Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Defence Legislation Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 2) Bill 2026. This is not a routine defence bill. It sits in the long shadow of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. It deals with service risk, injury, transition, family responsibility, institutional accountability and the consequences that follow when systems designed to support people do not speak to each other quickly enough, clearly enough or humanely enough.

In Moore, this is not a remote policy. We have a large veteran community, families with long links to service, and two active RSL clubs in North Beach and Joondalup. They do far more than host commemorations. They are places where older veterans, younger veterans, serving members, partners and families find connection, practical advice and a familiar face. Often that support is quiet, informal and deeply important.

Anyone who spends time with veterans quickly learns that service does not end neatly on the day a person takes off the uniform. The habits, injuries, memories, pride, obligations and sometimes trauma of service travel with them into civilian life. Families carry much of that load. Partners often notice changes first. Children live with the consequences. Parents, siblings and friends often become the first line of support without ever receiving a brief or a manual.

The government announced its response on 2 December 2024. The royal commission made 122 recommendations. The government has agreed or agreed in principle to 104 of them and noted another 17 for further consideration. By the end of 2025, 32 recommendations had been implemented. By the end of this year the government expects around two-thirds to be implemented. That pace is important. Royal commissions cannot be an expensive form of national catharsis followed by administrative drift. Their recommendations must be translated into practice, into resourcing, into change behaviour and, where necessary, into law. This bill is one part of that work.

This bill directly implements 15 accepted recommendations and supports a further 20. It amends the Defence Act 1903 and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. There are five schedules, on information sharing, Defence health services, support for ADF families, service entry and exit arrangements, and governance and accountability. The central theme is simple. Defence, the Department of Veterans' Affairs and related agencies must be able to identify risk earlier, act earlier and support people through transition and beyond. That requires better systems, lawful and careful use of data, continuity of care, and respect for privacy but not paralysis dressed up as privacy. It also requires Defence and DVA to operate as connected parts of the same national obligation.

Schedule 1 deals with information sharing to improve wellbeing, health and safety outcomes.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 11:31 to 11:43

This is one of the most important reforms in the bill. The royal commission found that better information sharing between Defence and DVA is fundamental to improving the health and wellbeing of Defence personnel and veterans and their families. At present, the information can sit in different parts of government. Defence may hold service records, health information, incident information, training information, deployment history and transition records, and DVA may hold claims, rehabilitation, compensation and service delivery information. Each dataset may tell only part of the story. When those parts are not brought together properly, the person at the centre can be left to repeat their story again and again, often when they are at their most vulnerable. That is not good administration. More importantly, it is not good care.

This bill creates clear statutory authority for the collection, use and disclosure of information, including personal and sensitive information, for research, data analysis and evaluation relating to wellbeing, health and safety. It also supports information sharing for prevention, early intervention, continuity of care, proactive outreach and transition support. The privacy safeguards are important. Information sharing is not a blank cheque. The bill requires compliance with ministerial guidelines, aligns with the Privacy Act framework, requires reasonable steps to de-identify personal information where appropriate, and limits use and disclosure to purposes connected with wellbeing, health and safety. ADF members and veterans need confidence that information about them will not be mishandled. They also need confidence that government will not hide behind fragmented systems when risk is emerging.

Schedule 1 also supports claims processing and transitional support. The royal commission identified transition out of the ADF as a period of increased risk, particularly for members who are medically discharged or involuntarily discharged. Anyone who has worked in employment or industrial law understands that a person's identity is often tied up with their work. In Defence, that is even more profound. Service is a culture, a community and a set of obligations that shape daily life. When that abruptly ends, the risk is obvious. The person may be dealing with injury, loss of identity, uncertain income, housing pressure, family strain and a complex compensation system. The Commonwealth should not make that harder by forcing people to carry paperwork from one agency to another, like an exhausted courier in a bureaucracy designed by a committee. Earlier transfer of information from Defence to DVA should mean earlier claims processing, earlier support and fewer gaps. That is practical reform. It is not glamourous, but, for a veteran waiting on income support, medical treatment or rehabilitation, it can be the difference between stability and crisis.

Schedule 2 modernises the legislative framework for Defence health services. It establishes a dedicated legislative basis for Defence health services, including clinical governance, health monitoring, quality assurance and improvement activities. The Defence health system has a unique role. It must support operational capability and fitness for service but also the health of the individual member. Those purposes will sometimes sit comfortably together. At other times, they require careful governance. The royal commission recognised that Defence health arrangements must be contemporary, clinically sound and trusted. This schedule clarifies how Defence health information can be collected, used and disclosed. It supports quality assurance and continuous improvement. It enables lawful, proportionate use of health data to improve care, supports suicide prevention and assess the performance of the Defence health system. Good health systems learn. They review errors. They identify patterns. They ask whether particular environments, postings, exposures or service pathways are associated with greater risk. They look to whether programs actually work. That is ordinary clinical governance in a modern health system. Defence should be no exception.

