Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I am grateful to the shadow minister and glad to see that the parliament is coming together on this bill to support veterans, because we owe a debt of gratitude to our Australian Defence Force personnel and veterans, whom we have a solemn duty to look after, including their families, particularly after they retire from the ADF. We know that families play an essential role in supporting current and ex-serving members. Military life is unique, and those families can also be deeply affected by military service. For most veterans' families military service is largely a positive experience, but some of our veterans and their families need support to manage challenging life circumstances, such as mental or physical health episodes, or sudden significant events such as loss of employment.

The Albanese government is listening to families and recognises that more support is needed for partners and their families. We know that support for our veterans' families is too important to wait for the final recommendations from the royal commission into veterans' suicide. They've delivered an interim report. The government is in the process of responding to that and the recommendations, but the final report won't come down until 2024 and veterans need action prior to that.

An existing program for certain veterans' families provides funding for child care, counselling and, for widowed partners, household services. The government has listened to the needs of veterans' families and is establishing a new Defence Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package. It will provide support for more families by extending the eligibility under all three acts to veterans and their families who are at risk of, or are in, crisis and removing the need for veterans to have warlike service or be participating in rehabilitation. That's an important change to the provisions in these acts, that extends that to more veterans and their families.

It also builds capacity to include access to skills based supports, to help families adjust to new life circumstances independently and in the future. It provides families with choice and flexibility by removing the limits on each service category, so families can choose the support that they need. It also gives families access to at least the same level of financial support available under the current package, in many cases and more, and makes the package more equitable, with all families able to access a range of supports.

It improves support to widowed partners, by starting the two-year period of support from the date of acceptance into the program rather than from the date of the death of a partner. It's another example of this government getting on with the job and listening to veterans, responding to their circumstances and implementing changes that will provide more support for veterans into the future.

This acute support package is delivered in accordance with recommendation 19 of the Senate inquiry into suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel, and that report was entitled The constant battle: suicide by veterans. It also responds to recommendation 19.2 of the Productivity Commission report A better way to support veterans, going further than the recommendation by ensuring that veterans and their families are well supported.

The existing program captures only a small segment of veterans' families, due to the restricted eligibility criteria linked to contemporary veterans, their service and participation in rehabilitation. This initiative recognises that military service can adversely affect a family at any time and extends access to more families by linking eligibility criteria to incapacity and need.

The bill amends the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and the Veterans' Entitlements Act, and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act to establish the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package. This support package will provide at-risk veterans' families with access to a range of services that meet their health and wellbeing needs up to the value of $12½ thousand over two years. Families can access support services to the value of $7½ thousand in the first year and $5,000 in the second year. In addition, families with children can access additional support to the value of $10,000 a year for a child under school age, and $5,000 a year for primary school aged children, until the child reaches that high school age.

Also under this measure, widowed partners can access support services to the value of $27,835 for each of the two years, to meet the cost of help around the home, such as cleaning, gardening and other maintenance, counselling for them and their children, skill based supports such as mental health and first aid, and other practical support for families' wellbeing. They'll also have access to the additional support for children under the high school age, and those financial amounts will be specified in the legislative instruments once this bill is passed.

In conclusion, again, this is more evidence of the Albanese government listening to the concerns of veterans and their families and delivering additional support, as well as ensuring that we're getting on as best possible with implementing the interim recommendations of the royal commission, as we all, as a nation, await the final outcomes of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. We are committed to supporting veterans and their families. This package is another example of how that support can be delivered flexibly and in the interests of veterans and their vulnerable families.

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