Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the chamber today to speak briefly about a recent visit to Tasmania, where I attended the state RSL congress in Ulverstone. I also met with representatives of the Vietnam veterans’ community to talk about some of the local counselling services down there and some issues they were having with the department with respect to the continuing and ongoing funding of a particular project. The particular project I am talking about was written up in the local newspaper at that time, and I read from that story:

TWO North-West support groups assisting with stress management for Vietnam and other war veterans could lose the services of clinical psychologists by the end of the year as a result of Department of Veteran Affairs red tape.

A loophole in DVA policy has meant that for the past nine years groups have been able to utilise the services of psychologists by rerunning 12-week programs that qualify for the funding.

According to Men’s Health Peer Education State representative Les Nicholas, of Penguin, a new DVA director, appointed last year, has told the groups the services can no longer continue because they did not conform with DVA policy.

Mr Nicholas said regular evaluation reports by the attending psychologists over the past four years supported the value of the services, but hadn’t been acknowledged by the department.

I met with representatives of those groups to discuss the nature of the sorts of services provided and the reasons why these were essential services that needed to be carried on into the long term, because there is no doubt that they were working very effectively. They provided me with information regarding the operation of these services. I will read from a stress management evaluation report of one of the groups:

One veteran reported that he did not get as angry. One veteran commented that the group had helped him see the psychological damage you could do if you hit someone when you were angry.

One reported that it helped his depression to come to the group and get out of the house. This in turn helped him go out other days and begin activities like bowls.

…            …            …

Another said that his kids tell him that he has improved and they can talk to him now. “I’m not so sarcastic. I don’t tell them what to do. I listen to them too. I used to roar my head off at them.”

…            …            …

Another veteran reports his daughter tells him if he is getting too het up “Why don’t you go and see your vet friends” as she knows the group calms him down.

There is no doubt that this service is of value. I am certainly encouraged by some of the comments that have been made by the minister and by the department head about properly evaluating these services and the fact that they ought to be able to continue. We intend to question the government with respect to the ongoing operation of these services and the value that they have through the Senate estimates process. These are the sorts of services that directly and in concrete ways help veterans who have real problems that they need to deal with to make sure that they get the sort of support that they need to be operating members of society.

There is no doubt that many veterans from conflicts have come back with severe problems as a result of their war service. It is incumbent on society and on the government to ensure that they are provided with the sorts of services that they need to try and deal with those issues. We believe, on this side of the chamber, that that is what needs to be done. (Time expired)