Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Defence Legislation Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Bill. My electorate of Herbert is home to the largest ADF presence in the country, and I am incredibly proud and very honoured to represent the largest garrison city in Australia. The ADF community in Townsville makes up approximately 20 per cent of our overall population. This includes current and ex-serving personnel, veterans, peacekeepers and family members. Townsville's economy reaps significant benefits from this large and welcome ADF presence. In fact, the ADF contribution financially can never be understated. Our community's social capital is also greatly enhanced by the presence of the Defence Force, their families and our veterans.

In order to gain a sound understanding and to recognise the significant and important role that the defence community and their families play in our community, I established the first Townsville Defence Community Reference Group. The reference group was also established to provide vital feedback and input into policy development to ensure that ADF voices in my community are heard in Canberra. The reference group is made up of local leaders in the defence community, including serving members and community organisers—dedicated leaders who all work tirelessly in the interests of our serving and ex-serving personnel, veterans and their families. They are people like Floss Foster, from Veterans Off The Streets; Ray Martin, from ADSO; Nicky Rothwell, from Women Veterans Network; Phillip Thompson, from selectability; Lieutenant General John Caligari (Ret.); Peter Hindle, from Vietnam Veterans; Trevor Mullins, from TPI; Bill Whitburn, from the RSL; and Andrew Clinkaberry and Walter Davis, from Overwatch. The people all work tirelessly in the ESO community.

I work collaboratively with the reference group to ensure that our Townsville defence community has a strong voice and input into federal defence policy. The reference group has had many successes to date as a result of a strong and respectful collaboration with a range of stakeholders, including changes to the National Mental Health Commission review panel to include representation from the young veteran community and families and a community consultation in Townsville with the relevant ministers. In late 2016 Minister Ley, then the health minister, and Minister Tehan, in his role as Minister for Veterans' Affairs, hosted a forum in Townsville. The National Mental Health Commission review panel conducted a consultation with both the Townsville Defence Community Reference Group and the public in Townsville. The reference group has also been very active in working collaboratively with the Northern Queensland PHN in the implementation of the veteran suicide prevention trial in Townsville, with the following activities undertaken in January and February this year: drafted the terms of reference for the steering committee; nominated members from the group to participate in the initial steering committee; nominated the chair of the steering committee, who reports to the reference group on the trial's progress; drafted the suicide prevention trial project officer job description; and participated on the interview panel for the recruitment of the project officer, along with the PHN personnel.

The Townsville veteran suicide prevention trial is the most advanced in the country, and this is due to the grassroots collaboration and hard work that has been and continues to be done by the Townsville Defence Community Reference Group in collaboration with Northern Queensland PHN and other stakeholders. Supporting veterans, ex-serving personnel and their families should not be embroiled in politics, especially considering that we are talking about people who have given courageously and selflessly of their lives in order for Australian citizens to enjoy the freedoms that we do in this country on a daily basis. Defence families also deserve to be supported, as they too make sacrifices when their family members are deployed overseas. Our ADF members put their lives on hold to serve and protect our country, and they deserve nothing less than our unwavering support during and after their service.

This bill comprises four schedules which seek to smooth the processes around medications, increase protections for reservists, add contemporary definitions of children, and enable reclassification for those who leave Defence. The first schedule amends the Defence Act 1903 to enable the policy framework to broaden and expand the conditions under which a positive test result for prohibited substances must be disregarded, including in circumstances relating to appropriate usage of over-the-counter medication or substances administered by authorised persons. This is a practical amendment which will smooth processes in circumstances in which individuals test positive for over-the-counter or prescribed medications. As it stands, Defence members and Defence civilians who test positive for a prohibited substance solely because they took a prescribed or over-the-counter medication are currently required by the act to show cause as to why they should remain in the service or why the arrangement in which they were engaged as a Defence civilian should not be terminated. If the medication was administered, supplied or prescribed by a qualified medical practitioner, this is treated as though it was a negative result.

This amendment will insert a provision into the legislation whereby a member's test result will be treated as a negative result when a medication has been administered, supplied or prescribed by medical officers, nurse practitioners, dentists, pharmacists or other health professionals who hold such authorisations approved by their Australian national registration boards; administered, supplied or prescribed by Defence internally authorised health and allied health professionals or Defence trained health staff; or obtained as an over-the-counter medication as a pharmacy medicine, pharmacist-only medicine or a general-sales medicine.

