Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

MIGRATION AMENDMENT (STRENGTHENING SPONSORSHIP AND NOMINATION PROCESSES) BILL 2024

The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Sponsorship and Nomination Processes) Bill 2024 amends the Migration Act 1958 to establish the legislative framework for a new temporary skilled worker visa, the Skills in Demand visa.

This legislation creates the income thresholds and indexation for the proposed streams of that visa, as well as streamlining Labour Market Testing requirements.

This Bill is a necessary, important step to introduce a better targeted, temporary skilled work visa as part of the Albanese Labor Government's Migration Strategy.

The Migration Strategy is a set of commitments to address a decade of neglect in Australia's visa system. It's about a more prosperous, fair and secure Australian labour market.

If you are a worker, whether local or migrant, the Migration Strategy means stronger protections of your wages and conditions.

For businesses, it means getting the workers and skills you need to grow and be more productive.

The amendments in this Bill are an important step in delivering a better-planned migration system, meeting Australia's skills needs, and laying a strong foundation for the future.

The provision of legislated minimum income thresholds in the Migration Act for the streams in the Skills in Demand visa will ensure that people working on these visas are less vulnerable to exploitation. This Bill ensures workers receive fair remuneration through indexed salary thresholds.

The amendments in this Bill will guarantee that migrant wages will increase alongside Australian wages, reducing the likelihood of exploitation of skilled migrants. This is good for all workers, regardless of where they are from.

The Specialist Skills stream will attract highly-skilled specialists to ensure businesses can quickly and easily recruit top talent. Eligibility criteria would, among other things, require an applicant to be earning at least $135,000 per year.

The Specialist Skills stream will recognise these workers meet a national need that is beyond filling a narrowly defined gap in the labour market. Highly-skilled migrants bring significant economic benefits. They are more likely to bring productivity enhancing , knowledge and ideas and create jobs for locals..

Most temporary skilled migrants will come through the Core Skills stream. This stream is designed to bring in the skilled employees Australia needs, now and in the future, to ensure we are able to provide ourselves with the goods and services we need to support our way of life.

Eligibility criteria would, among other things, require an applicant to be earning at least $73,150 per year.

These thresholds, to be implemented under the new Skills in Demand Visa, replaces the current Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold.

Placing this threshold in the Act, and making it subject to annual indexation—instead of continuing to specify it in a legislative instrument made by the Minister—provides greater certainty for both sponsors and workers going forward, whilst providing greater strength to restore integrity to the migration system.

Labor has long called for indexation of these important salary thresholds and this Bill ensures this will happen into the future.

For too long, these salaries were not indexed and the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold remained at $53,900 from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2023.

The Bill also delivers on another commitment in the Government's Migration Strategy, by establishing a legislative framework to underpin a public register of approved work sponsors.

This register will provide greater protections and oversight mechanisms, helping to tackle migrant worker exploitation and misuse of the visa system.

Importantly, this register will provide a resource to check that a sponsoring employer is legitimate.

The development of a public register that includes the name of the approved sponsor, their business postcode, number of sponsored workers and their occupations will encourage transparency, monitoring and, oversight.

This managed approach to Australia's visa system ensures a stronger workforce, which in turn strengthens the Australian community.

This Bill will help ensure we have the skills we need for the future and, ultimately, make sure the system is working in the interests of all Australians.

Migrants make a valuable contribution not only to Australia's prosperity—but also to our communities, our national identity, and to our connections across the world.

This Bill is an important step towards implementing the Albanese Labor Government's Migration Strategy.

I commend this Bill to the Chamber.

PRIVACY AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2024

Introduction

The digital economy has unleashed enormous benefits for Australians. But it has also increased the privacy risks we face through the collection and storage of enormous amounts of our personal data.

The Privacy Act 1988 represented the first time that a comprehensive, integrated set of legal rules protecting interests in privacy existed in Australia. On introducing it, Attorney-General Lionel Bowen told the Parliament that "enormous developments in technology for the processing of information are providing new and, in some respects, undesirable opportunities for the greater use of personal information."

