Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

So while schedule 1 of the coalition government's bill will support greater fairness in the administration of our military justice, schedule 2 will improve fairness and security in the treatment of reservists who render defence service.

Reservists are a vital part of our Defence Force and are commonly required to interrupt their lives and their employment to go on active duty alongside regular service men and women. I met a number of the most amazing, dedicated reservists who had given up nine months of their lives and served their country in Afghanistan. I met neurosurgeons, emergency medicine specialists, dentists, lawyers and a chaplain—to name just a few. Often in the process of rendering this service these men and women sacrifice career opportunities as well as their personal lives, and existing legislation provides them with some critical entitlements and protections to mitigate some of the impact of these sacrifices. However, unfortunately, sometimes reservists may not feel that those entitlements and protections have been complied with and complaints sometimes arise. In fact, in 2017-18 there were some 1,400 inquiries of this nature.

I recently had a discussion at one of my listening posts with a retired reservist—I'll call him Tim—who served in the Solomons. Tim felt that a number of his needs weren't being properly met by the DVA, and I undertook to look into that for Tim. Tim personifies what being a reservist is all about. He has a common day job but has served his country in the Solomon Islands and other places where he experienced some graphic and very unfortunate circumstances which stay with him every waking moment of his life. This bill will go some way to improving the reservist complaint process. I want to give a shout-out to Tim and thank him once again for the service that he has given this country.

This improved complaint process makes the handling of complaints the responsibility of the Chief of the Defence Force, ensuring that accountability for looking after reservists lies with the ADF's most senior officer. The bill provides the Chief of the Defence Force with the necessary powers to investigate complaints of this kind and, indeed, any suspected breach of the relevant act, including the power to give notices to produce information or documents. The bill further provides the Chief of the Defence Force with the flexibility to deal with complaints in the most appropriate manner. In particular, it broadens the ability of the Chief of the Defence Force to deploy dispute resolution services other than formal mediation and gives them the power to compel parties' attendance at a conference to facilitate discussion.

These powers will help ensure that complaints are dealt with as quickly, fairly and efficiently as possible and, by extension, that as many reservists as possible get good employment outcomes following their active service. This is only the latest in this Liberal-National government's strong track record of delivering support for transition and future employment for those who have served in our armed forces. In total, in the most recent federal budget the government committed more than $11 billion to provide the essential services that our veterans rely on. This is accompanied by a substantial package of reforms. We've instituted a policy of no discharge without documentation, for example, to ensure ADF members are prepared for civilian life and future employment with all the documents they need, including medical and training records, to make transition as seamless as possible. We've delivered an extra $8 million for the Prime Minister's Veterans' Employment Program, which includes a new veterans employment commitment to which businesses can sign up. This program will help veterans to identify employers who are likely to support them and will reward employers for their insight. To help further, we've established individual professional career coaching for ADF members prior to and up to 12 months following separation from the ADF.

Employment prospects for veterans can often be improved by further education. We've allocated $10.8 million to remove the reduction in the amount of incapacity payments which eligible veterans who are undertaking approved full-time study as part of their rehabilitation plan receive. There's much more to be done in this space, and I'll continue to encourage the government to examine ways that Australia can look at adopting a US-style GI bill.

Employment outcomes for veterans can also be significantly impacted by their mental health, and we've taken action to support them in this regard. The coalition government has made mental health treatment free of charge for anyone who has served at least one day full time in the ADF, whatever their mental health condition, and whether or not the condition is related to their service. We're funding a coordinated veterans care program for mental health, which will support up to 250 DVA clients living in rural and regional areas who have mild-to-moderate anxiety or depression, alongside a chronic physical condition accompanied by pain. In total, we've committed an extra $89.6 million to support veterans' mental health, including $16.1 million for a new veterans payment for financially vulnerable veterans living with a mental health condition; $9 million to pilot new approaches to suicide prevention; and $7.1 million to extend support to families of veterans. To administer all of these programs we have provided an additional $100 million in the 2018 budget, on top of the $166.6 million last year to support the coalition government's improvements to DVA, upgrading internal computer systems and making sure we have faster and better service delivery to people when they need it.

There are an estimated 15,000 veterans living on the Sunshine Coast, and I'm absolutely passionate about ensuring we support our armed forces—both those who are serving and those who have served. In my own electorate of Fisher I've introduced a Fisher defence industry initiative to try to support new employment opportunities for former service men and women on the Sunshine Coast. I've held a local veterans forum, instituted a Sunshine Coast Veterans Day and advocated in this place for more support for veterans' tertiary education.

I believe this bill, though modest in its effect, will make important changes to the administration of military justice and the handling of reservists' complaints, which will see greater fairness for all ADF personnel. For that reason, I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context