Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022 is part and parcel of an amendment of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 and the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation 1988. Basically what is about is that, in the past we had a step down that, after 45 weeks, what you were paid in your education process of getting back onto civvy street was reduced to 75 per cent. This is pertinent to around 600 veterans that we currently have. We currently have in Australia about 343,000 people who have done service and are back on civvy street. This is part and parcel of what the coalition was bringing forward. It was in our budget. We allocated $7.1 million to it in the budget, and it is good to see that there is now consensus and the government has brought it forward. It's a shame that the government didn't sit earlier and we could have had these payments start earlier. I acknowledge that people will get back pay. The parliament is going to sit seven weeks, which is patently absurd, but it's good that this has come forward.

It is incredibly important that someone who has served our nation manages to get back into society in a cogent way and a way that fulfils their requirements of a long life after they have left the service. I reflect also in the rehabilitation section on the service of the member for Herbert, who I'm sure will have a lot more to say about this in a more formidable way than I can espouse. I also acknowledge the other servicemen. The member for Braddon is here. No doubt he will have something to say about it as well.

My own father was repatriated after his time in the services. He was smashed up. He always reminded me about this. An anti-aircraft gun was dropped on him by the American troops when they were loading as part of the process of embarkation to the Italian peninsula, which he never got to, thank God. That's why I think I'm here. He was a lance bombardier at that stage. After warning people—'If you stand underneath that crane and something breaks, someone is going to get badly hurt'—something broke, and the person who was badly hurt and put into a wheelchair for a period of time was my father.

His path back into society was to study very hard. He got accepted into Sydney university, where he did vet science. That's pretty good for a person who left school when they were 14. He reminded me that he had to teach himself chemistry and physics. As he started teaching himself chemistry and they started talking about ions he actually thought they meant irons for ironing clothes.

He and others at that time were at a place called Neringah Hostel at Wahroonga. The process for those ex-servicemen, whether they had been in the Air Force or the Army, was to go to university. That's where they stayed. They were being repatriated. They went back to university. There were not just the physical issues—the hurt. He reminded me of the ex fighter pilots who had been under incredible stress in their service and who had been mentally affected as well.

This is noncontroversial. We look forward to assisting the government to get this through as quickly as possible. I've had discussions with the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel. I appreciate and commend him for reaching out. We will make sure that we work together so that we look after people who have served our nation. There are circumstances before our nation right now that mean that, unfortunately, once more we have to build up our services, by reason of the quite obvious threat we are all aware of and we can see on the television most nights. To do that we have to show people not only that we look after them in the services but, very importantly, that we look after them after their service and we bring them back into society in a way that allows them to be in sight of those who have not served.

Of course, there are those who have paid the supreme sacrifice and those who have been psychologically tormented by it. There are other issues pertinent to that as well—by reason of them being away, families have broken up. There is immense stress that goes onto the partners when someone is away. Naturally enough, as people are away for long periods of time, people's lives can in some instances go in different directions. This causes immense fervour to people on both sides of that marriage or partnership.

The other thing that is very pertinent of course is that when people go away other people get on with their lives and become successful in business or become successful in their career. There is a sense of umbrage when people come back and say, 'I served my nation and you became very wealthy.' This is not really fair because by serving their nation they gave that person the right and the protection to take the career path that they took. One of the ways to keep this with in sight is to make sure that people have the capacity to be educated. This bill, with the amendment pertinent to the two sections of the acts which I mentioned—the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1998—will also mean that it stays within the international covenant on economic and social issues, I think it is, which also speaks about this issue. It will make sure that we are complying with that.

So I won't delay the House. I think the people who are waiting for this payment have been delayed long enough. I thank everybody for their attention.

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is pleasing to see that this Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022 does have bipartisan—in fact tripartisan, as it may be—support. We all support our veterans. I too would like to acknowledge the service of members of this place and, indeed, the other place; I see the member for Braddon is here today.

We all owe our veterans a debt of gratitude and of course we value their ongoing commitment. Too many of them continue to come home damaged—emotionally, mentally—after their service and it's up to us in civvy street to do all that we can to make sure that they transition back into having very productive and, indeed, happy lives. These are people who have sacrificed everything that they have. They're willing to put their lives on the line for their country; the least we can do is make sure that we are there for them when they come home.