In that respect, little has changed. Evolutions in technology and the way people use it continue to vex those who share information online, and those charged with regulating it. It is essential that Australians are protected by a legal framework that is flexible and agile enough to adapt to changes in the world around them.

The Privacy Act has not kept pace with the adoption of digital technologies. The vast data flows that underpin digital ecosystems have also created the conditions for significant harms—like major data breaches that have revealed the sensitive information of millions of Australians, exposing us to the risk of identity fraud and scams.

Strong privacy laws and protections are critical to building public trust and confidence in the digital economy, and driving the investments needed to keep people's data safe.

The right to privacy is a fundamental human right. As Sir Zelman Cowan said in his 1969 Boyer Lectures, a person without privacy is a person without dignity. We must be vigilant in ensuring that evolving technology does not erode our ability to protect information about who we are, what we do and what we believe from being misused.

The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 is a significant step forward for Australian privacy law. It begins the much-needed work of updating our privacy laws to be fit-for-purpose in the digital age.

With this Bill, the Australian Government is taking the next step to ensure Australians' privacy is respected and protected. It implements a first tranche of agreed recommendations of the Privacy Act Review, ahead of consultation on a second tranche of reforms.

It also delivers on a commitment made by the Albanese Government following the National Cabinet held in May to address gender-based violence, by outlawing the practice of "doxxing", or the malicious release of personal data online.

Schedule 1 of the Bill will amend the Privacy Act to enhance its effectiveness, strengthen the enforcement tools available to the privacy regulator and better facilitate safe overseas data flows. It will require the development of a Children's Online Privacy Code, streamline information-sharing in emergencies and following eligible data breaches, and increase transparency when entities are automating significant decisions which use personal information.

Schedule 2 of the Bill will introduce a new statutory tort to provide redress for serious invasions of privacy.

Schedule 3 of the Bill will amend the Criminal Code Act 1995 to introduce new criminal offences to target the harmful practice of doxxing.

Schedule 1—Privacy Act amendments

Schedule 1 begins the work of bringing Australia's privacy protection framework into the digital age. The amendments re-affirm the Government's view that entities have a responsibility to protect

Australians' personal information and not treat it merely as a commercial asset.

Children's privacy

While all Australians face privacy risks in the online environment, children are particularly vulnerable. For many Australian children, social media has been part of their lives from the time they were born. They have never lived in a world without it.

It has been estimated that by the time a child turns 13, around 72 million pieces of data will be collected about them.

This Bill will require the development of a Children's Online Privacy Code which will apply to social media and other internet services which are likely to be accessed by children. The Children's Online Privacy Code will specify how these entities must comply with privacy obligations in relation to children. The Code will align to the extent possible with similar codes in like-minded countries, such as the United Kingdom.

The Code will be developed by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, which will be provided with $3 million in funding over three years to do this important work.

Information-sharing declarations after data breaches and emergencies

Cyber incidents are growing in number, speed and sophistication. Data breaches are exposing millions of Australians to risk of fraud, identity theft and scams. This Bill will promote the importance of implementing technical and organisational controls—such as encrypting data and training staff on data protection—to address information security risks.

It will also support more effective responses to data breaches by introducing eligible data breach declarations. A declaration will permit the sharing of personal information following a notifiable data breach for the purpose of preventing or reducing the risk of harm to individuals.

Sharing information under these circumstances will enable entities such as banks to act quickly to prevent the misuse of compromised credentials. Safeguards are included to ensure that a declaration can only be made for a purpose that is related to preventing or reducing a risk of harm to individuals arising from a misuse of personal information from the eligible data breach.

An eligible data breach declaration can be issued quickly and will make clear the kinds of personal information that may be shared, and with whom they may be shared, which may include state and territory agencies.

