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

I foreshadow that I will be moving the second reading amendments to the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024, on amendment sheet 3032 revised, standing in my name. Veterans, their families, their kids and their mates fought for decades to get a royal commission into Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Since the commissioners handed down their recommendations, my office has been continually working and getting feedback from the veteran community and, most importantly, looking at amendments that will make the government's response to the royal commission's recommendations work for our veterans.

Recommendation 122 of the royal commission seeks to establish a new statutory entity headed up by a commissioner to oversee reform across the whole of the defence system. I had an amendment that would give the head of the Defence and Veterans' Services Commission the powers of a royal commissioner, the power to provide independent oversight, the power to hold public hearings and the power to drive reform to improve suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for serving and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members. Unless that national commissioner has these powers, then things won't change and our veterans will continue to take their lives in record numbers.

I understand that we, and I, do not have a magic wand to stop all suicides, but if we get this right, by hell, we can reduce those numbers. The government loved this amendment so much that they copied it themselves. They wanted the win, and that's okay; I don't care who gets the credit, as long as our veterans and their families get the benefits.

We must extend the coverage of our liability to situations where members of the Australian Defence Force sustain injuries or fatalities during physical exercise or whilst on shore leave. With the way it is now, the liability falls way short, especially in cases of injury or death occurring outside the narrowly defined scope of 'on-duty service'.

Delays in accepting liability and delays in claims being ticked off massively impact on our veterans and their families. There has to be a time limit. My amendment means that claims for permanent impairment will be resolved within 120 days, and for incapacity it'll be within 90 days. This amendment includes safeguards to stop the clock, to account for reasonable delays like medical advice.