Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak in support of the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill 2025, a bill that goes to the very heart of our responsibility to those who have served our nation and to the families who serve alongside them. Before I turn to the technical provisions of the bill, I want to begin somewhere very human and very local for me. My electorate of Paterson is home to Australia's premier F-35 base at Williamtown. It is also home to the Wedgetail, which has provided such incredible capability in places like Ukraine in recent times. Around 5,000 people not dissimilar to those in this building work on that base each and every day. I could not be prouder to represent those people both serving and who have served there in the past.

It is a popular posting, I have to say. In fact, many people come back to Port Stephens and our local area because of their time at the Williamtown base. It is a beautiful area, and they love it, and they bring their families back. One of the most powerful examples of community led support for veterans can be found on the beautiful waterways of Port Stephens. Invictus Australia works closely with the Port Stephens Dragon Boat Club. It brings together veterans, current serving Defence family members and members of the wider local community in a way that is inclusive, practical, deeply meaningful and can make those shoulder muscles burn. This is not just about sport; it is about belonging, it is about connection, and it is about shared experience and mutual support. Members of this club speak openly about the joy of being out on the water, about the camaraderie that develops stroke by stroke and about how being part of a team again has profound benefits for their overall health and wellbeing. For many, it provides a sense of purpose and identity during those times when they can feel lost post service. For families, it offers understanding, solidarity and reassurance that they're not walking the path alone. It is genuinely incredible to see the effect that local Invictus initiatives like this have in supporting our communities. They remind us that recovery, resilience and wellbeing are not abstract concepts. They are lived experiences shaped by the systems we build and the support that we choose to provide, and it is precisely because of those lived experiences that this bill matters.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was one of the most significant and confronting inquiries ever undertaken in this country. Its findings were sobering, its recommendations were clear, and it deemed recommendation 122—the establishment of a new statutory entity to oversee system reform across the entire defence ecosystem—as its most important recommendation. The language was not used lightly. The royal commission recognised that without sustained, independent oversight meaningful system reform would not occur, and what does 'meaningful system of oversight and reform' mean? It means that we save more Australian lives and that we make the quality of our veterans lives better. That's what that really means.

Fragmented responsibility, short-term initiatives and the lack of accountability had contributed to devastating outcomes for serving and ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Force. I want to take a moment to remember Julie-Ann Finney. I'm sure those of us who've been in this place long enough will remember her campaigning particularly hard. She had endured the dreadful loss, which no parent should have to endure, of her child taking their life—her son David. She fought absolutely doggedly to ensure that there was a royal commission and that her son's life had real meaning, and I pay testimony to her today.

In acknowledgement of the significance and urgency of recommendation 122, the Albanese Labor government acted. In February 2025, it legislated the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission, and I am proud to say that it has been up and running since the end of September last year. But today's bill is about strengthening that foundation. The role of this new statutory entity is clear: provide independent oversight and evidence based advice to drive system reform with the explicit aim of improving suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for defence and veteran communities.

We put so much effort—and money, to be frank—into training our defence personnel, and they deserve the best training. Therefore, it is imperative that we continue to support them. It is one thing to train people, but it is another to look after them, to not break them in the first place and then to look after them once they have served our nation. It's something that I feel very passionate about. We talk about recruitment and we put a lot of effort into recruitment, but we've also got a concentrate on retention. In retaining our people, their wellbeing is an important thing, and, when they do finish their service, we must care for them and put in place things like this commission to ensure that it is meaningful.

The commission will have a dedicated and sustained focus on suicide prevention. That is imperative. It will ensure that agencies responsible for implementing the royal commission's recommendations are not only encouraged but required in order to deliver long-term change. It will drive the systemic reforms needed to reduce rates of suicide and suicidality among serving and ex-serving ADF members. For that work to be credible and for it to be trusted by defence and, importantly, the veteran community the commission must have genuine independence. It must have clear functions and it must have the powers necessary to do its job effectively, and that is what this bill seeks to deliver.

The Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill builds on work already undertaken by this parliament earlier this year, when schedule 9 of the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill was brought in and subsequently examined through a Senate inquiry. That inquiry was thorough. It received submissions from veterans, their families, advocacy organisations, experts and stakeholders across the defence ecosystem. It was a thorough investigation. The evidence presented was thoughtful, at times challenging and always grounded in lived experience—often very painful lived experience. Importantly, our government listened, and not only did we listen but we acted. The submissions, the evidence and the committee's report have directly informed and shaped the development of this bill, which implements several key recommendations.

First, the establishment of standalone legislation for the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission is critical. Standalone legislation reinforces the independence of the commission and reflects its unique role in overseeing system-wide reform. Independence isn't symbolic; it is foundational for the credibility and authority of the commissioner's work.

Second, the bill ensures that the commission's functions explicitly include reference to veterans' families. This is something we have heard time and time again. I am joined by some of my colleagues, and indeed you, Deputy Speaker Freelander—we were all elected in 2016. One of the first things I did was engage with my veterans community and my defence personnel community, and they were at pains to tell me that their families were pivotal in their lives. That's where this piece of legislation is important. For the first time, we're recognising families. We know the important role they play. They are the additional defence force of our country, and I thank them for their support of our serving personnel and our veterans. The Albanese government is pleased that through this legislation we are formally recognising them.

Third, the commission's function and powers have been reviewed and strengthened. Proposed amendments arising from the inquiry process have been adopted. We listened when there were changes that needed to be made to ensure the commission could operate effectively, without obstruction. This bill further strengthens independence by ensuring the commissioner is appointed by the Governor-General, following a merit-based public recruitment process. This transparency reinforces confidence in the role and ensures appointments are based on capability, integrity and experience. The commissioner's role is an incredibly important role in our country. The bill also strengthens the commissioner's power to ensure accountability. It enhances the ability to access necessary information, and it removes barriers that could otherwise limit the effectiveness of inquiries or, importantly, oversight.

In addition, the bill expands the scope of witness protection. This is a crucial reform. People must feel safe to provide information to the commissioner, without fear of reprisals and without blowback. Protecting those who come forward is essential. If we are serious about uncovering systemic issues and driving genuine reform, this is pivotal.

Transparency is another key pillar of this legislation. The bill improves the transparency of the commissioner's work, ensuring accountability not only for those subject to its oversight but for the commission itself. This includes statutory deadlines for the completion of two major inquiries into the Commonwealth's implementation of the government's response to the royal commission's recommendations. Those deadlines—2 December 2027 and 2 December 2030—align with the third and sixth anniversaries of the government's response and ensure progress is measured, visible and sustained over time. If you can't measure it, you can't find out whether you're doing the best, so I'm pleased that those dates are locked in. These timeframes recognise that system reform is complex and ongoing, and they also make clear that delay and inaction are not acceptable to this government. At its core, this bill reflects a government that has listened to feedback from stakeholders—who are often family—and taken action.

The changes before the House today ensure the commissioner has the tools necessary to drive system reform and improve suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for serving and former serving Australian Defence Force members. This legislation will ensure agencies are held accountable to consider and respond to the commissioner's recommendations, and the enduring nature of the commission will ensure that the voices of veterans and their families continue to be heard after the headlines fade. Systemic issues that contribute to suicide in our veteran community cannot be addressed through one-off responses or short-term commitments. They require sustained attention, independent oversight and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths. This bill delivers exactly that.

For the veterans paddling together in Port Stephens, for the families supporting them and for every serving and ex-serving member of the Australian Defence Force, who deserve a system that works for them, this legislation matters. I commend the bill to the House.

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