Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in favour of the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2023. That's quite a mouthful and quite a misdemeanour as far as short titles go, but it's still an important piece of legislation to require passage through this place. I've made a number of contributions in this place regarding veterans. I turn back to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs' speech on this bill and recognise a home truth in this policy space. Policy regarding veterans and Defence personnel in my year as the member for Spence has been a largely bipartisan affair, though I believe a better word would be tripartite, given the number of members and senators from the cross bench who weigh into this area of policy constructively. I thank them all for that.

I particularly would like to thank those of us who have made a contribution in the Federation Chamber this afternoon, including the Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs. I would also like to give honourable mentions to the contributions made by the member for Casey and the member for Paterson, the contribution to come from the member for Hughes, and last but not least the member for Riverina. As a former minister for veterans' affairs himself, I will never be surprised to see the member for Riverina on the same side of the debate as myself in this particular area. Not only does it provide a brief respite from some of the rough and tumble we experience in other areas of policy—examples as recent as today comes to mind—it is heartening that we can set all of that aside, either long-standing or contemporary differences, for a brief moment and place at the forefront of our minds that when it comes to those who have served our country we work together as one.

We have managed to do so in my time throughout the big ticket items, such as when we took note of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs' response of the interim report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This is important for so many reasons, one of many being the 6,086 veterans that were living in Spence at the time of the last census, not to mention their families and children, and the many ADF servicemen and women who live and serve in my electorate of Spence too, a large portion doing so out of RAAF base Edinburgh. As the veterans of tomorrow, it is important that we keep improving the state of play for their sake too. We will no doubt continue to engage across partisan divides in a collegiate fashion with this bill.

The bill puts forward a raft of miscellaneous measures by amending a number of pre-existing laws common amongst those of us who are familiar with veterans policies. This bill looks to amend the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988, and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. In terms of legislation concerning veterans' affairs, they are the big three. The amendments to these laws that we are discussing today are quite minor in nature, but they can be quite meaningful in an incremental sense.

Firstly, this bill aims to align military compensation provisions under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 where ADF firefighters would come under similar arrangements to civilian firefighters. This is of course presently the case for civilian firefighters through provisions in the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 after the passage of the Albanese Labor government's Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs Better Pay) Act 2022. By reducing the qualifying period of employment for ADF firefighters in order to have a presumptive impact on a diagnosis of esophageal cancer from 25 years to 15 years it will provide a degree of certainty for many if they were afflicted by such an insidious condition, as many have been in the line of their duty. Many first responders, in this instance firefighters, whether they be civilian or ADF, will go into a scene to render safe and to ensure everyone else at the scene is safe, often putting themselves in harm's way. They put themselves in harm 's way either in a direct and immediate sense or, as is often the case, in an indirect sense, where the danger exhibits itself by an acute exposure to a carcinogen or by prolonged exposures over a lengthy period of time.

This change is coupled with changing the requirements that firefighting duties only be 'not insubstantial' as opposed to a 'substantial' part of a person's duties during their service. This can be cold comfort to someone and their family going through the process of receiving a life-shattering diagnosis. But lessening the administrative burden and hurdles that the Department of Veterans' Affairs would have otherwise placed in front of someone going through this tragic circumstance can only be a good thing.

This amendment to the act doesn't just bring ADF firefighters in parity with civilian firefighters, in terms of this. More importantly, it's frankly the right and decent thing to do. It is the least we can do, for putting service men and women in harm's way, where many did not fully appreciate the risks they would be taking but, in any case, they served honourably, to their ultimate detriment. I note that the Minister for Veterans' Affairs mentioned that through regulations under DRCA eight additional cancers will be covered under similar arrangements, including malignant mesothelioma. Bills like this may not seem flashy, at the outset, but they often have a provision or two that enable common sense and a law to get closer to being in sync with one another.