Schedule 2 amends the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001 to ensure all reservists are eligible for the full range of protections under the act, in respect of their employment and education. Reservists play an integral role in the defence of Australia, serving in an entirely voluntary capacity to provide support to the ADF, help rebuild lives and communities after floods, tsunamis and bushfires as well as delivering humanitarian support overseas. Reservists are fundamental to our Defence Force as they help to safeguard the security and national interests of this country. It is vital that Reservists be supported to take part in this program and not be disadvantaged by their desire to participate. The amendments are described by Defence as being needed to mitigate some of the disadvantages Reserve members may face when active in defence service, because of their absence from their workplace, their education provider and, in some cases, their country.

A review of the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001 in 2008 concluded that the act was working well overall, but it made recommendations to improve the act's clarity and consistency and to address some gaps in available protections. The amendments will expand the scope of the employment, partnership and education protections to apply to all defence service by Reserve members; expand the scope of the financial liability and bankruptcy protections to apply to all operational service by Reserve members; clarify the employment protections to give greater certainty about Reserve members' rights when they are absent from their employment to render defence service; enhance the education protections to create an obligation on education providers to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate Reserve members' defence service; introduce anti-victimisation and anti-harassment provisions to improve the experience of Reserve members in their civilian workplaces; and introduce a civil penalty regime as a complement to the existing criminal offences throughout the act, recognising that Reservists are a part of the broader defence capability. These changes will improve the protections for Reservists and encourage greater retention and capability in the Reserve forces.

Schedule 3 will transfer the hydrographic, meteorological and oceanographic functions from the Royal Australian Navy to the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation. This move is in accordance with a recommendation from the first principles review of Defence. The transfer is expected to realise synergies in the exploitation of imagery and other data to produce intelligence and non-intelligence geospatial related information in support of Australia's defence interests and other national objectives. It is a minor change in the act; however, as a recommendation of the first principles review, of which Labor was broadly supportive, we are pleased to see this enacted in this piece of legislation.

Schedule 4 will align a small number of provisions in the Australian Defence Force Cover Act 2015 with other military superannuation schemes and provide clarity on the definition of an eligible child of a member or invalid. These amendments will ensure that members who resign from the ADF and later find they could have been medically discharged will be able to apply to the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation to have their mode of discharge circumstances reassessed. This is consistent with other military superannuation schemes and I am supportive of these changes, particularly in relation to those suffering from undiagnosed mental health conditions. There are many circumstances in which ADF personnel may leave the forces as a result of an unknown medical condition, whether this is a physical or mental illness. I believe it is appropriate that those men or women who leave under these circumstances have the ability to have this issue reassessed.

This schedule also seeks to make amendments which will create a more contemporary definition of an eligible child. This will allow a child to become eligible at a later date, where the child is found ineligible at the time of the member's death. The government has provided the following example: where the child of a member is over 18 and ceases full-time study to care for the member or to undertake a gap year prior to the member's death, subsequently resuming full-time activities after the member's death while still under the age of 25. This amendment will allow a child to become eligible for a benefit in additional circumstances. In addition, these amendments will remove the requirement for a child of a deceased member to be wholly or substantially dependent on the deceased invalid or member or an eligible spouse. This will ensure that all eligible children of a deceased member are recognised, regardless of where they reside, and it does not unintentionally exclude children who would otherwise be found eligible if there was no eligible spouse.

Labor will always support changes which improve processes and protections for members of the Defence forces, employees of the defence industry and their families. By smoothing the processes around medication, increasing protections for reservists, adding contemporary definitions of children and enabling reclassification of those who leave Defence, this bill seeks to improve their conditions. This bill will assist those in the Townsville Defence community by providing a smoother process and increased protections for those men and women who serve our country. Any legislation that improves the processes, quality, transparency and generally the lives of our current serving and ex-serving personal, veterans and families will have my strongest support. I am proud to serve the Herbert electorate, which the largest presence of ADF veterans, ex-service personnel and their families call home, because their contribution to our community cannot be overstated. The ADF makes a significant and valued contribution to our community, and I am very proud to support these changes.

Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Defence Legislation Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Bill 2017. I want to commend the member for Herbert for her commendation and acknowledgement of the significant contribution that the Australian Defence Force makes to our community in securing our nation—and also their families: the significant contribution that the families who support the Australian Defence Force make. They're often left on their own for very long periods of time. It's very stressful, because the ADF members are going into conflict zones or areas that are very, very dangerous. Can you imagine the stress and strain that puts on a family member, not just the partners of those members, but particularly the children? We cannot forget the contribution of the children.