This is a pretty simple bill. As the former Deputy Prime Minister said, the coalition had this in their budget. And I can't let his sledge go unremarked upon—and it's a shame, because this has consensus support. He can't have a go at us for bringing this on within the first few months of our government. We're just over 100 days into government and they were on the benches for nine years—nine years! They could have extended this pilot when they were in government but they didn't. I'm sure it wasn't because of malice or anything else, it was just sheer incompetence. They didn't get through the workload that they set for themselves; they just didn't do it! So it's no good having a go at us when we're onto this in the first few months of our term in government.

The minister is sitting here showing his commitment to this process, and this will extend the payments to make sure that people are not unduly affected by them being cut. It's vital that this legislation is progressed to support the 370 veterans who are currently experiencing a payment reduction due to the inaction of those opposite. It helps them transition, as I said, and we are committed—we are absolutely committed—as a government to delivering a comprehensive employment program for veterans, to support personnel as they make that transition.

As I said, the former government introduced this as a pilot program to support veterans. It was a good pilot; unfortunately, pilots come to an end. The former government had the chance to extend it and they didn't get around to doing it, and that left too many people unnecessarily affected. The government—as, I'm sure, the entire parliament—cares about the 370 people affected by this. We couldn't simply let it end; that would have meant an immediate reduction of up to 25 per cent if it weren't fixed. We can't leave these people hanging.

This bill will amend the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation 2004 and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 to provide for all eligible veterans covered under these two schemes. It will enable veterans undertaking an eligible course of study to access the beneficial arrangements for an additional year, to 30 June 2023, where the calculation of incapacity payments is based on 100 per cent of the veteran's pre-injury earnings. That's important: it ensures that student veterans who should have been eligible for the higher rate of payment can receive back payments to cover the period from 1 July 2022. So these payments are compensation for lost earnings incurred as a direct result of a physical or mental injury sustained while serving and incurred as a result of protecting Australians. As I said, fair too many veterans come home hurt and damaged, and we all deal with them as constituents in our electorate. I was in this place when the member for Braddon made some of his fine speeches and contributions on this matter. In the last parliament, we spoke about the ultimate sacrifice Teddy Sheean made, and the member for Braddon made a very fine speech on that.

We owe these people everything. I can't express this in words. I've not served in uniform, except for a very brief stint as a 14-year-old in Army Cadets—not the most successful career in the services! We owe them everything. They are willing to put everything on the line. Far too many of them come home damaged. We need to do everything we possibly can to ensure that they have a happy and productive life once they're back home in Australia, and this bill will help that journey.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022. I'll start by acknowledging my colleague the member for Braddon for his service to our nation and by acknowledging the other veterans who are members of this chamber. It was a particular privilege and pleasure to listen to the first speech of the member for Menzies earlier in the evening, and it of course reminded us of how lucky and honoured those of us who haven't served in uniform are to have their experience in this chamber and, more broadly, in this building when we're making these decisions. I think it's vitally important that we have their firsthand experience, and their contributions in these debates make these decisions all the stronger for it. So thank you very much for your service.

As previous speakers have pointed out this is a pilot program that's been in place for around four years and that came to an end on 30 June. It was never the former government's intention for that to happen, but, of course, the political election timetable meant that the extension this bill provides couldn't be enacted until now. That's a little bit disappointing that we're only getting to this in September, but I accept the challenge and appreciate that this will compensate those affected by the bill not being in place in time for it to be an ongoing extension. No-one affected will ultimately be out of pocket. It's regrettable that that's come to pass, but we're in a position to rectify that, and I'm confident of the swift passage of this bill through this House and the Senate so that we can get on with this important measure.

As a member of parliament, I deal, as we all do, with our veterans' communities. They're the most inspiring people in local community. All of them served our country, and some of them have come back from their service with various challenges but an enormous capacity to contribute, after finishing their service in uniform, in other ways in their community. Sometimes it's important to make sure we're supporting them through education pathways et cetera so that they can go on to have whatever career they want after the career that has been such an immense service to our nation. This bill, of course, ensures that they are not adversely financially affected by the short lapse in the incapacity payments they receive whilst they undertake the study needed for the next opportunity in their career.