The second aspect of this legislation touches on employment programs. This part of the bill amends the Veterans' Entitlements Act to allow for a degree of alignment between existing provisions contained within the Social Security Act 1991—namely, those provisions under the act that allow amounts received from employment programs not to be considered as income for the purpose of income support means testing. This will mean that veterans and their partners who receive any money through employment programs prescribed by the Social Security Act are considered exempt from an income test under the Veterans' Entitlements Act. I'm happy to see DSS and DVA working together on this. The disparity has long been confusing for many, especially for those well versed in social security law rather than veterans entitlements, and vice versa.

Disparity has also been a factor that has discouraged veterans from making additional positive steps towards transitioning into civilian life and finding a new calling or defence adjacent calling, as I know many have and continue to do so. I have been a big fan of programs out there that encourage veterans to explore those possibilities and career paths outside of a branch of the ADF they formerly served in. Many of these programs are led and supported by veterans themselves who want to see nothing other than veterans thrive, build a new sense of purpose, foster self-esteem and have a new sense of self. Participation in employment programs has, for many veterans, acted as a catalyst for an overall positive difference for both themselves and their families.

This bill also amends the Veterans' Entitlements Act to include the discretion to provide Commonwealth rent assistance beyond 26 weeks, for those who are eligible claimants that find themselves temporarily outside of Australia and are unable to return for a number of prescribed reasons. These are reasons such as being involved in a serious accident, a natural disaster or a public health crisis. I only wish these amendments had been set in stone during the prior public health crisis that began a few years ago. These amendments do not just make sense, they are commonsense changes to veterans entitlements law, and, once again, bring it closer to parity with the civilian equivalent. I have always found it a bit perverse when veterans and their families seeking income support or any number of other supports are found to be worse off for being a veteran rather than a civilian.

We should not be worse off for having served our country, and I very much look forward to voting on this bill to make further corrections to imbalances that exist. While I know that the Albanese Labor government and, indeed, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs have not lost sight of the bigger picture, as far as reforming veterans legislation is concerned, correcting these issues in the interim will go a long way to improving the quality of life of many veterans and their families.

The last of the changes that this bill seeks to introduce to veterans entitlements law is to amend the Veterans' Entitlements Act, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act to expand the net of eligibility to access the defence, veterans' and families' acute support package. The proposed expansion would include grandparents who are caring full-time for the children of a veteran. Family dynamics differ in so many varied ways. This is not confined to the families of veterans or civilians. This is true of Australian families in general. Grandparents often fulfil a primary caregiving role to children, and this is no different when it comes to the family of a veteran. The reasons can be as broad and varied, but they are providing them with full-time care just the same.

The acute support package is currently available to working-aged veteran families, widowed partners of veterans and their kids. The package makes a number of support services available for families of working-aged veterans who need a bit of extra assistance when it's needed the most. These supports come in the form of child care, counselling for adults or children, general household assistance and transport assistance. The supports range from general wellbeing to academic and extracurricular support for children. Some of these supports can really make a difference for a family struggling and reaching the verge of breaking point. The grandparents of the children of veterans under their full-time care also able to access support such as counselling, wellbeing, transportation and a raft of additional supports.

I'm looking forward to seeing in the months and years to come the many developments that will be introduced in this place concerning veterans, but in the meantime I—and I hope all members in this place will too with this bill—will be front and centre supporting meaningful changes that aim to improve the circumstances and quality of life of veterans and families. As I always say, it's the very least we can do for those who have served our country with honour and distinction. It is precisely the message I want us as parliamentarians to send to our veterans, to our currently serving defence personnel and to anyone thinking of enlisting in the ADF in the future.

I'm proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government that is committed to supporting veterans and their families and children. I'm proud to be part of a parliament and a government that is looking to make many more positive steps towards improving the outcomes for veterans.

Lastly before I conclude my remarks, I encourage all members present who have not done so to contact my office and join the Parliamentary Friends of Veterans, a group I co-chair with the member for Menzies. It's a forum outside of the chamber where we meet to discuss matters relating to our veteran community and meet across the aisle.

I commend this bill to the House. I encourage all members to support it. Finally, I extend to all current and former serving personnel in this country my thanks for their service.

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