Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to support and speak on the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024. I had the honour of serving as the Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs in the government for more than two years, and it was my great privilege to work with veterans and veterans advocacy groups, who sacrifice so much for our nation by putting their lives on the line to protect all of us. Of course, their families deserve recognition as well. The families make a sacrifice in supporting their loved ones to serve as well.

We can't ever fully repay that debt, but we can do our best to make sure that we support our serving Defence Force personnel and veterans as much as we possibly can. That is what this bill is all about. It responds to a recommendation of the royal commission and the needs of veterans to ensure that they get the support that they deserve post-service. When we were in opposition, we campaigned heavily for the establishment of a royal commission into defence and veterans suicide. I want to pay tribute to a number of advocacy organisations, particularly to two mothers, Julie-Ann Finney and Karen Bird, who campaigned across the country and never let up on ensuring that the royal commission was stood up and that we had the opportunity to shine a light on what was actually going on in our defence forces and the veteran community with their mental health challenges.

The final report of the royal commission was delivered to the government in September. That important body of work marked the culmination of the most significant and comprehensive inquiry conducted into suicide and suicidality in our defence and veteran communities. They delivered an interim report in August 2022. As soon as they delivered that report, the government took swift action on those recommendations. The first recommendation of the royal commission in their interim report was to simplify and harmonise the veterans compensation and rehabilitation legislation. The government has been working since that time to make sure that we delivered on that commitment. That is exactly what this bill does. It delivers on the No. 1 recommendation of the royal commission, to ensure that we make the system that is meant to support our veterans, particularly those who've been injured and have continuing ailments, to get the rehabilitation and the compensation that they deserve as quickly and as simply as possible. That is what this bill does.

The calls to address the complexity of our veterans entitlement legislation have been long standing. There have been three acts with different systems that people have had to navigate to try and make sure that they have a claim compensated and access to rehabilitation as quickly as possible. There have been three complicated systems. The system has been so complicated that veterans have had to employ advocates to act on their behalf. The system was so difficult to navigate you basically had to be an expert that worked full-time on understanding the system and how the acts worked to get an outcome. That should not be the case. It shouldn't be the case that our veterans have to employ someone to make an application for compensation due to an injury or an illness related to their service.

This bill simplifies the system. It brings three acts down to one from a future point in time onwards. It represents the most significant commitment from government towards simplifying veterans' legislation since the introduction of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 20 years ago. As the Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs, I worked alongside the minister, Matt Keogh, to conduct extensive consultation and collaboration with the veteran community to formulate this draft legislation. The minister and I met with veterans, advocates and ex-service organisations to understand the needs of veterans. We listened to their calls for legislative change and how this government could maximise outcomes for those who've given so much for our nation—outcomes for the people who've sacrificed themselves to protect and defend our nation, our democratic way of life and our freedom.

Those consultations were conducted in every state and territory. Combined with 323 written submissions we received, they informed the content of this bill and how we can better serve our veteran community. This bill introduces new legislative change that will make it easier for veterans and families to understand what they're entitled to. It's easier for claims to be processed and easier for staff at the Department of Veterans' Affairs to process those claims. Ultimately, it will deliver benefits and supports to veterans and their families that they need and they deserve as quickly and as simply as possible.

When we were elected to office in 2022 there was a backlog of 42,000 unprocessed claims for veterans' compensations and support. That's 42,000 veterans and their families who made a substantial contribution to our nation who were left in limbo. The royal commission findings pointed out that the No. 1 issue that was playing on the mental health of veterans and causing many of the problems associated with suicidality was the delay in the department processing claims. Veterans felt they weren't listened to, their service meant nothing, they weren't getting the treatment and the respect they deserve from the department in processing those claims. That's why, when we were elected to government, one of our first priorities was to allocate additional funding to the Department of Veterans' Affairs to fix the mess that existed under the coalition when they were in government.

The minister allocated $230 million for additional staff in the department and 500 additional staff were employed to help fix the system. Because of our efforts, that backlog has been reduced and veterans have the support and the speedy processing of claims that they deserve. It's worth pointing out that there's an additional $6½ billion that flows to veterans because of that additional support. We're doing all we can to make sure they get the support they deserve through the department.

It's also worth noting that the opposition, led by the opposition leader Peter Dutton, have a policy of cutting back on the Public Service. Cutting numbers from the Public Service will once again result in people who are processing claims in the Department of Veterans' Affairs having their jobs cut and veterans not getting the support they deserve to process their claims in a quick and timely manner, and that is disgraceful! The findings of the royal commission show our veterans have gone through enough with the backlogs that were in place under the previous government. Our defence forces and the veterans' community deserve our utmost support and shame on any government, shame on any opposition that tries to cut back on the number of people who are supporting our veterans in the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

This comes on top of the other changes that this government has made, led by the minister, to support our veterans. There will be 10 new veterans and families hubs across the country to provide those important one-stop shops for veterans services and support, $24 million for the veteran employment program supporting veterans transition into the civilian workforce, an increase in the total and permanently incapacitated pension by $1,000, a tripling of the payments to GPs for servicing veterans, a new defence veterans and families acute support package to provide crisis support to veterans families, and $48.4 million invested to boost veterans home care and community nursing programs to ensure there are no gaps in service delivery. This comes in addition to other cost-of-living relief implemented by the Albanese government to support the Australian Defence Force and our veteran community. The changes to the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme—the $46 million expansion to that scheme—will ensure more serving Defence Force personnel and veterans can their own home is part of that cost-of-living relief package.

I want to emphasise the bill that now rests before the parliament will provide support for veterans at net cost, and that is important, to ensure that veterans get the support that they need. We have set aside an additional $222 million for veteran and family entitlements across the first two years of this legislation, and that is the Albanese government's commitment to ensuring that no veteran will suffer a reduction in their existing entitlements. I pay tribute to the minister for being able to ensure that we give that guarantee to veterans.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the veterans entitlements system to not only ensure that veterans get the timely support that they need but, most importantly, that they get the compensation for injuries and illness that they deserve and that they get the respect from the Australian government and the Australian people for their service to our nation. I commend this bill to the House.

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