Similarly, emergency declarations made under the Act permit personal information sharing following disasters or emergencies to support response efforts, including to assist affected individuals. The Bill will require emergency declarations to specify the kinds of personal information, types of entities permitted to share information and the purposes for which it may be shared. These changes will ensure that individuals' privacy is protected while also addressing their broader interests, and will support enhanced coordination with states and territories in emergencies and disasters.

Overseas data flows

The flow of information across national borders is critical for international trade and services in a globalised world. To support the free flow of information with appropriate protections, the Bill provides for countries with substantially similar data privacy laws to Australia to be prescribed. Businesses and individuals will be able to have greater confidence that personal information will be kept safe. This will also reduce costs for business when entering into contracts and agreements with overseas entities.

Enforcement

Effective enforcement of the Privacy Act is essential to protect Australians' interests. This Bill expands the suite of regulatory powers available to the Information Commissioner to effectively enforce the Act, and provides a broader range of enforcement options available to do so. This will include new civil penalties and infringement notices for less serious privacy breaches.

To investigate potential privacy breaches in an increasingly complex digital landscape, the Information Commissioner requires modern investigative powers. This Bill provides the Information Commissioner with additional powers, including for search and seizure, which may be exercised under warrant when investigating breaches of the Act, and scalable enforcement options.

The Bill will empower a court to make appropriate orders where it has determined that an entity has breached a civil penalty provision, which may include compensation for loss or damage suffered.

Effective privacy protection requires proactive regulatory action. This Bill also strengthens the Information Commissioner's capacity by expanding monitoring and assessment functions. The Bill also introduces new public inquiry powers which will enable the Information Commissioner to inquire into specified matters as directed or approved. This will enable the

Information Commissioner to keep closer oversight of threats to privacy, including issues of a systemic nature, as they emerge.

Automated decision making

The safe and responsible development and deployment of automated decision making presents significant opportunities. These systems have the potential to increase the efficiency, accuracy and consistency of decisions, and they present opportunities for improved outcomes in health, environment, defence and national security.

The Bill will provide individuals with transparency about the use of their personal information in automated decisions which significantly affect their interests. Entities will need to specify the kinds of personal information used in these sorts of decisions in their privacy policies.

Importantly these requirements will apply to decisions that are wholly or substantially automated, ensuring that the new requirements cannot be avoided by 'tokenistic' human involvement in a decision-making process.

Schedule 2—statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy

A statutory tort applying to breaches of privacy has been talked about in Australia for a long, long time—as early as 1969, when Sir Zelman Cowan, then Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, endorsed legislation to create an actionable right to seek redress for breaches of privacy.

There is currently no tortious right of action for invasion of privacy under the Act or any other Commonwealth, state or territory statute. The creation of a statutory tort was recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission in its 2014 Report "Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era", which I commissioned in 2013. It has been recommended by many other inquiries before and since.

In its 2014 report, the Commission stated the creation of a statutory tort would "fill an increasingly conspicuous gap in Australian law, helping to protect the privacy of Australians, while respecting and reinforcing other fundamental rights and values, including freedom of expression".

Schedule 2 to the Bill will provide a new statutory cause of action, or tort, for individuals who have suffered a serious invasion of their privacy. This will include an intrusion on a person's physical privacy, so the tort will complement the Privacy Act, which focusses on the narrower concept of information privacy.

There are parts of our lives that we reasonably expect to be able to keep to ourselves. The freedom to enjoy a private and family life, and express ourselves and our beliefs in safety, is critical to our wellbeing and dignity.

Ensuring that individuals have a clear right to seek a legal remedy against people or entities who seriously invade their privacy is a key part of ensuring that our privacy laws keep pace with community expectations and advances in technology.

Schedule 2 to the Bill provides that an individual has a cause of action for serious privacy invasions, either by an intrusion upon the individual's seclusion—for example by physically intruding into their private space—or by misuse of their information, in circumstances where the individual had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

A plaintiff will have a cause of action without having to prove that any damage arose from the invasion of privacy. The damage or harm a plaintiff suffers will' be a relevant factor in assessing the seriousness of the invasion, and the remedies that may be awarded.

