Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank all the members who have spoken for their interest in our veterans, our serving Australian Defence Force personnel and their families. When a young Australian joins the Australian Defence Force, they swear an oath to serve our nation. The flipside of that is obviously the unspoken contract that we enter into as civilians. We have obligations on behalf of a grateful nation to make sure that they are supported during their service but also to make sure that they are well-equipped and that their families are well looked after during that service. And, when they transition, if they need help, we also have obligations as a grateful nation to make sure it is provided. The Veterans Covenant sums this up with the words: 'For what they have done, this we will do.' It is not just government, though; it is also the Department of Veterans Affairs itself—the department provides more than $11 billion per year—and it's also the ex-service community, and in partnership with the business community and industry more broadly.

When we think of our veteran community, we are tempted to think of older males, maybe World War II veterans with mobility issues, struggling to get through the later years of their life. But the reality is that there is far greater diversity in the veteran community than that. They are younger and they have experience with more recent conflicts or peacekeeping or humanitarian aid and assistance programs. So they have different needs, and the Department of Veterans Affairs has had to become more innovative and recognise—and the Australian Defence Force itself has had to recognise—the different needs of our serving members and their transition requirements.

The member for Pearce touched on this when he said that the toll that military service can take on an individual is something the government needs to be very conscious of. We are conscious of it, and I want to thank the member for his contribution in that regard. We do need to make sure that their transition—that critical point when someone moves from a position where they have had a lot of support structures about them and where they have had that sense of purpose and that sense of mission and the focus they get form that—is successful. We have to find ways to ensure that, when they transition, it is successful. The Joint Transition Authority, which the member talked about, is a critical change in the way we are approaching this issue.

He also touched on something which I think is very important, and that was that we have to tell the positive story of the skills these men and women possess when they leave. We have to tell that positive story, because perceptions actually matter. We have to make the business community, industry, government and organisations understand that hiring a veteran is good for their business or their industry. It is about making sure that they understand that these people had a career—the average career is about seven years—and that those skills are transferrable to a new way of life. I thank the member for Pearce for his comments in that regard.

The member for Herbert made similar comments when he talked about his lived experience and that of his mates who were in the gallery before. He mentioned that we need to rewrite the script, and I want to encourage the member for Herbert to continue rewriting that script and telling that positive story. We agree and those opposite agree that there is more to be done, but I also would contended that, if we tell the positive story of military service and the positive story of our veterans, we will achieve far greater in this place than if we are continually fighting amongst ourselves—and I congratulate the shadow minister for largely being quite partisan in his approach to the issues that we face in our veteran community. Progress has been made, and I want to thank my ministerial team—a couple of whom are here today—for the work they do to support our veterans. I also want to thank Lyz Cosson at DVA and her team for the work they do to try to be responsive to the needs of our veteran community.

The shadow minister raised some legitimate issues, which I will endeavour to cover in the short amount of time I have. One he mentioned in particular, the allied health fees issue, is an ongoing issue. We are working with the department to come up with a new approach to reach a position where our fees are more in keeping with the fees in the market.

There is no question that in the areas like national disability insurance and other areas the fees that are being made available for those clients have outpriced the veteran community. It's something I'm acutely aware of. I'm also acutely aware of the time taken to process. In many ways I'd argue the Department of Veterans' Affairs has become something of a victim of its own success. The work it's done in transition has encouraged more veterans to come forward. The work we've done with the Veteran Card, the veterans' covenant and other initiatives has brought more veterans forward, because they've seen a better experience for their colleagues. More have come forward and we're dealing with more clients, more veterans, than ever before. Additional resources were provided in this year's budget to try and address some of that 'time taken to process' issue, but I think there's going to be more work required in that regard.

Some of the other specific questions I'll have to respond to in writing, and I thank the members for their contributions. I would make one final point and offer this commitment to our veterans, to our serving members: we will listen you. We will try to understand what you're saying to us. We will make changes where we can. We will keep our side of that contract, on behalf of a grateful nation, to make sure you are well looked after during your service and after your service. 'For what they have done, this we will do' is a contract that we will keep in this place. I thank the House.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

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