Emma Comer (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was one of the most confronting and sobering inquiries this country has ever undertaken. It heard testimonies that no family should ever have to give or experience—parents speaking about the children they lost, partners describing the lives forever changed and mates remembering those who never made it home, not from war but from the aftermath of service. Again and again, the royal commission was told the same story of people who served their country with pride, who asked for help when they needed it and who became lost in a system that was fragmented, a system that was too was complex and too often unresponsive, a system that failed to see the human cost of delay, confusion and silence.

The royal commission made clear that these deaths were not inevitable. They were not isolated tragedies. They were the result of systematic failures that compounded trauma, injury and distress over time. That is why the royal commission identified its recommendation to establish a new independent statutory entity to oversee reform across the entire defence ecosystem as a key recommendation—not because it was easy but because it was essential. This was a call to action and a call for enduring oversight, real accountability and sustained reform long after the headlines fade and the hearings end.

The families who came forward did so not just in grief but in hope—hope that their loss would lead to change and hope that the future generation of serving and ex-serving members would be better supported than their loved ones were. This legislation is part of how we are going to honour that courage. It is how we ensure that the findings of the royal commission do not sit on a shelf but instead drive lasting cultural and structural change. It is about saying clearly and unequivocally that the lives of our defence personnel and veterans matter not only in service but long after it ends.

I'm honoured to speak in support of the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill 2025 and the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. Together they represent an important step in strengthening the independence, authority and effectiveness of the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission and the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner. They reflect the government's commitment to ensuring that the system reform across the defence and veterans system is enduring, transparent and accountable, and that it has sustained focus on suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes.

This Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill 2025 replaces the current enabling legislation for the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission. In doing so, it transitions the commission and the commissioner out of the Defence Act and into standalone legislation. This approach is deliberate. It reflects the seriousness of the role the commission is intended to play and reinforces its independence from the agencies it oversees.

This bill also reflects the government's response to the recommendations from the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee following its report on 29 August 2025 into the existing enabling legislation. That committee recommended, among other things, that the functions of the commissioner explicitly include reference to veterans' families. Wellbeing does not exist in isolation. Supporting veterans means supporting the people who stand behind them. This recognition strengthens the commission's work and ensures reform is informed by the lived experiences of the entire defence and veteran community. The government has listened carefully to the committee's findings, to the evidence put forward by stakeholders and to the concerns raised during the inquiry process.

A key feature of this bill is strengthening the independence of the commission. To support that independence, it provides for the appointment of the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner by the Governor-General. This is a significant safeguard. It ensures that the commissioner is appointed through a formal, merit based and public recruitment process, and that the role is clearly established as independent of Defence and other agencies. Prompt passage of this bill will facilitate the appointment of the inaugural commissioner in accordance with the provisions relating to appointment and terms, ensuring that the commission is fully operational and able to carry out its critical functions.

These reforms must also be understood in the context of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. The royal commission deemed recommendation 122 of its final report to be the most important recommendation. The recommendation called for the establishment of a new statutory entity to oversee systems reform across the whole defence ecosystem. The royal commission was unequivocal in its findings. It identified that fragmented responsibility, insufficient oversight and a lack of sustained accountability had contributed to systematic failures with devastating consequences for serving and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members and their families.

In acknowledgement of the significance and urgency of the recommendation, the Albanese Labor government legislated the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission in February 2025. The commission has been up and running since the end of September last year. These bills build on the foundation by ensuring that the commission is placed on the strongest possible legislative footing. The role of this new statutory entity is clear: it is to provide independent oversight and evidence based advice to drive system reform, with the objective of improving suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for the defence and veteran community.

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