We're no different to any other country: we haven't always had the best understanding of how to support the people that have served our nation when they return from that service. I think that has been the case for the entire history of this nation since Federation and before. It's the case in most nations—we haven't always properly understood the full impact of service in the armed forces, particularly from a mental health point of view. We're lucky to live in an era now where there's a much greater understanding of mental health challenges and, more importantly, acceptance and support for those challenges. That has regrettably meant that, in the decades and the generations gone by, although not out of intention, we certainly haven't done what we should have done for those who have served our nation and not received the support they should have in the period beyond their service.

This is really a good example of the opportunities we have in this chamber to keep doing better by our veterans, who have served this nation. We should be looking always for opportunities to better understand and support them so that the service they've given to this nation is properly respected and valued. This is clearly one of those opportunities. It would be regrettable if a program that had been successful for the past four years were not extended. I don't know what the new government's plans are beyond this financial year's extension, but I'm very pleased to be standing here now to support this bill. I know that it's got the support of the entire chamber. It's a great example of us finding another way to support those who have done so much to serve our country. I commend the bill to the House.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to wholeheartedly support a bill that makes sure we support veterans who are studying to make a better life for themselves, for their families and, in turn, for our communities. I'm on the record in this place as speaking time and time again about the support we must provide veterans and, in particular, about the lack of support veterans have felt over the past 10 years. I'm not going to labour the point, but the actions of the previous government and the sheer lack of appropriate support for veterans really did bring shame on the previous parliaments in our nation. Fortunately, though, a lot of that has changed with the new Minister for Veterans' Affairs. We are seeing a breath of fresh air in the way veterans are treated and the respect they're given. We are taking a hard and serious look at what needs to be done, and we all know there is a lot that needs to be done.

In this bill, the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022, and in others soon to be debated there are real changes for veterans and their families. We on this side of the House know that it is a solemn duty of government to support our veterans. In this bill we are supporting veterans and their families as they leave the Defence Force, enabling them to continue their commitment to service in civilian life in different ways. It's not an easy transition for anyone, but for those who are injured there are additional challenges, and that means support is critical, necessary and, generally, urgent. Here we are extending a four-year pilot program which has supported eligible veterans into full-time study. It's disappointing that the former government failed to introduce this legislation before the dissolution of the last parliament, resulting in inconvenience and uncertainty for 370 Australian veterans. Sadly, it was what we learnt to face over many years.

I've heard it firsthand. Veterans have told me of the pain of waiting for a thousand days just to get their claim heard—not sorted, not done, just heard—and it really troubled me that they were in that situation. I've got to say that Darren Chester, the member for Gippsland, was very good to speak to and deal with. He's no Matt Keogh, by any stretch of the imagination—

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll just remind the member—

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Burt, the minister.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Exactly.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But I will say that, working together, we were able to get some outcomes.

There's one example that really strikes me, and it pains me very much to think about how close this came to happening. I was doing an Anzac Day service with a young fellow named Jeb Summers, who runs an organisation called Save Our Services. It's about dealing with people with PTSD and dealing with injury. Jeb won't mind me saying that he's a Middle East veteran. He came up to me and said: 'I'm so disappointed. I'm going to hand my medals back.' People who know me know that I hold Anzac Day and Remembrance Day to be the most important days on our calendar, so to have that happen really got to me. I did not want to take his hard-earned medals back. I begged him not to do it, and he didn't, but I had to make the commitment that I would continue to fight, with him and for him and for everyone else, as hard as I could for as long as I had the honour and privilege of standing here. And that's what I'll continue to do. I continue to work with and support veterans through associations of the likes of MC Labour, a labour-hire company that's running programs for veterans in Victoria to help get them into construction. A lot of veterans have had experience with running machinery in theatres of war and in disasters.

Of course we know that, whenever there's a disaster—we felt that in Black Saturday in 2009—there is a level of angst amongst communities that have lost everything. We were meeting with people who'd had the same clothes on their backs for four days because they couldn't get in and couldn't get out because of the disaster that was unfolding. But no sooner had the Army arrived with the then CDF, Angus Houston, coming in, you could see the level of angst physically drop. People took a sigh of relief. 'You're here to help.'