The member for Herbert does a brilliant job of representing her community, particularly the significant ADF community that she has in Townsville—20 per cent. It's a community that's very engaged in the broader Townsville community, that's very much integrated into the broader community and that makes a significant contribution socially and economically to the Townsville community. I know that the member for Herbert, even before she became the member for Herbert, was actively engaged with the ADF members at Lavarack Barracks and elsewhere and their families, in terms of understanding the issues and concerns they had. She was very actively involved particularly with ADSO on the methaqualone issue and the challenges that was creating for her community in terms of the trauma resulting from the methaqualone issue and the unresolved issues and challenges we had with that. As I said, before she was the member for Herbert she was very actively involved in that. When I was up there during the last election campaign we spent a lot of time talking to the people who had experienced those dreadful side effects of methaqualone. Some were suicidal as a result. We were speaking to the families about their trauma in witnessing their loved ones going through these very, very difficult emotional and physical times—watching them go into significant depression and become completely different individuals from those who were deployed or those they had partnered with or married years before. I know the member for Herbert has been very actively engaged with ADSO and also the methaqualone community, for want of a better word. I have campaigned with her on the issue. Townsville and the electorate of Herbert could not have a better member in terms of advocating for her community and particularly for Australian Defence Force members and their families. So, again, I commend and echo the words of the member for Herbert in acknowledging the significant contribution the ADF makes to securing our nation and ensuring that Australians are kept safe. That is vitally important. It's not just about our nation being kept safe but also about our region and our world being kept safe.

I am very proud to have worked in the Department of Defence for 10 years before going into politics. Someone who has just entered the chamber was a former workmate of mine and is a very close friend, and it is lovely to see her here. She works on a range of legislation in the legal area of the Department of Defence and, like so many public servants in Canberra, is deeply committed to ensuring that the Australian Defence Force is supported and has the legislation and the processes in place to ensure that they can do their jobs in defending our nation as best they can and ensuring that we have a safe nation. She does great work in that area. It is terrific to see her here—and it is a bit of a surprise, actually.

As we've heard today, this bill has four main schedules, and today I want to focus on schedule 2, which amends the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001, to ensure that all Reservists would be eligible for the full range of protections under the act in respect of their employment and education. The amendments are described by Defence as needed in order to mitigate some of the disadvantages that Reserve members may face when rendering Defence service because of their absence from the workplace, from their education provider and, in some cases, from Australia. A 2008 review of the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001concluded that the act was working well overall, but it made recommendations to improve its clarity and consistency and to address some gaps in available protections. The amendments will expand the scope of the employment, partnership and education protections to apply to all defence service by Reserve members; expand the scope of the financial liability and bankruptcy protections to apply to all operational service by Reserve members; clarify the employment protections to give greater certainty about Reserve members' rights when they are absent from their employment to render defence service; enhance the education protections to create an obligation on education providers to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate Reserve members' defence service; introduce anti-victimisation and anti-harassment provisions to improve the experience of Reserve members in their civilian workplaces; and introduce a civil penalty regime throughout the act.

As with the full-time ADF, our Reserve forces play a significant role in securing and defending our nation. The work that we did on the Solomon Islands, particularly towards the end of the mission, was largely done by Reserve forces. The Regional Force Surveillance Unit up in Cairns is largely a Reserve force. They are drawn from all over the country, and what they do is vitally important to securing our borders. The unit has a very large Indigenous contingent, because of their expertise in surveilling the environment, particularly the maritime environment up there—the mangroves and the waters up around Cairns, which can be infiltrated by drug smugglers, by people wanting to work around our import laws and by people wanting to break our customs laws. The borders are potentially porous; we've got a lot of country to cover and a lot of maritime border to cover. The RFSU does an extraordinary job in protecting that part of Australia that really requires an intelligence that is gained not just from looking at communication units and technology but an innate intelligence that you have from being so closely attached to the land for thousands of years. The RFSU are largely a Reserve unit, with a very large Indigenous community that has an extraordinary intuitive intelligence from being so closely connected to country for hundreds and thousands of years. They are playing a vitally important role with technology that, from what I saw when I went and spent some time with that unit, could be improved. Some of it was pretty basic. We're not talking really expensive technology. I think that some of their technology could be improved to enhance that intelligence and knowledge of the land and of the water that is the result of hundreds and thousands of years of knowledge and connection to country.

The amendments in this bill are long overdue. Some of them have been mooted since 2008, so we are talking nearly 10 years that some of these amendments have been in the making. Having worked in the Australian Defence Force Cadets area for a number of years, I know that sometimes changes in Defence legislation can go at a glacial pace. We introduced a range of protections, particularly after the Eleanore Tibble incident, when that young woman tragically committed suicide as a result of what happened in her cadet unit with her supervisor. I know that the consultation process on the legislation to change those regulations took time. The Australian Defence Force Cadets unit introduced a range of measures, in response to Eleanore Tibble and a number of other incidents, which took quite some time to finally reach that stage. It would be wonderful if this could happen at a faster space. We are talking potentially 10 years now since some of these amendments were first suggested, but at least we are debating them now, and I hope we will see some change, particularly with schedule 2.

