George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service was renamed as Open Arms: Veterans and Families Counselling Service, by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs on 19 October 2018 to coincide with the Invictus Games;

(b) veterans of the Vietnam War were the first to recognise the need for specialist counselling services for Australia’s returned service personnel—their lobbying resulted in the establishment of the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service, or VVCS, in 1982;

(c) since its establishment, VVCS has assisted thousands of veterans and their families with mental health and relationship issues, as well as building resilience and wellbeing; and

(d) over the years, the focus of this service has expanded to include veterans of all conflicts, their families and other members of the veteran community and the new name recognises this broader focus; and

(2) acknowledges the significant legacy of Australia’s Vietnam veterans who have ensured that future generations of serving men and women will have access to specialised mental health and wellbeing support.

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