That is the way we respect our serving ADF personnel. We respect the work that they do and what they bring with them. When they have finished their time in the service, the difficulty is then how they transition into life, and it's not that easy. I heard one of the previous members talk about their short time in cadets. I did six years in cadets and I swore I would never, ever join the ADF, because I was sick of polishing boots, getting Brasso out and using that starch to make sure my shirts were all clean and tidy, but it did give me some very valuable things that I carry with me today, including the key to our ADF: integrity, how you value that and how you hold that so dear and so close to your heart. That's why it's important that we make sure that, when veterans leave the ADF, we do look after them.

Physical injuries we see. Mental injuries and mental scars we can't. Some physical injuries can be repaired, but mental scars often never can. I know you, Deputy Speaker Buchholz, and many members in this place on all sides will meet with veterans who do have mental scars that don't go away. I know that we all stand together to support them and help them. It's so important that we do that, because we ask them to do something most people wouldn't want to do. I think there have been many occasions where we hear about theatres of war that happen because, as the saying goes, it's old men that make decisions about young men's lives—young men and women these days, more and more. So it's important that we do that.

This is why I do praise the minister for bringing in and doing this. It's just one of those steps in the pathway to addressing what we know is a problem and putting it together. That's something that I see in Victoria, as I said, with MC Labour and with Rob Curry and the likes out there getting veterans back into employment. It's work that is being supported with the Victorian government through the minister, Shaun Leane. What scares me is that a change of government means and end of this program. That's something I don't want to see, because I think we need to ensure that we continue to do this and support the men and women who we put our faith and trust in.

The extra financial support is vital for eligible veterans as they transition to a rehabilitation program focused on gaining sustainable employment in the civilian workforce. I think that's the key. It's not about tokenism; it's about getting people something for them to do in the future. There is a wide variety of things that our ex-ADF personnel do. Most contribute a lot to society. Some end up in here; that's a different story!

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't know if that's a good thing!

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, that's something we've got to question later on; there might be an inquiry! Jokes aside, I say that because the member for Herbert is a mate. I know we share a lot of values on this stuff, and one of the things is the way we work together on it.

Doing this sort of thing is not about bolstering our workforce. It's supporting our veterans, and it means that we've got people getting more and more opportunity to fit into society and to do more. We know even from the Jobs and Skills Summit last week that we need more trained up and ready to work, and it's initiatives like this that will support getting people into work. We all know as well that programs like this not only support veterans financially but result in the most important bit: positive mental health impacts. These things are so important. They should be sacrosanct to make sure that we do that. We ensure that our veterans can continue their education as they transition from service, ultimately increasing their capacity and opportunity for success.

However, we are acting on this where the previous government sadly didn't. I think if we continue to work together on these things, we're going to see far greater outcomes. And I do appreciate the opposition's support for this bill. I don't think there would be anyone in this place who doesn't support our veterans and I don't think there's anyone in this place who can't see the results of the actions that previous governments have taken for our veterans. I'm not just having a crack at those opposite. I'm talking over years and years, from our Vietnam vets all the way through. But we have an opportunity to fix this with all of us working together, and I think that's what's going to happen.

I look forward to the minister bringing more life-changing legislation into this place, supporting our veterans and supporting our families. I commend this bill to the House, and, again, I say thank you to the opposition for supporting us in this way.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for McEwen for his contribution and also his contribution to the nation as a cadet. I now give the call to the member for Herbert and acknowledge his contribution in the Defence Force as well.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I rise in support of this bill, which continues the important initiative that we started in the coalition in support of veterans. As has already been outlined, this bill ensures eligible veterans, who are undertaking approved full-time study as part of their return to work rehabilitation program, continue to receive 100 per cent of their pre-injury earnings instead of that payment dropping to 75 per cent after 45 weeks of study. There is nothing more important when transitioning out of the military than meaningful engagement or meaningful employment. This bill makes sure both those things can be easily achieved for those who unfortunately find themselves in a position where they have to leave the ADF because of injury.