As I mentioned, we had a significant contingent of Reservists involved in the Solomon Islands, particularly towards the end of that operation. We have a significant contingent of Reservists working with the RFSU up north. We also have a significant number of Reservists who serve as doctors in Navy. Navy can't get those specialist skills internally, particularly in the medical profession, so a lot of the doctors in Navy are in the Reserve forces. That's the beauty of the Reservists. They provide those specialist skills—like the Indigenous Reservists doing that surveillance work up north, those deployed to the Solomon Islands, and the doctors working in Navy today—that are difficult for the Australian Defence Force generally, Navy, Army and Air Force, to get on a full-time basis. That's the beauty of the Reserve system—it gives our ADF access to specialist skills. That's why we need to provide them with as much support as possible, which is what these amendments aim to do, and also as much flexibility as possible.

Just last week I met with a woman who is in the Reservists. She's having a real challenge in getting promoted; in fact, she has been at the same rank for her entire Reservist career, which, from memory, goes back about 15 years. Because of the way that the system is set up, the work that she has done isn't actually recognised in the way that the system recognises service, therefore she's not in that particular stream, so to speak. The work that she is doing is in a particular stream and, therefore, it is kind of invisible. Yes, it is Reserve work. Yes, she is doing work to serve and advance our nation from a national security perspective, yet she is in this stream that isn't recognised by the system. She is a single mother, so it makes it very challenging for her to be able to do the Tuesday night training and then do the weekend training. It makes it very difficult.

So, these amendments are welcome, but we still need to constantly ensure that the Reserve system acknowledges and supports those who want to serve their nation in a Reserve capacity but can't do so because, as single mothers, it's very challenging to take the weekend off every now and then to go and do Reserve work. So we need to explore other ways for Reserve service to be recognised that isn't just part of this particular stream.

Also, it's not just the recognition of service; service allows for promotions. Because this poor woman is in this system, she is, as I said, kind of invisible. Here she is at the same level, even though she has been highly commended in all the work that she has done, particularly in the women, peace and security space, yet she can't get promoted. She is at the same level that she was in the early days of her Reservist career.

These amendments are welcome. These amendments provide greater support to Reservists, but there is still more work to be done, particularly in creating a flexible environment for people's work as Reservists to be recognised, and, particularly, in creating a more flexible environment that provides opportunities for women to make a meaningful and recognised contribution in the Reserve system that will ensure that they can be promoted.

Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today, as some of my colleagues have, to support the Defence Legislation Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Bill 2017. It is a bill of four schedules that seeks to smooth the process for our Defence Force personnel and increase protections for those thousands of Reservists who live in our community raising families, working with local employers and participating in some of our great sporting clubs and arts and cultural clubs. The bill increases protections for those amazing Reservists. It is sensible legislation and it is practical legislation. I'm very pleased to not just support it; it is legislation that I feel quite honoured to speak about, as a member of parliament and as representative of my own community.

I speak in support of this bill for our Defence Force past, present and future—a Defence Force community that is growing in areas like Narangba in my electorate. I have to say that while Labor will always oppose regressive policies like attacks on workers or cuts to vital funding streams, we will always support positive legislation that helps take steps forward. Australia is a great country. There is no need to make it great again, because it is great—we all know that. It always has been, and we have to thank our Defence Force for supporting Australia in becoming that great country that it is today and has always been.

When we look in the rear vision mirror at the past—from our youthful days in Gallipoli to the work that is being done all around the world in places like Afghanistan, Syria and the South Pacific—the Australian Defence Force has always been there to support us. So we must always do whatever we can to support our Defence Force personnel and Reservists. There is always more that we can do, of course, but sometimes it is as simple as passing legislation such as this. Any practical measures that we can pass which will assist our Defence Force personnel or our veterans or our Reservists must always be considered. Labor will always support sensible legislation that supports the ADF. Labor always has and Labor always will. We understand just how important the ADF and its personnel are.

The first schedule of this bill amends the Defence Act of 1903 to expand the conditions under which a positive test result for a prohibited substance must be disregarded. Essentially, this will smooth the process and circumstances where individuals test positive for an over-the-counter or prescribed medication. The existing legislation requires Defence Force members and civilians who test positive for a prohibited substance to show cause as to why they should remain in the service or why the arrangement in which they are engaged as a defence civilian should not be terminated, even if the positive result was due to a prescribed over-the-counter medication. Effectively, this policy has been punishing people for getting sick. If a Defence Force member has a cold and subsequently takes some particularly strong over-the-counter medication, the policy forces them to jump through a whole range of hoops to prove that they are still fit to serve. But with the new provisions that are due to be implemented in the legislation through the passage of this bill, a member's test result will be treated as a negative result when a medication has been administered, supplied or prescribed by an authorised medical officer, a nurse, a dentist, a pharmacist or another health professional approved by the Australian national registration board. Really, this just makes sense. It really does. I trust the Australian health care system—thanks to Medicare, we've got one of the very, very best in the world—to safely and accurately prescribe medication to patients.

