-service wellbeing. I therefore take this opportunity to commend the Virtual War Memorial Australia initiative. Virtual War Memorial Australia is a digital commemorative collection purpose-built to honour the service and personal experiences of all those who have served our nation in times of war and armed conflict, from the Boer War through to Afghanistan, including peacekeeping missions. Offering an integrated and verified dataset of over 1.5 million service personnel, it is the only memorial of its kind nationally and internationally. As a national memorial, it honours those who've returned and, notwithstanding all that they endured, continue to contribute to the Australian community in the building of our nation and commemorates the fallen. Most importantly, the Virtual War Memorial Australia initiative invites the nation to participate in this important national storytelling. The stories within the collection will serve as an everlasting reminder of the generations of Australians who chose to serve for a greater cause, a reason bigger than their own comfort and safety. I believe it is a wonderful initiative that acknowledges every veteran—not just those who unfortunately were killed in war but every veteran—and tells their stories and their contributions to the defence of our nation. I commend that initiative to this parliament, as I commend this legislation to the parliament.

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