I took some time to reflect on my journey, which is similar to a lot of my friends. I found myself in the Middle East in Afghanistan in 2009, as a 21-year-old, blown up by an IED that was detonated within one metre of me. I went into this really turbulent time. I felt like I'd failed my friends. I felt like a coward. I felt the moral injury of all my tribe still being overseas, whilst I was at home. I had injuries that were non-visible. You can't see a lot of my injuries, but I have a traumatic brain injury, I'm deaf in my right ear and I was subsequently diagnosed with a mental illness.

I remember sitting at home and being told I didn't have to go to work and parade anymore in the battalion, which in hindsight was probably the worst thing that could have happened to me because my accountability, my desire to get up to do something that I loved, my meaning, my engagement and my employment wasn't there. So at 21, I got these injuries, I was upset that I wasn't overseas with my tribe and angry that I was injured. I didn't have friends to lean on and to talk to. My best friend, who was my best friend at the time and now my wife, gave me a kick in the backside, but I felt like she didn't understand what I was going through because she hadn't served. Then I had my hierarchy saying, 'You must go to an appointment,' but I just didn't go.

This was at a time when our Defence Force didn't have complex injuries, didn't have people coming back unwell and didn't really know what to do. So I lost my meaning, and this spiral went on for a long time. It went on for years and years. But at the start, they would throw ideas at me, saying things like, 'Do you want to be a security guard when you leave?' 'I don't want to be a security guard.' 'Do you want to go back to concreting?' 'No, I don't want to go back to concreting.' I got into the Defence Force because I wanted to have a purpose, something to get up for, to love and do. I had to put myself through night school to get into the Defence Force, so I didn't have an education anyway.

I sat there in this big bowl of self-pity until my wife, or girlfriend at that time, and some of my friends when they started to get back gave me a big kick in the backside and said, 'Is this who you want to be? Do you want to be the person who just blames yourself and everyone else?' But I wasn't blaming people; I was just blaming how I was feeling and what I was going through, saying, 'I can't hear in my right ear. I have a brain injury and a mental illness.' I had a mental illness. And I was like, 'I don't want to do that. I want to be better. And I want to do something.' Looking back now, I could have easily been a statistic; I easily could have been on a wall somewhere. As someone who had had suicidal ideation, I could have gone down that path.

Education: I—who'd gone from a troubled kid to a ratbag barracks soldier to someone that causes trouble—found some solace in education. This bill wasn't around then, but education kind of opened my mind to what else could be there. So I decided: 'You know what? I'm going to do a degree in psychology.' Well, that didn't last very long! I was way out of my depth. Then I said: 'I want to do a bachelor's in something else,' and that didn't last long. And then a diploma fell over. Then I did a certificate IV in training assessment, and I was like: 'You know what? I can do this now.' That cert IV then turned into a diploma, and after that diploma then I got another one. I found that education gave me meaning—a reason to get up in the morning. It gave meaning to a life that had a black hole in it. It gave me something that I wanted to get up and do.

In the big scheme of things, our veterans go through a very complex journey through their military career. Not all veterans are broken, but even veterans who are can still punch through and find some meaning in their life. Nor should anyone think that veterans who have served or who are transitioning, wounded, injured or ill, from their service, are all going to study; let's not think that. But let's think that all veterans, and everyone, should have meaningful engagement and/or meaningful employment—something to get up in the morning for, something to love, something that you want to do, something that gives you that drive—because the absence of that creates negative wellbeing in our society. And, to be very frank, it means I'm probably going to attend another funeral. So everyone needs to have some meaning. For that, I believe, education is fantastic. There are many groups that promote the educational side. The soldier now is different from when I was there. But the must is the meaning; the must is the something to love; otherwise, it really can end in tragedy—as we've heard through the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. One veteran told the royal commission:

My honest opinion is there needs to be some form of tertiary education or proper employment program so soldiers within combat corps have a chance to find meaningful employment and not just become labor hire for the rest of their lives …

Meaningful employment and genuine gratitude for veterans is i believe the key to solving the veteran suicide issue in this country.

If you take that, that's the purest comment that you can get, from a veteran who just looks at the world and goes, 'Tertiary qualifications.'

I often get labelled a little bit of an officer-hater, because, around the country, there are different pathways for senior officers to a degree, by RPL, or getting gifted something; it becomes an easier pathway into university. As a private soldier, there was definitely not that option for me.