The test results will also be treated as negative when a medication has been administered, supplied or prescribed by defence internally authorised health and allied health professionals or defence trained staff. To be quite honest, I find it alarming that this isn't already the case. Flawed policy such as this just shows how necessary it is that we have practical amendments like the ones this bill can produce for us.

The third reason for test results to be treated as negative is if the drug was obtained as an over-the-counter medication as a pharmacist-only medicine or a general-sales medicine. This helps to prevent the vilification of a member of the Defence Force who needed relief from sickness like a cold or the flu. We've just come out of the cold and flu season. I'm sure many of us have headed to the pharmacist in the last few months, seeking relief from a cold or the flu. I never thought I would see it: sensible drug testing from this government. After the horrible, horrible social reform that we've seen this week, it seems strange that the government are seeking to pass positive reform in the same sitting week. But, regardless, I will never get in the way of positive reforms. So I'm happy to support this sensible amendment to drug testing in the ADF.

I would now like to move to schedule 4 of this bill. It stands out to me as a really strong and really positive step forward. Schedule 4 will align a small number of provisions in the Australian Defence Force Cover Act of 2015 with other military superannuation schemes. Notably, it will provide clarity on the definition of an eligible child of a member or an invalid. Labor and I are supportive of these changes. They provide protections for members of the ADF who resign from the force and later find out that they would have been eligible to be medically discharged. There are a number of circumstances which may cause a member of the Defence Force to resign as a result of an unknown medical condition. For some, this may be an undiagnosed physical condition. For others, this actually might be a mental illness. Having found that they could have been medically discharged, this schedule will allow for the former member to apply to the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation to have their mode of discharge circumstances reassessed.

It is entirely appropriate that any man or any woman who leaves the Defence Force under these circumstances be granted the ability to have this reassessed. It is fair and right, particularly in the case of an undiagnosed mental illness. For many, mental illness can go undiagnosed for extended and very, very long periods of time. It would not be fair for people who resign due to stresses that were placed upon them by a mental illness to lose out in their superannuation because they weren't formally discharged. Sometimes people themselves just aren't even conscious of an ailment, but they still suffer from it and they just aren't sure why. These people shouldn't be punished. We should be supporting these people whenever we can. So I'm very pleased to stand here and support schedule 4 of this bill, in particular today, just before R U OK? Day, which falls tomorrow. I think it's particularly important that we acknowledge that really important day, so I'm very pleased to stand here to support schedule 4.

R U OK? Day reminds us to ask a friend, a colleague or a family member, 'Are you doing okay today?' It is a simple question that could truly help someone who is struggling with a mental illness. For our returned service men and women, it can make a world of difference just to be asked that question: 'Are you okay?'

I also strongly support schedule 2 of this bill, which provides protections for another area of the Defence Force that can be overlooked, despite the important role they play. I'm talking about the brave men and women who are employed as Defence Force reservists. These are wonderful people living and working in our community—we play touch football beside them, we volunteer at our local Lions Club with a lot of these people, and we join them down at the surf life-saving club over at Bribie Island. These are amazing brave men and women. Schedule 2 of the bill supports reservists in a number of ways, particularly helping to manage their civilian lives. For example, anti-victimisation, anti-harassment provisions, will be introduced to improve the experience of Reserve members in their civilian places. There will also be protections to give greater certainty about Reserve members' rights when they are absent from their employment to render defence service. There are also protections to create an obligation on education providers to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate Reserve members' defence service. These protections are, of course, very welcome. Reserve members have to give so much of their time to the Defence Force, but we can't let it consume all of their lives, of course. Protections like these allow members of the Army Reserve to live, to work and to learn. It allows them to approach their service to the Reserves as exactly what it should be, which is as a part-time job—a service to their community and their country, but not as an all-consuming aspect of their lives. By recognising it as such and putting proper protections and safeguards in place, I really do believe that we will see greater retention and capability within our Reserve forces. I'm really confident these protections will result in a much stronger Reserve force. I have to note that these amendments were initially proposed some years ago as recommendations from a review of the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001, and it is good to see them finally being implemented.