For a claim to succeed, the plaintiff will need to demonstrate the public interest in protecting their privacy outweighs any competing public interest raised by the defendant.

In addition to the public interest balancing test, a range of defences will apply, including where the conduct of the defendant was required or authorised by law or was necessary because of a serious threat to life, health or safety.

The Bill will provide specific exemptions from liability under the tort, including for journalism, enforcement bodies and intelligence agencies. These exemptions are important to protect press freedom, and ensure that legitimate activities of government can be delivered effectively.

The journalism exemption provides that invasions of privacy which occur in the course of the collection, preparation or publication of journalistic material, by a journalist, their employer, or someone assisting them, would not be liable under the tort. The Bill requires that to be considered a 'journalist', the person must work in that professional capacity, and be subject to applicable standards of professional conduct or a code of practice.

The journalism exemption also operates in addition to the requirement that a court balance the public interest in the plaintiff's privacy with other public interests. This may involve consideration of the public interest in freedom of the media, or freedom of expression.

A court will have the flexibility to choose the remedy or remedies that are most appropriate in the circumstances. This may include compensation for non-economic loss or an order requiring the defendant to apologise to the plaintiff.

Schedule 3—doxxing criminal offences

Schedule 3 of the Bill will amend the Criminal Code 1995 to create new criminal offences targeting the release of personal data in a manner that is menacing or harassing-a practice known as 'doxxing'.

The prevalence of social media and online platforms has rapidly increased the capacity of malicious individuals to obtain personal data, and to release that online-either to the public at large on social media platforms, or to their associates on forum and messaging platforms.

Doxxing exposes victims to significant and enduring harm, including public embarrassment, humiliation, shaming, discrimination, stalking and identify theft and financial fraud. It can lead to threats to a victim's life and safety, and the lives and safety of their families and friends. It can inflict significant and lasting psychological harm.

Doxxing is a damaging form of abuse that can affect all Australians, but is often used against women in the context of domestic and family violence.

The creation of this offence also responds to a recent, shocking incident of a group who were targeted with doxxing on the basis of their religion.

The Bill creates a new offence that applies where a person:

The new offence will carry a maximum penalty of 6 years' imprisonment.

The Bill also introduces a further offence, with a more serious maximum penalty of 7 years' imprisonment, where a person or group is targeted because of their race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality or national or ethnic origin.

The Government recognises that there are circumstances in which people legitimately publish and distribute personal data, including individuals' names, contact details and movements.

The new offences will apply only where a reasonable person would consider the conduct to be, in all the circumstances, menacing or harassing, to ensure that legitimate conduct is not inappropriately criminalised.

'Personal data', in the context of these new offences, means information about an individual that enables them to be identified, contacted or located. This includes their name, photograph, telephone number, email address, online account, residential or work address, and place of education or worship. This definition recognises that doxxing can occur in a number of different ways.

The Albanese Government is committed to the protection of Australians from online harm, and these new offences will ensure that perpetrators of doxxing are held to account.

These new offences will complement work that is underway across government, to strengthen online safety for all Australians. This includes the takedown powers of the eSafety Commissioner, the Cyberbullying Scheme and the Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme under the Online Safety Act 2021.

Conclusion

This Bill is an important first step in the Government's privacy reform agenda, but it will not be the last. Over the coming months, the Attorney- General's Department will develop the next tranche of privacy reform for targeted consultation, including draft provisions. The Government is approaching this important reform work carefully, to ensure increased privacy protections are balanced alongside other impacts, and that we deliver the fairest outcome for all Australians.

After many years of inaction, this Labor Government is committed to genuine privacy reform. The Australian people expect no less—for themselves and their children.

TREASURY LAWS AMENDMENT (2024 TAX AND OTHER MEASURES NO. 1) BILL 2024

Today, we're taking steps to ensure that our tax system is simpler and fairer.

Schedule 1 to the Bill improves the integrity of the foreign resident capital gains withholding regime.