I tried to join the APS. They told me I'd be an APS2. So it would've been much less than what I was getting when I was serving, but the experience was much greater.

There has always been this view that when you hit a certain officer level, you can RPL a degree, or get a degree, or find it easier to find employment, whereas the soldiers find it harder. And the majority of our wounded, injured and ill are our lower ranks or our lowest ranks—my rank. So it's being able to get an education, whether it's at a tertiary level or whether you go through a pathway, like I did, and get a cert IV. But it's not being gifted it but doing it, because that's how you grow. Getting gifted something is not how you grow. I think that that's a really positive step in the right direction.

I acknowledge you, with the Returned from Active Service Badge, over in the corner, and I appreciate your service. I appreciate the minister being in here. I think it's fantastic. And the former shadow minister for veterans' affairs is here as well. That's because this isn't about politics. This is the furthest thing from politics. It is a time when we debate and disagree. As Shane is moving around, I note there might be some politics in his speech. But the key to this is putting the veterans first and also their families, which are the backbone.

Allowing a veteran to receive 100 per cent of their pre-injury wage is the most positive step that we can take in getting people into a tertiary education, giving them an incentive to learn and to grow. It's not an incentive to do nothing. It's an incentive to explore a different world, to find something that they'll be able to do when they leave.

We've got people like Curtis McGrath. He found love and meaning in sport. He has gone to the Paralympics. He has won gold medals multiple times. He lost both of his legs. This is a guy who's had all the bad things happen and he's found love, want and meaning in sport. Paul Warren lost his leg. He was an Australian champion Muay Thai boxer, so his profession was his legs. He went into defence. He quickly went over to Afghanistan in 2009. On 18 July, Ben Ranaudo was killed and Paul lost his leg and transitioned out into this big unknown. He worked for defence industry. He found a want, love and meaning, and now he's going to be taking on study. These are fantastic things.

But not all veterans get blown up by IEDs, not all veterans see frontline combat, not all veterans have the same injuries and we are all not broken. I think that's something that's extremely important is this whole 'broken veteran' narrative. This whole thing of feeling sorry for our veterans needs to stop. We empower our most bravest, and they have done us proud overseas and on the battlefield as well as at home.

In Townsville, there are more than 30,000 ADF members, veterans and their families. It's the largest garrison city in the nation. We have plenty of veterans that are doing awesome stuff. We have veterans who are running businesses. One of those really good businesses is Australian Expedition Vehicles. It's run by Michael McMillan. He was also the winner of the most Outstanding Veterans' Employer of the Year in last year's Prime Minister's Veterans' Employment Awards. Mick is a veteran himself and doesn't just employ veterans because they are good workers. He doesn't just employ them because they know how to operate military equipment or vehicles. He employs them because of their heart, their want and his passion for supporting our ADF men and women. He knows the value of a veteran and the mutual benefits that come with being a veteran. Almost all of his employees, veterans, and their work family are just that—a family, a tribe. When I started I told you that I felt that I'd lost my tribe. These businesses, these awesome companies that are employing veterans, are creating the tribe again. It's like all these ex-service organisations. They all come together because they want to create the tribe.

We just need to go that extra step, and I believe this does that. It offers the tribe and the ability and the opportunity for education. The hole that is left when you leave the military, especially if you're medically discharged, is one that never gets filled. It is an itch that can never be scratched. I miss being in defence. I miss my mates. I miss going overseas. I don't miss the field. I don't miss the food! I miss the good times. But stories like Michael McMillan's show us that we can actually find hope. We can find hope in our defence tribe and in businesses that want to support people in their next stage of life, because as the door closes on your military service another one opens. Being given that opportunity to get into employment is extremely important for the wellbeing of our brave men and women.

And a lot of these jobs require an education, particularly in areas like mine, where none of my mates that I served with had degrees. This changes that. This provides that encouragement and that purpose to study, and I think that this bill is overdue. I think that this bill brings us, as a parliament, closer together and it brings our Defence Force into a new realm. The Joint Transition Authority is going to help people transition better. We know that it's a whole, but a part of that process is meaningful engagement and meaningful employment, and the way to get there is by having a bill that encourages people and supports people in that education journey.