Labor has always said that if there are more ways in which we can support our Defence Force personnel—anything at all—we should be doing them. We believe that in supporting this bill we are smoothing that process for the service men and women and increasing protections for people who serve our country. I'm sure everybody in the House agrees that this is a good thing. I stand here to support this bill wholeheartedly on behalf of my community.

Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Defence Legislation Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Bill 2017. Labor is supportive of any measure that serves to better support Australia's Defence Force—the ADF personnel. The special nature of defence service is often highlighted in speeches in this place. Indeed, we have heard that from two contributions this morning. This is another case where there needs to be recognition of the nature of service, particularly with respect to service in the Reserve, and the medical treatment of members and/or treatment of their next of kin. Our ADF members put their lives on hold to serve and protect our country, and we owe them our unwavering support during and after their service. Sometimes what we seek to achieve in the nature of legislative reform is lofty in purpose, but sometimes the measures that we seek to address are more practical and more basic in nature. There is nothing of great geopolitical moment or significance in this proposed legislation. It might at one level be regarded as dry and procedural. Nevertheless, as I've indicated in my opening, sometimes the dry and procedural, the minor changes, the smoothing of processes and attention to detail, is of significance to those who have served on our behalf, those who are required to step into danger and those who in many cases look to the express and implied promises that we will look after them in their time of need.

Labor is supportive of this legislation being passed promptly, particularly having regard to the delayed history, which I will later address in this contribution. The bill effects a range of changes, each addressing separate and distinct issues. The bill comprises four schedules which seek to smooth processes, increase protections for Reservists, realise a recommendation from the first principles review of Defence and add contemporary definitions of 'children' in relation to members with respect to superannuation and retirement, and enables reclassification of those who leave Defence and later find out that they could have been medically discharged.

The first schedule addresses a practical issue with respect to medical treatment of defence members. Again, this is something which is designed to smooth processes and remove the possibility for procedure being invoked with respect to a positive drug test. As a former practising lawyer, I can well understand the frustration and anxiety which must arise under the present system upon a positive test for a prohibited substance. The present procedure requires a show-cause procedure to be invoked. This effectively requires, despite the possibility of a reasonable excuse, the defence member or defence civilian, as the case may be, to engage with a process which is geared towards termination. This bill seeks to implement legislative reform required to simplify the conditions upon which a positive test result for prohibited substances must be disregarded when ADF members and civilian employees have used over-the-counter or prescribed medications.

As it stands, defence members and defence civilians who test positive for a prohibited substance solely because they took a prescribed or over-the-counter medication are currently required by the act to show cause why they should remain in the service or why the arrangement at which they are engaged as a defence civilian should not be terminated. This amendment will insert a provision into the legislation which means that a member's test result will be treated as a negative result when the medication has been administered, supplied or prescribed by medical officers, nurse practitioners, dentists, pharmacists or other health professionals who hold authorisations approved by their Australian national registration boards. Further, this provision will apply when medications have been administered, supplied or prescribed by Defence internally authorised health and allied health professionals or Defence-trained health staff, or have been obtained as an over-the-counter medication as a pharmacy medicine, pharmacist-only medicine or a general sales medicine. This is a commonsense approach that does not make our ADF members feel like they've done something illegal. A practical approach is to be preferred rather than automatically invoking a set of procedures which must involve significant stress, anxiety and resources to be devoted to the circumstances of the particular case.

The second schedule seeks to amend the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001 to ensure that all reservists would be eligible for the full range of protections under the act in respect of their employment. Again, it is important to reflect upon the reason why, from a public policy perspective, measures such as these are necessary and appropriate. It is obvious that the Defence Reserves plays a vitally important role at very many levels in providing for an effective, efficient and engaged Australian Defence Force. There is, of course, an obvious conflict between the normal activities of a defence reserve list member, whether that be in the workforce or in education, and service in the Defence Reserves. The amendments in this schedule are designed to address and facilitate the mitigation of some of the disadvantages Reserve members might face when rendering defence service because of their absence from their workplace, their education provider and/or absence overseas. The very helpful Bills Digest with respect to this legislation provides some of the background to these amendments.

It is interesting to note that the protection review undertaken by Major General Neil Wilson in April 2007 was initiated to assess the appropriate levels of protection for civilian occupations without burdening employers with unnecessary compliance. It is suggested that the review outcomes were not publicly announced due to the fact that the review was undertaken in an election year—an election which subsequently resulted in a change of government. Three subsequent defence white papers in 2009, 2013 and 2016 all noted the importance of defence reservists to the ADF's overall capability, but there has been no explicit mention of changes to the policies based upon the findings from the review undertaken by Major General Wilson. The explanatory memorandum of this bill does indicate that the protection review concluded that overall the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act was working well and achieving its objectives; nevertheless, enhancements were recommended.

