Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

By now you may be aware that approximately 280 Australian veterans have killed themselves since 1999. In the same time frame the Australian War Memorial records 46 Australian soldiers died in war zones. These numbers indicate civilian life for a veteran is six times more deadly than a war zone. How is this possible? Why are veterans telling me they would rather face the Taliban than face the Department of Veterans' Affairs? These are the questions I expect will be answered in a Senate inquiry into the reason behind the high rate of veteran suicides,

In the last Canberra sitting, the Senate acknowledged the tragic plight of veterans and referred it on to the committee to investigate, and I thank those senators from the independent crossbench, the Greens and Labor for supporting my motion. Since then, my office has been flooded by veterans and families of veterans who are so grateful to have the opportunity to finally be heard. And they have hope for the first time in years. I would also like to extend my thanks to the Alliance of Defence Service Organisations, who supported the inquiry, as did the RSL Tasmania executive. I would like to say the same for the national RSL executive, but unfortunately I cannot.

These stories are stories of claim rejections and long delays; overpayments due to DVA negligence, which the recipient is forced to repay in an unreasonable time frame; and general lack of support. The first case I will share with you wishes to remain anonymous. I received a heartfelt plea from the mother of this particular veteran, who watched her son go from being a social, witty, fun-loving person to becoming a shell of a human being who has shut himself away from the rest of the world. The mother wrote to me stating:

No mother, no family, should have to watch a loved one spiral down so low that they have to worry about suicide... I have been fearful that [my son] would end up taking his life — even to this day — due to the lack of support from DVA.

This man was discharged from the army with a knee injury, which has left him with restricted mobility and chronic pain. He is limited in the type of work he can do and the length of time he can work. At every turn, the Department of Veterans' Affairs has thrown up roadblock after roadblock to his mental and physical healing.

He has a white card, which covers his medical and counselling sessions. But he was not provided with the option of counsellors, and when the army counsellor was found to be unhelpful, this man could not afford a different counsellor. As well as not having his mental health needs met, Department of Veterans' Affairs required this man to repay $9,000 within 28 days for an administrative error on the behalf of the Department of Veterans' Affairs. This man was subsequently cut off from all Department of Veterans' Affairs payments.

The second case I will share with you is the partner of my Queensland Senate candidate, Crystal Peckett, John Tassell. John Tassell sustained a back injury that required surgery. He was incorrectly medically discharged and sent back to duty, but his injury prolapsed and became chronic and degenerative. It was at this point Mr Tassel's PTSD began to manifest, and he was medically discharged 18 months later. But his battle had only just begun.

Knowing that the Department of Veterans' Affairs was notoriously slow and troublesome to deal with, Mr Tassell took a proactive approach and dealt with DVA in the lead-up to his discharge. But once he was discharged, DVA lost his forms. Mr Tassel then had to wait 10 weeks for his incapacity payments to begin; meanwhile, he had no means to support his family. In this time, his relationship broke down, and he was required to take on all of the accumulated debts of the relationship, despite having no source of income. After his DVA payments began, it was not long before an administrative error once again saw Mr Tassell cut off from a source of income. This time, it left him homeless and car-less. Mr Tassell was prevented from seeing his children due to having no fixed address.

When veterans are medically discharged, their injuries are measured on a points system. Despite being discharged for his back injury as well as psychological injuries, the Department of Veterans' Affairs only awarded him six points for his back injury, and his payments were provided accordingly. It was not until Mr Tassell went to the Commonwealth Ombudsman—regarding the administrative error that stopped Mr Tassell's payments that his mental health issues were recognised as being caused by his seven years of service, which included two deployments to East Timor and Afghanistan as a rifleman—that Mr Tassell was awarded 48 points, covering his physical and mental injuries. Mr Tassell spent the next couple of years doing everything that was asked of him by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, jumping through bureaucratic hoops in fear of losing his only source of income.

In 2014, Mr Tassell's partner, Crystal Peckett, took over managing his affairs regarding the Department of Veterans' Affairs. She is a highly skilled professional in the community services sector. She was and continues to be horrified by the lack of regard demonstrated by many of the statutory officers from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Dealing with the Department of Veterans' Affairs on behalf of her partner was a full time job, and Ms Peckett was forced to walk away from her own career as a direct impact of DVA's blatant disregard for Mr Tassell's own well-being. It took Mr Tassell and Ms Peckett a further 12 months to be awarded maximum incapacity recognition, and a full year for his children to be awarded their entitlements as well.

Ms Peckett said to me once: 'No veteran, or partner and child of veterans, should have to endure what the Department of Veterans' Affairs has subjected us to. John agreed to proudly serve the Commonwealth, but as it stands right now, I would not support any of our children to enlist in the military directly due to the actions of the Department of Veterans' Affairs. They are costing lives and ruining families. John has had to fight for his country, fight for his children, and fight the government department that was set up to support him in his incapacity.'

Mr Tassell wanted me to share the following comments: 'If I had the chance to serve my country again, I would. Despite losing my health to my service I am very proud. What I could not do again is the treatment of myself, Crystal and our children by Department of Veterans' Affairs. To be honest, I am not even sure how I made it through some parts. There have been some very, very dark days.' Mr Tassell goes on to compare the integrity of many DVA delegates to the Taliban. He said the Taliban are 'unethical, cowards, and thieves.'

I will move onto another veteran who lives in my home state and was exposed to asbestos during his service in the Royal Australian Navy. He is now terminally ill as a consequence. This man tells me that he has requested a chair lift to be installed in his house so he can get up and down the stairs, but he is being forced to wait. According to the chair lift contractor, the delay has been caused by the Department of Veterans' Affairs because they 'were arguing about how long he has to live.'

The DVA is dangerously incompetent and dysfunctional, and there are a number of politicians and senior government bureaucrats who are responsible. They have either deliberately or through incompetence forced veterans and their families to suffer terribly—people like previous veterans' affairs ministers Michael Ronaldson and Stuart Robert, and the assistant secretary to the Department of Veterans' Affairs—he is still there—Neil Bayles. All have combined to create a poisonous and lethal culture within the Department of Veterans' Affairs, which has led to the unnecessary harm of government staff and directly contributed to Australia's shameful veteran suicide crisis. Mr Bayles, Mr Robert and Mr Ronaldson should be condemned and held responsible for the devastating harm of their actions, insincerity and lack of empathy and remorse towards Australian veterans and their families. After meeting today with the new Minister for Veteran's Affairs, Minister Tehan—who wants to deny veterans legal representation as they are forced before and judged by a government board stacked with lawyers—I have little hope that Minister Tehan is going to be any different from his former colleagues. A Senate inquiry into the reasons behind veteran suicide is only the start to saving lives. An automatic gold card for veterans who have seen war or warlike service would immediately reduce the bureaucratic hoops veterans are currently forced to jump through. This would reduce DVA expenditure, itself, and more importantly reduce the high rate of veteran suicide.