This bill also supports disclosure for limited and relevant command purposes, and that distinction is important. A commander may need enough information to make safe fitness-for-duty decisions, but that does not mean a commander needs every private detail disclosed in a clinical consultation. The bill seeks to draw that line in a way that supports safety, capability and trust.

Schedule 3 supports ADF families. This is one of the most human parts of the bill. It improves information sharing and communication between Defence and families where contact details have been provided. It also ensures that benefits and supports can continue for a former spouse or partner in the immediate aftermath of separation where family and domestic violence is present. Family violence creates a particular risk at the point of separation. Benefits being cut off abruptly can make the separation harder. A system that removes support at the very point the person is trying to leave an unsafe situation can unintentionally increase danger. The bill recognises that reality and provides a safer approach. It recognises that families are not spectators. They are part of the service community. When a member is struggling, a partner or family member may be the person trying to help. If Defence only communicates through the member, families can be left without information about available support. Better communication with families and appropriate privacy protections is a necessary reform.

Schedule 4 deals with requirements to serve in the Defence Force. It prohibits persons who have been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for serious violent or sexual offences from joining the ADF. It also introduces mandatory discharge for members sentenced by an Australian court to imprisonment. It consolidates 'fit and proper person' requirements and aligns substance related separation processes with existing medical separation arrangements.

The provisions concerning serious violent and sexual offending are direct and necessary. Service in the ADF carries authority, trust and responsibility. It also places people in close working and living environments where power, hierarchy and discipline are significant. The royal commission made findings about sexual violence and its connection with harm, trauma and suicidality. The Commonwealth must set clear standards about who can enter and remain in the Defence Force. Mandatory discharge for members in prison for relevant offences sends a clear signal about institutional safety and integrity. It protects members, it protects trusts and it recognises that defence cannot credibly address culture, safety and wellbeing while retaining people whose conduct is fundamentally inconsistent with service.

The substance related charges are also sensible. Substance use can be misconduct. It can also be linked to medical conditions, mental health challenges, trauma or dependence. Aligning these processes more closely with medical separation arrangements allows for a more coherent approach, one that can preserve discipline while also recognising underlying health issues. That is not softness; that is competence.

Schedule 5 makes related governance and accountability amendments to support the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission. Oversight is essential because the task does not end when parliament passes a bill. The royal commission's recommendations require implementation across agencies over time with proper scrutiny. Systems tend to return to old habits unless someone keeps asking whether promised reform has changed experience on the ground.

But, for my community, the test will not be whether this legislation is neat on paper. The test will be whether a veteran in Joondalup gets support earlier, whether a family in North Beach knows who to call, whether a member transitioning out of service has continuity instead of a cliff edge, whether a claim is processed with information already held by the government or whether a young veteran who is not coping is contacted before they disappear from view. That is the measure of this bill.

There is always legitimate scrutiny about information sharing. There should be. Privacy is not an inconvenience; it is part of dignity. However, privacy should protect people. It should not isolate them inside disconnected systems. The royal commission made clear that fragmented information, poor coordination and delayed support can contribute to harm.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 11:52 to 12:03

The answer is not careless data sharing. The answer is lawful, proportionate and accountable information sharing directed at care, prevention and safety. I acknowledge the veterans and families in Moore who continue to contribute to our community. North Beach RSL and Joondalup City RSL both provide leadership, welfare, remembrance and connection. Their volunteers do work that is often unseen but deeply valued. Every Anzac Day and every Remembrance Day, we see the public face of that contribution. For the rest of the year, much of that work happens in conversations, phone calls, visits, practical assessment and the quiet acts of care. The Commonwealth must match that community commitment with systems that work. We cannot ask RSL volunteers, partners, families and mates to carry the full load while government agencies remain fragmented. Community support is essential, but it is not a substitute for competent national systems.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was a solemn warning. It told us that admiration for service is not enough. Thanks are not enough. Ceremonies are not enough. We honour service by building systems that reduce harm, treat people with dignity and respond before crisis becomes tragedy. This bill is a serious step in that direction. It directly implements 15 recommendations and supports a further 20. It strengthens information sharing for prevention and early intervention. It modernises Defence health services. It supports families, including in circumstances involving family and domestic violence. It improves service entry and exit arrangements. It strengthens governance and accountability. None of this removes the pain already experienced by families who have lost someone. No legislative amendment can do that, but parliament can act on what it has learned. It can ensure that the evidence given in the royal commission leads to durable reform. It can require Defence and DVA to work together more effectively. It can insist that the health, wellbeing and safety of those who serve and those who have served and their families sit at the centre of this system. That is what this bill seeks to do. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context