Foreign residents, like Australian residents, are required to pay capital gains taxes on the sale of their Australian real property assets. However, there's an incentive for foreign residents to not lodge a tax return to avoid this liability. The current withholding regime has been in place since 2016 as an integrity measure against this—ensuring a 12.5 per cent down payment on any CGT liability at the point of sale, for asset sales above $750,000.

However, where CGT liabilities are greater than 12.5 per cent, there remains an incentive for foreign residents to avoiding lodging a tax return in order to sidestep their tax obligations.

The amendments implement the government's 2023-24 MYEFO measure to increase the withholding rate from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent and removes the $750,000 threshold.

These changes help to level the playing field between Australian and foreign investors, by ensuring foreign investors selling a real property asset (such as residential property) are subject to the same overall tax obligations as Australians, and better aligns a foreign resident's CGT liabilities with their likely real capital gain.

We're also making our tax system simpler for Australia's small businesses. Small businesses are the heart of our economy. They're run by hardworking Australians who are used to overcoming challenges to keep their businesses growing. We'd like their tax returns to be one less challenge. The changes in this Bill will make it easier to manage their tax affairs, so they can get back to their businesses and their families.

Currently, businesses need to make a declaration each time their tax agent lodges their single touch payroll data on their behalf. We're changing that. Schedule 2 will allow a business to make a standing declaration to their agent that covers multiple lodgements, for up to 12 months, on the employer's behalf. This simple change simplifies the process, saving time and cutting unnecessary red tape.

We're also extending the time small and medium businesses have to self-amend their tax assessments from two to four years, as outlined in Schedule 3. Currently, if a business realises they've made a mistake in their tax return after the two-year window has closed, they're forced into a formal objections process that is time- consuming, complex, and often costly. By extending the self-amendment window, we're giving businesses the flexibility to fix errors, helping them stay compliant with their tax obligations.

Schedule 4 to the Bill delivers on the government's election commitment to cut paperwork and reduce the time small businesses spend doing taxes. The law currently requires the Tax Office to process certain refunds as soon as practicable, even when valid bank account details aren't available. This often results in the Tax Office sending refunds via cheques. These can be delayed or lost, and may impose a cost on businesses to process them. These changes will allow the Tax Office up to 90 days to gain valid bank account details before processing certain tax refunds. The greater use of electronic funds transfers to bank accounts will facilitate faster, safer and cheaper payment of refunds.

The changes in this Bill are sensible changes to improve the integrity of our tax system, cut red tape, and make our tax system more accessible for Australian businesses.

Full details of the measure are contained in the Explanatory Memorandum.

VETERANS' ENTITLEMENTS, TREATMENT AND SUPPORT (SIMPLIFICATION AND HARMONISATION) BILL 2024

Today, I am pleased to introduce the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024. The VETS Bill.

This Bill delivers on the Albanese Government's commitment to implement the first recommendation of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide's Interim Report.

Positioning

In August 2022 the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide released its Interim Report.

The Royal Commission found that the 'veterans entitlement system is so complicated that it adversely affects the mental health of some veterans'.

Veteran claims for benefits and support are currently assessed under three different pieces of legislation depending on the time someone served, and the nature of their service. Often veterans have had claims dealt with under all three pieces of legislation.

This is the result of decades of piecemeal change and fringe reform built on top of a century of different veterans' entitlements legislation.

The Royal Commission's first recommendation was that legislative reform be implemented to simplify and harmonise the system. The Government accepted this recommendation a month later.

That is what this Government committed to doing, and we've set about the mammoth task of embarking on the most significant reform of the veterans' entitlements legislation since the introduction of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 20 years ago. Indeed, this Bill could be seen as the most significant shift in approach to veterans entitlements legislation in in the nearly 40 years since the Veterans Entitlements Act was introduced.

