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

On the one-year anniversary of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide's final report, I wish to pay tribute to the families of those who lost their lives in the service of our nation and to veterans for their commitment to putting on the agenda the plight of those who served our nation and unfortunately took their own lives. Those that campaigned for the royal commission deserve our recognition today. We, of course, remember all of those who have passed, and we think about their loved ones.

There's an expectation from the Australian community that we look after our Defence Force members and veterans, but, for too long, that wasn't the reality. We were tasked by the royal commission with effecting once-in-a-generation cultural change and reform, and our government has been working at pace to implement the royal commission's recommendations that will ensure the most comprehensive reforms to the systems, processes and culture that support Defence Force personnel, veterans and families ever undertaken in Australia.

We're doing this not only because it's the right thing to do but because our Defence Force personnel and veterans have risked their lives in the defence of our nation and deserve better. It's also a crucial component of building a defence force that people want to join, want to serve in and want to stay in. We've already legislated for the Defence and Veterans' Services Commission, an independent oversight body that the royal commission deemed their most important recommendation. That will be formally up and running later this month. Where changes were able to be made immediately, we've done so. Our priority is to improve the wellbeing of our people from the day they sign up to long after they've hung up their uniform for the last time. We want to strengthen suicide prevention and drive better outcomes for current and former serving personnel, making sure we're supporting them in ways they not only need but deserve.

I'd like to outline some of the outstanding work that's been done by Open Arms, the veterans and families counselling service, and also point out that people can contact Open Arms at any stage if they're struggling and need support. Our veterans make sacrifices in the service of their country, and they put their lives on the line to protect the rest of us. I want to thank Open Arms and their staff for their unwavering support to veterans and their families. Specialist staff are trained to provide military aware and trauma informed care at Open Arms, and many Open Arms staff are veterans themselves or from veterans' families. Open Arms was established by Vietnam veterans as the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service. That conflict was a lengthy conflict and a contentious one, and many of those who returned to Australia from Vietnam struggled. From that experience, a dedicated group of Vietnam veterans banded together to lobby for a dedicated support service that's now grown into Open Arms and is doing fantastic work. Since 1982, Open Arms has provided millions of free mental health sessions for more than 300,000 veterans and their families.

I also want to congratulate the family advocate that works in the Defence Force as well. We recently appointed Annabelle Wilson as the Veteran Family Advocate Commissioner for five years. This is an important role. Ms Wilson is the widow of a veteran and a respected champion for the veteran community, recognised for her empathy, drive and evidence based approach. The job of a veteran family advocate commissioner is a vital one which continues to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. The commissioner is tasked with giving voice to veterans and their families, providing strategic policy advice and fostering cooperation between government agencies and the veteran community. The Veteran Family Advocate Commissioner is a member of both the Repatriation Commission and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission, which oversee and administer the veteran and family entitlement schemes.

I want to pay tribute to the former veteran family advocate commissioner, Gwen Cherne. I want to thank Ms Cherne for her steadfast determination and her work on behalf of veterans. When I was the assistant defence minister, I worked very closely with Ms Cherne. She's a person who has a deep understanding of the plight of families that have been wracked by suicides of Defence Force members, given that her own husband, unfortunately, took his own life in the wake of his service. Gwen has devoted her life to assisting those veterans and their families to cope with service and ensuring that they get the best support and mental health services, which they deserve and require. I want to thank Gwen for her steadfast commitment to veterans and their families throughout this country and her sterling job in that role.

Earlier this year, the government reappointed Kahlil Fegan as Australia's Repatriation Commissioner for another five years. Kahlil is also someone I worked very closely with as the assistant defence minister. Since his appointment in 2023, he's lent his voice to fellow veterans, ensuring that they're heard on issues that matter to them. In that role as the Repatriation Commissioner, Kahlil, working with the RSL, has established the Middle East Area of Operations Scoping Study to look at the impact of service in the Middle East since 2002 on our veterans and their families. For each major conflict that Australia has been involved in, there has been some form of study or investigation into the effects that that service has had on veterans and their families. We did it after World War II, we did it after Vietnam, and it is the right time for us to do this again to ensure that the government, the Defence Force and veteran support organisations are responsive to the needs of veterans who served in the Middle East since 2002. It's important to point out that the needs of veterans change through the generations. The needs of Vietnam veterans will be very different to the needs of this generation, and the purpose of this scoping study is to make sure that we understand what those needs are and we can deal with them into the future. As Repatriation Commissioner, Kahlil will continue to engage with and advocate for veterans to ensure that they receive high-quality services from the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

I also want to thank, and highlight the unbelievable advocacy of, Julie-Ann Finney, whose 38-year-old son, Royal Australian Navy Petty Officer David Finney, died by suicide in 2019. Ms Finney played a crucial role in the establishment of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. She campaigned day in, day out, hour after hour, to ensure that her son's service and memory meant something and that our government responded. She also shared her deeply personal story when the royal commission's public hearings opened in May 2023. In my previous role as assistant minister, I worked quite closely with Ms Finney, and I pay tribute to her again for her advocacy. She is a wonderful Australian, and she deserves our praise.

The royal commission's task for us as a government is no small feat, but we have no doubt that delivery of this task is vitally important and will ensure the most comprehensive set of reforms to the systems, the culture and the processes of the Defence Force and our veteran support organisations. Implementing these reforms from the royal commission is a priority for our government and will ensure that our Defence Force personnel and veterans and their families get the service and support that they deserve for serving our nation.

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