Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I'm pleased to support this piece of private members' business in the form of the Census and Statistics Amendment (Statistical Information) Regulations 2020. I thank the member for Stirling for not only bringing about this private members' business but also for his service to Australia. His wife has also served Australia. They've both served our country very proudly and very well. I'm also incredibly proud to speak in this chamber for the first time in my new role as the shadow assistant minister for defence, and on a matter relating to the portfolio. We really must understand the contribution that defence personnel make to this country. This government has consistently, sadly, not shown the full amount of respect that I believe we need to show our defence personnel. Indeed, not long ago, the veterans minister was not really able to say how many veterans we have here in Australia. By anyone's measure, that is a problem. Currently, we have more than 105,000 personnel serving and working in Defence. We must ensure that these service women and service men are not forgotten. We must ensure that they're more than a statistic for this government. The government of the day must know how many ex service personnel we have and they must understand the needs of these ex service personnel, their families and the lifelong challenges that they face.

The federal Labor opposition, along with the states and territories, has long called for the Commonwealth to include in the census a question on defence service to identify Australia's veterans. The census can serve to capture lost data, allowing us to identify how many veterans there are and where they live, allowing the right services to be delivered to them and their families and to ensure that no-one is falling through the cracks. It simply won't be enough for the government to just collect this data either. It's one thing to put a question on a census; it's another thing to interpret that data and then put it into action for our veterans. We must make sure that the resulting information is shared with state and territory agencies and that ex-service organisations are able to better target support for veterans and their families in areas such as health, mental health, housing and employment. These are all critical areas.

Many recent reports on issues such as veteran suicide and homelessness have highlighted that too many veterans are falling through the cracks and that support services are failing our most vulnerable. We need the best information to be readily available to be able to understand the issues that veterans are facing and, more importantly, how to apply the policies and the fixes that we need. Engaging with defence families is another really vital area, because often family is the first line of support for our veterans. They have to have input into the services and they have to be able to help wrap around and provide the best possible support to our ex-service personnel.

This government must not be complacent any longer, and we can't wait until census 2021 to start taking steps to address veterans who are, sadly, being left out in the cold—actually, literally. Whilst Labor has long agreed that the census questions around ADF service will help ensure a complete picture, we know that government must do more to engage the veteran community and the families that are supporting them. Regional services need to be well informed if they're best able to serve those people who need them.

I want to take a moment to highlight the national shame that is the Morrison government's failure to make any real headway on tackling veteran homelessness—and we all shake our heads at that crisis. Damning figures show that from July around 5,800 ex-service men and women had been homeless in that 12-month period. It is just not good enough. In the Hunter alone, around one in 10 homeless people are veterans. In my electorate, the RSL's information is that there is a 25 per cent increase in the number of veterans locally who are seeking their help. This government must do more. These people have served their nation and they deserve to be well served by their government.

See this speech in context