Anyone who has engaged with the current veteran compensation system will tell you the system is unnecessarily complicated, difficult to understand and has negatively impacted veterans. This same complexity has directly contributed to delays, inconsistent processing, uncertain outcomes and claims backlogs.

Calls to simplify the current arrangements have been kicking around for years, and I'm proud the Albanese Government has taken on the challenge. This reform will significantly reduce the complexity of the system, ultimately giving veterans and families the support they need, faster.

Since the Royal Commission's recommendation in mid-2022, through to this year, we've consulted on this proposal widely because we know that the best outcomes will come with the involvement of those who have been personally impacted by, and interacted with the veteran compensation system.

The Royal Commission called on Government to consider outstanding recommendations from the 2019 Productivity Commission report, A Better Way To Support Veterans in developing this legislation.

We sought feedback on those recommendations in 2022.

In early 2023, I released our "Veterans' Legislation Reform Consultation Pathway" for consultation. We held 17 face-to- face consultations across the country and 6 webinars, many of which I attended personally.

The Government considered this feedback and developed an exposure draft of this legislation released early this year.

Critically, as a result of these consultations, we are adding a new payment called the Additional Disablement Amount—or ADA—to the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

In our recent consultations with veterans around the country the feedback was overwhelmingly positive on this draft legislative proposal. Resulting from this further consultation, the Bill introduced today now sees veterans in receipt of DRCA incapacity payments automatically transition to MRCA incapacity payments.

I know for many in the veteran community, the seriousness with which the Albanese Government takes supporting our veterans was evident in this year's Federal Budget.

The Budget showed that our work properly resourcing the Department of Veterans' Affairs—OVA—and hiring more than 500 additional permanent staff to successfully eradicate the OVA claims backlog we inherited would see an additional $6.5 billion in delayed benefits and supports flow to veterans and families over five years.

The Budget was also evidence that these legislative changes are not about the Government saving money, but rather will see an additional $222 million in veteran and family benefits over the first two years of operation.

Veterans' have personally shared with me that they never thought such a significant, positive reform for the veteran community would occur in their lifetimes.

What is it?

At the heart of the Government's legislative proposal is that on 1 July 2026 all veterans' rehabilitation and compensation claims will be dealt with under a single piece of legislation, the 21st century Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA).

As a principle, this new approach will mean that all veterans will engage with OVA regarding their rehabilitation and compensation entitlements on the basis of just one piece of legislation; one that will operate without the confusing multi-act considerations that characterise many current claims.

This is a step further than what was proposed in the most recent review of veterans' compensation legislation. The 2019 Productivity Commission Report recommended taking the three current Acts, and combining these into two pieces of legislation. However, this change would have produced a whole new range of complexity.

What we have done is to move to just one piece of ongoing legislation.

This Bill will amend the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004you might have heard it referred to as the MRCA, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related claims) Act 1988- known as the ORCA, and the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986or VEA, to be streamlined into a single piece of ongoing legislation of veteran compensation and other entitlements which will be continued in the MRCA. These changes will also introduce a range of enhancements for an "Improved" ongoing MRCA that will make access to entitlements easier and fairer.

These changes will remove the need for many veterans to make choices that are often complex and, in many instances, subject to individual circumstances, which can change over time. It will also remove duplication in claims lodgement.

The changes will also hugely simplify the training, processing and knowledge burdens on claims advocates and OVA staff. Making processes and administration easier for OVA is not an end in itself, but rather an outcome that will directly and positively affect veterans by allowing the Department to be well positioned to focus efforts on vulnerable veterans.

OVERVIEW OF THE BILL

We are proposing that the new system will commence on 1 July 2026. The extended commencement allows time to ensure the veteran community is well informed on what these important changes mean for them and that individuals can consider their circumstances.

It will also ensure the appropriate training and system changes have been implemented for advocates and within OVA without hold up.

Those receiving benefits immediately prior to the commencement of the new arrangements will continue to do so under 'grandparenting' arrangements without any reduction in payments. This is a key feature of the new model that is designed to give financial certainty to veterans and their families. The provisions also operate to ensure that any payments being received will continue to be indexed annually.

