Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Veteran-centric Reforms No. 1) Bill 2018. Our ADF personnel put their lives on hold in service to our country. They take risks, make sacrifices and commit their lives and wellbeing to the Defence Force. For some, their service may have a greater impact on them. In these circumstances, we have a duty of care to ensure that both they and their family receive the support they need to live full and productive lives.

Labor believes one suicide is too many, and is committed to supporting both our current serving ADF personnel and our veterans. It is for this reason that Labor supported the establishment of the Senate inquiry into suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel as a way to explore the issue facing our ex-service men and women. A number of issues were highlighted throughout the inquiry, including the impact of financial stresses, the adversarial and lengthy claim process and the lack of support for partners of veterans. Following the diligent work of senators, the report made 24 recommendations. Labor has offered our support to the government to ensure these vital recommendations are implemented in a timely manner.

This bill seeks to address two of these recommendations by establishing an interim incapacity payment for mental health and by increasing support for families. Greater support for families is an issue which Labor has been actively pursuing. We have highlighted the importance of supporting those who are supporting our current and ex-Defence personnel. It is for this reason that, if elected, we are committed to developing a family engagement and support strategy for Defence personnel and veterans. This strategy would provide a national blueprint to include engagement by DVA and Defence with military families. It would also ensure that best practice support for families of serving personnel and ex-ADF members was consistently available across the country. Schedule 1 will provide additional support for current and former members and their families, including deceased members, by providing additional childcare arrangements, counselling and household services and attendant care.

In addition, this bill introduces the veteran payment—an interim income support payment for those waiting for their mental health claims to be determined. The veteran payment will be a form of interim income support payment available between lodging a claim for a mental health injury and the claim being determined, to assist vulnerable people who may be in financial difficulty. It's anticipated that approximately 1,500 veterans and partners will benefit from this payment in the 2017-18 financial year. Labor strongly support measures which provide vulnerable veterans and their families with assistance and support, particularly during difficult times. For individuals struggling with mental health injuries financial security can play heavily on their mind. These payments will take some of the burden off the individual and their family while they receive the care and support they need to recover.

This bill will also create a new pilot mental health program, streamline additional assistance for individuals, automate qualifying service determinations and make a number of technical amendments. Labor is supportive of the amendments proposed in this legislation, in particular those which address recommendations from the Senate inquiry into suicide and veterans and ex-service personnel. Labor will continue to monitor the implementation of the other recommendations to ensure they are delivered in a timely manner and that the gaps highlighted through the Senate processes are addressed. Our current and ex-serving Defence personnel put their lives on hold in service of our country. They deserve our unwavering support now and into the future.

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk about the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Veteran-centric Reforms No. 1) Bill 2018, which is a non-controversial piece of legislation, and I want to cite one example of why we so badly need a veteran-centric approach to veterans' affairs in Australia, which is what this bill promises to deliver. I'm referring to the case of Jesse Bird, a decorated 32-year-old veteran of the war in Afghanistan who died by suicide in June last year. This is a very sad case, and one which reflects badly on the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I say that with regret because I know the majority of DVA officers are dedicated to the welfare of our veterans and do their best in often difficult circumstances. But this case, and others like it, show that there are systemic failures in the way the department works. They are not the fault of any one officer or any one minister or any one government. They are systemic and they need to the fixed, and I'm sure it is everyone's hope in this chamber that this bill will go some way towards fixing them.

After his return from Afghanistan, Jesse Bird suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. This is the most common mental health condition faced by veterans after service in the gruelling circumstances of modern warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. His PTSD led, in turn, to a depressive disorder and alcohol abuse. In August 2016, DVA accepted liability for Jesse Bird's PTSD and its consequences; then, perversely, the department refused his claim for permanent impairment status, which would have entitled him to financial support. The department did this knowing that he was a suicide risk and that he had no other source of financial support. A few weeks later he did indeed commit suicide. At that point, he had $5 to his name.

Following Jesse Bird's death, his parents, John and Karen Bird, appeared on ABC TV calling for reforms that would prevent other veterans being treated in the same way. In response, the then Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Mr Dan Tehan, ordered an inquiry. In October, the inquiry reported its findings. It found that DVA had failed to comply with its own legislation in its handling of Jesse Bird's claim for permanent impairment status and also that DVA took far too long to process his claim. It found that DVA failed to follow up warnings that Jesse Bird was suicidal, that they did not arrange appropriate counselling for him and that they refused him interim financial support while his claim was being considered.