While they have families and while they have people there, this is so that support isn't dropped. That's why I am a big supporter of this bill and I commend it to the House.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently, I caught up with Sam Kavanagh and his partner, Annette, who run Bootstraps, a wonderful veterans' organisation based in Gatton in the Lockyer Valley. I caught up with them in Gatton but I also caught up with them before that in Ipswich, at the Cooneana Heritage Centre. Sam was in the military since 1984 and he set up a wonderful charity to help people who are veterans living with disabilities, or even indeed those people who are not suffering from mental incapacity or physical incapacity. It's about helping them, and in a great way in terms of the service they provide. There were many people at their open day from Mates4Mates to the RSL. The local media were there and many organisations, including councils and the like. But Sam and Annette have done a great job. I came across a variety of people from my electorate who were there learning leathercraft. It was about dealing with the incapacity that they'd experienced and how they had transitioned out of the military.

I am pleased to speak on this Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022, to support people living with incapacity who are veterans—people who are, indeed, part of the charity of Bootstraps in the Lockyer Valley. It also helps people from Ipswich who transition. We owe a debt of gratitude to our Defence Force personnel, veterans and their families, and we have a solemn duty to look after them. The recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report on veterans' wellbeing shows that former defence personnel are a tremendous asset to our society. It's our duty to provide the necessary support, like Bootstraps in the Lockyer Valley, to veterans and their families who leave the Defence Force, enabling them to contribute to our community in many ways.

This bill extends by one year a four-year pilot which is supporting eligible veterans in full-time study, from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023. We're doing this really because of the ignorance, idleness and inertia of the former coalition government, which, not just with this bill but with other bills, failed to bring it into the House of Representatives or the Senate in time to be passed in the 46th parliament. The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is sitting there on the bench and he has a big job to do, because he's going to have to pass bills that have been sitting from the last parliament which the coalition didn't pass and should have passed. This was a budget measure—let's not forget about that. I accept the words from the member for Herbert and I believe he's genuine in what he said, but the truth of the matter is that the Minister for Veterans' Affairs in this chamber today is dealing with a budget measure from last year which created uncertainty in the lives of veterans and their communities. Hundreds of veterans—370—participating in the program were left in the lurch and out of pocket, copping an immediate cut to their payment of 25 per cent. If the previous coalition government under Prime Minister Morrison had got around to actually doing its job and passed the bill they would not have been out of pocket since 30 June 2022.

I recall as a local MP and also as the former shadow minister, receiving representations from concerned veterans about this measure before the last election, so I'm pleased that the Albanese Labor government is now in a position to fix up the mess created by the Morrison government in this area. This bill reinstates the program and allows the calculation of incapacity payments to these veterans once again to be based on 100 per cent, not 75 per cent, of their pre-injury earnings. It's imperative the legislation be passed. It is a matter of urgency to financially support veterans. We're here today because of the failure and inaction of the former coalition government. We're about giving veterans certainty and financially supporting them.

This bill complements the work that the minister will do in the $24 million Veterans' Employment Program, which we announced in the last campaign. It was a comprehensive veterans package. Too much of what we've done in the past has been about awards, and not enough has been about concrete work on the ground to help veterans in the transition to civilian life. We know many veterans struggle to find work when they transition to civilian life, and that can lead to other problems—mental health issues, homelessness, incarceration and even suicide.

We've got a royal commission, which Labor strongly supported and had to drag those opposite, kicking and screaming, into doing. We saw the interim report. Those recommendations, if picked up by this government, I'm very confident, will go a long way to supporting veterans who are living with incapacity and who need to be transitioned into civilian life in an appropriate and supported way.

I note that the Housing Australia Future Fund has $30 million geared to veterans' homelessness services. One in 10 people who slept rough or slept as a homeless person last night was a veteran. It's not enough to give platitudes and honour people on Anzac Day; we've got to support them in practical ways, and that's why it's important.

I note that the royal commission picked up on the legislative framework. It said that legislation that deals with incapacity and deals with veterans' compensation and rehabilitation needs to be coalesced into one usable form of bill—a code, shall we say, that the Veterans' Entitlements Act, the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act can be included in as well. Those veterans advocates helping veterans living with incapacity—in my electorate, for example, in the Ipswich Railway sub-branch, in Kilcoy, in Lowood or elsewhere—do a great job, but they're dealing with a piece of legislation that's challenging. So today we've got a bill that will help veterans in incapacity, and we should pick it up and support it in the chamber.