It is useful to consider the scope and significance of our ADF Reserve force. In 2001, there were 19,830 ADF Reservists. This was 22.4 per cent below the budget estimate. By 2007, the number had increased to 23,810. The most recent Defence annual report shows that 19,338 Reserve members received pay for days served; although this does not record the total number of Reservists but those who were in some way engaged sufficiently to trigger payment for days served. The importance of the Reserve is also highlighted by the statistics as to deployments. Since 1999, approximately 14,000 Reserve members have deployed on operations in Australia and overseas. This represents approximately 18 per cent of all deployed ADF personnel. It is notorious that the ADF has increased its operational tempo with overseas peacekeeping and training roles as well as service in overseas theatres, which, in turn, has seen a greater use of Reserves to support large-scale national security events, including the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, and humanitarian assistance. Disaster relief operations have also seen significant ADF Reserve deployments, including the 2009 Victoria bushfires, the 2011 Brisbane floods, and regional deployments, including Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands.

The ADF has made changes to its workforce structures and policies which involve the implementation of a total workforce model, including changes to service categories to allow greater flexibility for permanent and Reserve members. These structural adjustments have been positively acknowledged by Reserve advocates such as Paul Irving, the then national president for the Defence Reserves Association, who has stated that this has raised the awareness of the Reserve capability. However, this association has been sceptical of the degree of difference it would make to the overall use of Reserve members. In fact, the association has been critical of the low priority given to Reserves, including the delay with these proposed amendments to the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act, which was reportedly moving through the system and was supposed to be considered by this parliament in 2015. It can be fairly said that, if there was criticism of delay with respect to the introduction of amendments which were supposed to be introduced in 2015 with bipartisan support, whilst these measures still receive that bipartisan support it has taken far too long for these amendments to reach the parliament.

The objective and policy behind the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act is, as appears in the original 2001 Bills Digest, to provide for the protection of the Reserves in their primary employment and education. It facilitates their return to civilian life. The basic protections provide for the members' employment status and entitlements, such as accrued leave, to be protected, they protect members from a partnership being dissolved while they are absent on defence service and they allow members to re-enrol in and resume a course of education that was disrupted because they undertook defence service. There are additional protections in addition to the basic protections, which address the postponement of debts that a member might be liable to pay or would otherwise fall due after a member starts to render service as a result of a call-out; protection from bankruptcy proceedings whilst the member is rendering service following call-out; and allowing a member who has rendered defence service after a call-out to obtain access to loans and guarantees to enable that person to resume civilian life after returning from service. There are also protections against discrimination, which make it unlawful to refuse to give work to a person on the grounds that that person is rendering, has rendered or might in the future render defence service.

The amendments made by this legislation improve clarity and consistency and address some gaps in the protections I've broadly outlined. The amendments operate to expand the scope of employment, partnership and education protections, apply to all defence service by Reserve members and introduce a new expanded definition of operational service. The amendments also expand the scope of the financial liability and bankruptcy protection to apply to all operational service by Reserve members. They also clarify the employment protections to give greater certainty about Reserve members' rights when they are absent from employment to render defence service. They also enhance the education protections to create an obligation on education providers to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate Reserve members' defence service. They introduce antivictimisation and antiharassment provisions to improve the experience of Reserve members in their civilian workplaces. Finally, they introduce a civil penalty regime as a complement to the criminal offences which already exist within the act.

The amendments are sensible and implement the recommendations of a review in 2008 made into this act, which was introduced first in 2001. Our Defence Reservists should be valued. It is regrettable that this portion of the legislation has not received greater priority.

The third schedule transfers the hydrographic, meteorological and oceanographic functions from the Royal Australian Navy to the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation in accordance with the recommendation from the first principles review of the ADF. The transfer is expected to realise synergies in the exploitation of imagery and other data to produce intelligence and non-intelligence geospatial-related information which will support Australia's defence interests and other national objectives.

Schedule 4 operates to align a small number of provisions in the Australian Defence Force Cover Act with other military superannuation schemes and to provide clarity on the definitions of an eligible child of a member or invalid. The amendments will also ensure that a member who has resigned from the ADF and later finds that they could have been medically discharged will be able to apply to the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation to have their mode of discharge circumstances reassessed. This is consistent with other military superannuation schemes and of course makes very good sense.

The schedule also creates a more contemporary definition to allow a child to become eligible at a later date when the child is found to be ineligible at the time of the member's death. This of course is beneficial in operation and is designed to address a number of shortfalls in the present legislation, which only assesses a person's eligibility at a particular point in time. The example given by the government is that a child over the age of 18 might cease full-time study to care for a veteran. As they are over 18 and not a student they would not otherwise be regarded as a dependant but would be a dependant if they were studying. This amendment would allow a child to become eligible for a benefit in additional circumstances.

