Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the final report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. For over 100 years, the RSL has been charged with caring for our veterans when they have left the service of our country. Like the national RSL, the New South Wales branch was founded in 1916 to care for the veterans of World War I. It is every RSL branch's job to support veterans and their families and to connect them to services that make their lives better, but I'm sad to tell Australia that veteran owned businesses and certain legal service providers are exploiting our very own vulnerable veterans and they are using the New South Wales RSL to help them out. The pain, suffering and struggles faced by veterans, who have sacrificed so much for our nation, are being further compounded by those who claim to support them but instead are preying on their vulnerability for cash. The transition from military service to civilian life is often riddled with mental, emotional and physical scars, and many veterans seek support from businesses and services run by fellow veterans. Makes sense, right? Surely veteran run businesses would have the best interests of veterans at heart, right? Not always.

The findings of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide are harrowing enough. They reveal systemic failures in mental health care, support services and reintegration programs for veterans. The commission also illustrated a massive failure by ex-service organisations such as the RSL to actually deliver support to veterans and their families. What I am hearing is that those within our own ranks, these veteran owned businesses and legal professionals, are exploiting the weaknesses in some RSL branches for their own gain. Veterans are being charged massive fees for services that don't help do anything to improve their wellbeing but do everything to improve the bank balance of these organisations. Legal service providers, veteran lawyers in particular, have been implicated in unethical practices, taking advantage of veterans' confusion over claims processes and their legal rights and signing them up to expensive contracts, with none of the additional benefits they would have if they went through the claim process with a free advocate. Many of these veterans are in fragile states of mind, dealing with trauma, PTSD, physical injuries and isolation. They come to these businesses and services for help only to find themselves caught in a web of bureaucratic exploitation. Some businesses claim to offer specialised services to veterans but deliver nothing but false hope, leading to further frustration and stress and even, tragically, suicide. This is betrayal of the highest order.

I'm going to speak directly to one of the worst examples of this behaviour that is going on and the failure of RSL New South Wales to take meaningful action against these unethical cowboys exploiting veterans for their own ends. The RSL is supposed to be a cornerstone of veteran support in this country, an organisation dedicated to the wellbeing and welfare of the men and women who have served our nation. But instead of taking a stand, RSL New South Wales has failed to act. Why? Because some of their own board members are involved in these practices, which is not only unethical but also a blatant conflict of interest.

Specifically, I'm referring to Operational Legal Australia, a law firm owned by Mick Bainbridge and Paul James. Both are also directors of RSL New South Wales. These two men who hold positions of influence and responsibility within RSL New South Wales are simultaneously profiting from a business that has been implicated in unethical practices targeting vulnerable veterans. The veterans coming to Operational Legal Australia for help are often struggling with complex claim processes and seeking guidance. Instead, they find themselves being charged huge fees for incompetently delivered legal services that provide little relief, if any at all.

The relationship between their roles at RSL New South Wales and their ownership of this legal firm calls into question the integrity of the RSL's leadership and its ability to act in the best interest of veterans. The shocking nature of this conflict of interest is made even more significant because of Operational Legal Australia's involvement in providing legal services to RSL sub-branches involved in incorporation. Every RSL sub-branch has a duty to support veterans and put the interest of veterans first, but what I am hearing about the conduct of RSL New South Wales and the veteran legal firm Operational Legal Australia, a law firm owned and run by veterans—once again, by Mick Bainbridge and Paul James—is absolutely shocking. I know of multiple RSL sub-branches who were encouraged to use OLA for the incorporation of their sub-branches while Mr Ray James, the father of Paul James, the co-owner of OLA, was president of RSL New South Wales and then later when Mick Bainbridge and Paul James got themselves elected to the RSL board on very slim numbers, I might add.