Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2023. At the outset I acknowledge that the coalition is supporting this bill. I commend the work of the member for New England on this bill, together with the speakers I've heard in this place today—the member for Spence, the member for Paterson and the member for Casey. This bill has bipartisan support. It largely proposes miscellaneous and uncontroversial amendments across various acts that govern veterans entitlements and compensation.

At the outset I acknowledge the many veterans who live in my electorate of Hughes, those at the Holsworthy Barracks and the veterans' families. As I travel around my electorate, especially with my mobile office, it has been a privilege and a pleasure to meet veterans of many of our wars—from the Vietnam War through to more the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has also been a great privilege to present many of them with certificates of appreciation. I acknowledge the work that the current government and the minister in particular are doing in that space.

Before I turn to the bill itself, I also acknowledge the Woronora River RSL Sub-branch. I was very happy to attend there on Anzac Day and lay a wreath. Over 1,500 other people were present that morning. It's a beautiful service down there, and it was a real privilege to be there. The president down there is Barry Grant OAM. He has been president of the Woronora River RSL sub-branch from 2011, and he was state president of the Australian Commando Association for 18 years. In 2020 he was awarded an OAM for services to veterans and their families, and I've seen firsthand the work that he does down there at Woronora.

He has worked particularly hard with another one of my constituents, Bree Till. Bree was married to a veteran, Brett, who was killed in Afghanistan in March 2009. At the time, Bree was pregnant, so, tragically, her son never met his father. Barry then reached out to Bree Till, and Bree, who was formerly a teacher, has now dedicated her life to serving and to assisting veterans and veterans' families. Particularly, she is a community and peer advisor for Open Arms, which is the veterans and families counselling service. She has recently retrained in art therapy, counselling and psychotherapy and is currently researching the benefits that art therapy can bring to the broader veteran community. Bree is from Woronora. She lives in my electorate. She's also a good friend of mine, and I commend the work that she has done not only for her own family but for many children of veterans, as well as their broader families.

I turn now to the bill itself. The bill comes, essentially, in four schedules. There are minor amendments to three acts that govern veterans entitlements. Those three acts are the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. In most cases the amendments are designed to ensure consistency between the acts and to ensure veterans entitlements align with amendments made to the Social Security Act 1991.

The first schedule, schedule 1, relates to firefighters' alignment. It ensures ADF firefighters, who are currently covered by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act, have identical arrangements to their civilian counterparts, particularly in relation to claims for oesophageal cancer, whereas civilian firefighters are covered by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. Firefighters are at significantly greater risk of oesophageal cancer, primarily resulting from fire effluent particles that can be trapped within their body. This bill proposes to deal with the minor process that those amendments made to the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 apply from the commencement of that other legislation and to bring that in line.

The second schedule is concerned with employment programs and seeks to ensure parity between eligible recipients under the Veterans' Entitlements Act with those eligible under the updated Social Security Act 1991. The provisions ensure that when the employment secretary determines that payments and benefits from Commonwealth, state or territory employment programs are exempt from income assessment for social security purposes, this determination also applies to recipients under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and does not affect income support payments. Again, that is a proposition that is supported.

The third schedule deals primarily with rental assistance, again to ensure parity between the Social Security Act 1991 and eligible veterans under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, those being veterans who receive rental assistance while temporarily absent from Australia. The amendment will allow for an extension of the 26 weeks if the eligible person is unable to return to Australia due to unforeseen circumstances. These may include things such as war, hospitalisation, the death of a family member, a natural disaster, political unrest or a public health crisis overseas. The provisions will apply from the commencement of the making of the legislation, or where a person was overseas immediately before the commencement within the 26-day period. Again, providing rental assistance to eligible veterans is again something that we support.

The fourth schedule relates to an acute support package. The amendment extends assistance for an acute support package already provided under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to eligible grandparents caring for the children of a deceased veteran. This is particularly important. Grandparents across Australia, my own parents included, play a very big role in caring for our children when they're younger, and especially in cases where a veteran may have died. The assistance that grandparents provide and the role they play already in caring for their grandchildren cannot be underestimated.

The provisions provide that the deceased parent's death must be related to service, or a suicide relating to service, and must have occurred within two years of their eligibility. And the definition of 'child' is they must be under the age of 18 at the time of determination and deemed to be experiencing or at risk of experiencing a crisis. The definition of 'crisis' has, in my view, been properly considered. It includes attributes such as mental health, substance abuse, homelessness, loss of employment or a child who may be at risk of criminal activity and things along those lines. So, again, this is a very important measure to assist the children, the grandchildren and the grandparents of our veterans.

I support this bill. The coalition rightly supports this. It is completely appropriate that at all times where we can reach bipartisan support in relation to veterans—in relation to those men and women who put their own lives at risk to serve us and to ensure we can continue to enjoy many of the benefits that we have in this country, as a democracy with the rule of law and various other institutions that we enjoy—that we should. To conclude, I commend this bill to the House.

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