Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion put by the Hon. Amanda Rishworth, our shadow minister for defence personnel and veterans' affairs, and thank her for the careful attention she is paying in her portfolio to the things that really do impact on our veterans.

Like all members here, I have met with veterans who live in the electorate: I have heard their stories, I have marched with them on Anzac Day, I have attended remembrance ceremonies with them. I would agree with most in this place that spending time with our veterans is an eye-opening experience into some of the challenges that they face on returning to civilian life, and particularly the challenges they face around their health after serving our country. It is with that in mind that I thank the shadow minister for raising what is a considerable issue.

It is an issue where we need to see from this government their rhetoric meet some action, because on the ground now our worst fears about the 2014 budget cuts are being lived out by our veterans. They are being lived out because the indexation freeze for the DVA rebate paid to the health professionals helping our veterans has been frozen since 2014. It has created a gap between what the DVA will provide for services to our highly skilled medical practitioners who are trying to support our veterans, particularly in the area of mental health. This is a $52 gap that is not being picked up by the government. As a result, we are finding that veterans are unable to access the support, the clinicians, that they need to access to ensure their continued mental health. This is particularly concerning if you think about our veterans who may be in some kind of personal crisis. Their ability to get on the phone and access the best clinicians in this country is being blocked because of a simple indexation change that needs to be made by this government to ensure that the best people are available to our ex-service men and women.

The good news is this can be easily fixed, and this motion calls on the government to take the action required: to lift the freeze and ensure that our veterans have access to the professional health support that they need. It is a simple fix, one that this motion calls to the attention of the government. I am sure—I am absolutely sure—that the minister in this area would be supportive of this motion if he were in this chamber today, because no-one who takes a commonsense view would see this as a difficult thing to do. Everyone I have spoken to supports the notion that this gap should be taken away so that our veterans can access the service they need. And we do not have to go far. I listened to the member for Fisher. He raised some very important points around ex-servicemen and veteran suicide rates, particularly in young men. They are extraordinary numbers, and numbers that need to be addressed. Having this small thing, or what seems a small thing in parliamentary terms, standing in the way of them accessing the clinicians they need seems an absolute shame and something that could be fixed quite quickly.

The member for Fisher made reference to the inquiry into veterans suicide and the impact there. Griffith University's Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention gave evidence to that inquiry into the suicide of veterans and ex-service personnel. Dr Katelyn Kerr stated:

… there has been a fee freeze for psychologists since 2014, creating a disincentive for experienced and skilled clinicians to see veterans.

This freeze has meant that supply is not meeting the demand of our veterans and ex-service personnel who require mental health support. That pretty much sums this up. It is an easy fix. I call on those on the government benches to have a look at this motion, to have some clear understanding, to speak directly to the Minister for Health and try and influence him to have this index freeze unfrozen to allow this gap to be filled and ensure that the next time we are standing with ex-servicemen around our country, laying a wreath or at a memorial, we can look them in the eye and say, 'We are doing everything possible to ensure your health and wellbeing into the future'.

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