In essence, the changes in this Bill will:

Turning now to the detail.

Schedule 1 of the Bill contains the key provisions that will have the effect of consolidating compensation and rehabilitation entitlements into a single ongoing piece of legislation.

Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related claims) Act Veterans' Entitlements Act Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Veterans' Entitlements Act.

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence- related claims) Act Veterans' Entitlements Act, Military, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Veterans Entitlements Act, Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

permanent and stable,

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related claims) Act 1988

Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related claims) Act 1988 Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act

Schedule 2 deals with important changes designed to enhance the benefits and payments available under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act

Veterans' Entitlements Act,

ex gratia Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Veterans' Entitlements Act Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act,

Commission with an instrument-making power to specify the relevant injuries or diseases.

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. Veterans' Entitlements Act,

Schedule 3 will standardise the merits review process for veterans' compensation entitlements decisions. The internal (OVA) reconsideration process will be removed and jurisdiction given to the Veterans Review Board, a specialist veteran tribunal, to review Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related claims) Act 1988, the DRCA, original determinations. A second tier of merits review to the Administrative Review Tribunal—the AAT—will remain in place. Although DRCA reviews would naturally cease under the model in the medium term, these changes will commence 60 days after Royal Assent, to harmonise the review pathway across the Acts and provide consistency and certainty over the initial period of the new model.

Sections dealing with the powers and functions of the Veterans' Review Board will also move from the Veterans' Entitlements Act into the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Schedule 4 will simplify the governance arrangements for the veterans' entitlements system. The Repatriation Commission and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission will be merged, leaving the Repatriation Commission as the single body administering all veterans' compensation legislation, consolidating the powers of the existing two Commissions.

This change will remove duplication of responsibilities and provide greater administrative clarity about governance matters.

Schedule 5 will move provisions dealing with the Repatriation Medical Authority and Specialist Medical Review Council from the Veterans' Entitlements Act into the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, with no change to either body's powers or responsibilities, to ultimately make engaging with the system more straightforward.

There will now be a change, however, so that where the Repatriation Medical Authority updates a Statement of Principles, or SoP, between the veterans primary and reviewable decision, the version of the SoP which is most beneficial to the veteran's circumstances will now be applied.

Schedule 6 makes important changes to when the disability compensation payment will stop under the Veterans' Entitlements Act. Currently, under the Veterans' Entitlements Act, the disability compensation payment cannot be paid for the 14-day pension period in which a person dies. That's resulted in some horrible situations where grieving families are asked to pay back a debt. This schedule will change the cessation of disability compensation payment to the date of the person's death, harmonising the position in the Veterans' Entitlements Act and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, as well as income support payments.

Schedule 7 will deal with application and transitional provisions.

The transitional provisions of this Bill will:

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related claims) Act 1988 Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986

Schedule 8 contains amendments to legislation in other portfolios such as Social Services, Treasury, and Health, to reflect the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004

(MRCA) as the primary statute for veteran matters and the merging of the Commissions.

Conclusion

This legislation will reform a highly complex, overlapping veterans' compensation framework, one that operates under three separate pieces of legislation and that causes a great deal of anxiety to the veteran community.

This Bill has been developed as a result of and shaped by feedback provided by the veteran community over the last 20 months.

This is a once in a generation opportunity to get the system right for veterans and families. A system that for too long has caused much unnecessary anxiety for the veteran community. The book "Shining a Light' recently produced by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide that covers the lived experience of veterans and families makes this all too clear.

I thank all the veterans, defence personnel, families, advocates and experts who have been involved in this process to date.

Your frank and fearless feedback, has genuinely been vital in developing the pathway to, and the nuance of this legislation.

This legislation is a significant step in ensuring a better future for defence personnel, veterans and families.

I look forward to continuing to work with you here in this place, on all sides, to make this once in a generation positive change for all Australian Veterans.

I commend the Bill to the Chamber.

Debate adjourned.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.