Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

): I thank Senator Boswell for that question. As his long and distinguished Senate career draws to an end, I would like on behalf of all Australia's veterans to thank Senator Boswell for his longstanding interests in their concerns. I am pleased to get another question from our side in relation to veterans' affairs. This is the second one in five sitting days. I note that there has not been a question from the opposition since 27 March this year—85 days and 33 Labor questions, not one in relation to veterans' affairs, which shows exactly where their priorities lie.

At the last election, in our policy—and we were the only major party to have a policy; the Australian Labor Party did not—we made it quite clear that the mental health challenges of veterans and their families would be part of our four-pillar policy. And since coming to government we have indeed started implementing those programs. On 11 June in Adelaide I announced the largest and most comprehensive study into the needs of contemporary veterans and their families ever undertaken. The Transition and Wellbeing Research Programme is a $5 million investment by the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Department of Defence towards better understanding of the issues confronting contemporary veterans, those transitioning from Defence to civilian life, and the families who support them. With the increased operational deployment of the ADF over more than a decade and the draw-down of Defence Force operations in Afghanistan more recently, we need to understand the physical, mental and social health needs of both serving and ex-serving personnel and their families. The Transitional Wellbeing Research Programme has three parts. The first, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Transitional Study— (Time expired)