The report made 19 recommendations to prevent such tragedies occurring again. The most important of these were that interim financial support must be made available in such cases while claims are being determined, that veterans making compensation claims should have access to independent legal advocacy services, and that case management procedures should be overhauled so the veterans who are suicide risks can be quickly identified and supported with appropriate counselling. After these recommendations were released, Mr Tehan said:

After consulting with the Birds on the final recommendations, the Government is committed to addressing the recommendations made in the report and I will have the progress against each recommendation reviewed by an independent expert after 12 months.

This bill is in part a response to that inquiry. The bill establishes an interim income support payment for veterans waiting for mental health claims to be determined. The payments are subject to satisfying the income and assets tests and will require individuals to engage in vocational and psychosocial rehabilitation, including financial counselling.

In addition, partners of veterans may also be eligible for a payment. This new payment is in response to the inquiry into the suicide of Jesse Bird. It is a direct result of the advocacy of his parents and all of those who took the time to make submissions to the Senate inquiry. I want to acknowledge the persistent efforts of the Bird family to see that the circumstances which led to Jesse's death are not repeated. I hope they gain some comfort from the success that they have gained through the provisions of this bill.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank all senators who have contributed to the debate on this bill. The purpose of the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Veteran-centric Reforms No. 1) Bill 2018 is to implement several new initiatives to deliver a range of services to the veterans community and their families to address concerns raised in the Senate Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade References Committee report The constant battle: suicide by veterans.

Schedule 1 of the bill introduces a range of measures in the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, aimed at providing additional family support to veterans and their families. The government is committed to supporting the partners and the families of our veterans. Families make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of Australian Defence Force members throughout their careers, through the transition process and when they become civilians also. The role of family can be particularly important in the treatment and recovery of ill or injured individuals throughout their lives.

Building on the funding provided in the 2017-18 budget, an additional $7.1 million will be provided over four years to extend the support available to families of veterans. This additional support will include greater access to child care, additional home care and counselling, which will help families maintain their connections to their community and employment. The family support amendments will provide additional and practical services designed to improve veterans' health and wellbeing and to assist families of veterans to support them. The services will increase childcare assistance and extend brief intervention counselling for up to five years post discharge for veterans with current rehabilitation plans and their partners and immediate family. It will provide child care, home-care assistance and counselling to the partners and families of a veteran who has served in a recent conflict and who has died, either as a result of the recent conflict or by suicide, for a period of two years from the death of that veteran.

Schedule 2 will create a new veteran payment that will benefit approximately 830 veterans and 690 partners—a total of 1,520 people in the 2018-19 financial year. The veteran payment is a new income support payment that will provide vulnerable veterans with interim financial support until their claim for a liability for a mental health condition is determined. A key focus of the veteran payment is vocational and psychosocial rehabilitation, which includes financial counselling and budgeting. Partners of veterans may also be eligible for the veteran payment, and veterans with dependent children will be entitled to the maximum rate of family tax benefit part A without being subject to the family tax benefit means test while they receive the veteran payment.

Schedule 3 will enable selected white-card holders to participate in the new Coordinated Veterans' Care Program mental health pilot: $3.6 million has been allocated to this pilot, which is focused on veterans with mild to moderate anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder and associated physical health problems, such as musculoskeletal pain. The pilot will be embedded in the existing Coordinated Veterans' Care Program, which uses a team based model of care, led by a general practitioner and supported by a practice nurse.

The veterans participating will be able to access an additional coach application on a smartphone or smart device. The digital application is based upon cognitive behavioural therapy principles. Clinical oversight for the pilot will be provided by a health call-monitoring facility, staffed by registered nurses and supervised by a mental health nurse.

Schedule 4 will amend the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to align it with the changes to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1998 and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988, relating to catastrophic injuries or disease. It will ensure that veterans with a catastrophic injury or disease will receive at least the same entitlements as civilian employees. These amendments will clarify the legislative basis for payments for household and attendant care services for veterans with a catastrophic injury or disease.

Schedule 5 will simplify the determination of qualifying service by automating the process and removing the requirement for a veteran to make application for a determination. This measure is a key part of the VCR program, which aims to put veterans and their needs at the forefront of the delivery of services by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Other measures in this bill will extend gold card eligibility to ADF members who served in Japan at the end of World War II before the establishment of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, and make a number of minor and technical amendments to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 and the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 as it relates to the operation of the Specialist Medical Review Council.

Each of the measures in this bill will mean better outcomes and improved services for veterans and their families. I commend this bill to the chamber.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.