Overall, these measures, whilst not groundbreaking, are sensible and continue bipartisan support for the ADF and former members. Labor supports this bill.

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

I appreciate the opportunity to make a small contribution on the Defence Legislation Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Bill 2017 and talk about Reservists and why these protections are very welcome. Reservists do an incredible job. Their life is already difficult enough, balancing the demands of their service to our country through their Reserve service with their everyday life and job. I've been proud to not only be a Reservist but also to work as a full-time member of the Army in a Reserve unit and to see the way those incredible people balance those competitions for their time. They're mums, they're dads, they're involved in local sporting teams, so they have this double life that they manage incredibly well. But it's not easy, and that's why I strongly support these increased protections, as I know both sides of politics do—because the reservists of our country make sure our full-time capability is always there for the challenges that we need to meet, and time after time we are drawing on reservists as a defence force to make sure that we can meet Australia's national interests and national security needs, whether it be in war, as we have seen, or humanitarian relief.

I just wanted to acknowledge the service of Greg Sher, who joined the Army as a reservist and was deployed to East Timor back in 2002, but then went on to do the commando selection course and served in Afghanistan. He was tragically killed in a rocket attack in 2009. He is an example of many reservists, commandos and special forces, infantry and other corps who have taken up the baton. They do the same training as our full-time members, so it is important that they have the same protections. Indeed, they have special protections that are specific to their type of service, where they often, as I say, need to have a balance in their lives, managing their time between their families and their workloads. I guess that's why I wanted to make a small contribution. I've seen the demands on them, and these protections are so important.

For humanitarian assistance, reservists are always there. When I was with NORFORCE, we had the 10-year anniversary of the intervention in the Northern Territory. Those magnificent people in NORFORCE and the other reservists from around the country who came to assist with that particular operation did such outstanding work, when, let's face it, it wasn't an enormously popular operation in some Aboriginal communities. In particular, the Indigenous reserve soldiers in NORFORCE, with their 'green skin' on, in a non-political way performed a marvellous job of brokering between the communities and the intervention people, who were obviously just trying to do the best that they could. But the marvellous way in which those reservists did that was because they could walk in those two worlds.

Someone mentioned the Olympics. The Sydney Olympics would not have happened if the reservists hadn't taken up the call and joined Operation Gold, because we simply needed their numbers and their expertise, and often reservists have skills that come together to make our ADF so much more capable. Thanks very much for the opportunity to say a couple of words, and well done to the reservists out there.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Solomon for his contribution. I thank all members who contributed to the debate on this bill and acknowledge the bipartisan support shown in the second reading debate.

The Defence Legislation Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Bill 2017 addresses four separate measures. The first measure amends the Defence Act 1903 to enable a policy framework to broaden and expand the conditions under which a positive test result for prohibited substances must be disregarded. The second measure amends the Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001 to ensure all reservists would be eligible for the full range of protections under the act in respect of their employment and education. The third measure amends the Intelligence Services Act 2001, the Navigation Act 2012 and the Telecommunications Act 1997 to include the transfer of hydrographic, meteorological and oceanographic functions from the Royal Australian Navy to the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation, in accordance with one of the recommendations from the first principles review. The fourth measure amends the Australian Defence Force Cover Act 2015 to align a small number of the provisions in the act with the other military superannuation schemes and to provide clarity on the definition of an eligible child of a member or invalid.

The bill moves to make small but significant changes to Defence and other legislation. This will be significant to the operations of Defence, providing streamlining to practices and common sense to policy. They will be significant to members of the Defence Reserves, who will receive greater protection. They will be significant to family members of the ADF, who will now benefit from the changes to superannuation. I want to reinforce what other speakers have said: when it comes to the commitment of our Defence Reserves they put their lives on the line, like members of the full-time ADF. They serve and sacrifice on behalf of our nation and deserve the recognition that comes along with that which we give to our full-time ADF.

I thank all members of the House who have made special mention of the Reservists and what they do for this nation and what they do for the capability of our ADF. I also want to recognise the contribution made by family members of those who serve: the spouses, the children and the extended family. When a member serves, their family serves with them. When I go around the country visiting the Defence bases, and meet with the spouses and children of those who are serving, it strikes me every single time that they are part and parcel of the member who is serving. I thank them for the contribution they make in allowing their loved ones to serve on behalf of our nation. I commend this bill to the House.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the minister. The question is that this bill be now read a second time.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

Sitting suspended from 12:47 to 16:00