It's really important to do this, and it's important that bills that we pass in this chamber are not tokenistic. Too much of the legislation that was brought in by the previous coalition was tokenistic—it lacked clear goals and targets and evaluation, provided little incentive for employers and relied on goodwill and PR. There were not enough practical supports for employers and practical supports for veterans to transition into community life and into serious employment.

I was very happy to see the Minister for Veterans' Affairs convene a series of roundtables on veterans' employment in the lead-up to last week's Jobs and Skills Summit. There were some great outcomes, and I commend the minister for that. The great outcomes for veterans from the summit include a one-off income credit so that veterans on a service pension over retirement age can earn more before their pension is reduced. For working-age veterans, there will be additional digital apprenticeships in the Australian Public Service targeting disadvantaged groups, including veterans, providing more jobs and training opportunities. That's really critical, particularly if veterans are living with any form of incapacity, physical or mental. The reality is that veterans and defence partners are a highly skilled yet relatively untapped workforce, and don't we need them now! We need to do more things like we're doing today—boosting recognition of their skills and experience and getting them into good-quality jobs. That's absolutely critical.

We will also support them in veterans hubs around the country, including in my electorate, in the Ipswich to Springfield area, which was sadly neglected. Labor pushed that, year after year after year, and the coalition refused to do it. We even had then Prime Minister Morrison coming to my electorate but refusing to announce one in my electorate, even though he was announcing them around the state and around the country. That's just another aspect of supporting veterans living with incapacity.

I know that the minister will be discussing the recommendations of the royal commission with veterans ministers in states and territories. I urge all those people to make submissions to the royal commission. They should be encouraged to do so by 13 October 2023. I note the final report will be handed down on 24 June 2024.

It's fantastic to see the willingness of veterans ministers around the country in the states and territories to get on board with programs to support veterans' education and training. I personally saw at the launch of the Student Veteran Support Program at the Australian Catholic University campus on the north side of Brisbane how important that was to help veterans in that transition. Tertiary education is critical.

In closing, it is initiatives like this pilot program that we're debating today that will support veterans financially and boost their capacity and their mental health as they transition from the military. There are a lot of things we need to do. The previous government dropped the ball and we saw at the royal commission the $430 million that was cut from veterans entitlements and out of the budget. The previous ministers, Minister Chester and Minister Gee, failed to disclose those cuts that they had to disclose at the royal commission. We saw the former minister threatening to resign before the last budget. You talk about transparency and accountability. We need to do better, and we will do better. I'm very confident that the new Minister for Veterans' Affairs has veterans at his heart.

This legislation is part of a suite of policies of this government, including 500 full-time frontline staff, ending the privatisation, outsourcing and labour hire in the Department of Veterans' Affairs that were perpetrated and perpetuated by those opposite. It's very important that we get those full-time experienced public servants to assess those claims. This legislation is important and is part of a suite that the minister will deliver to help veterans around the country. We need a better future for our current serving ADF personnel and a better future for former defence personnel and their families. That's why this bill is so important today.

Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to speak in favour of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill 2022, but I don't want to politicise the issues at hand. I think this is far too serious an issue for any political gain or political snipe. However, I want to give people a better understanding of the implications and the background—the underlying issues for many of the paradigms talked about within the legislation. This legislation talks about our MRCA, our Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, and our DRCA, our defence related claims act. The technical parameters of the bill were detailed by previous speakers. It allows our defence veterans to be paid their full compensation whilst still studying.

As a former military instructor I took young kids off the bus and turned them into soldiers. It's from that perspective that I speak today. These aren't just any kids. These are our best. They are chosen through recruiting and tested. These are the top two per cent of Australia's youth. They're motivated, because they put their hand up of their own volition and took themselves into a defence recruiting office where they raised their hand and swore an oath to our country, its Queen and its people.

They then go to their recruit training establishment. I speak of Kapooka, the 1st Recruit Training Battalion. Once they come to us we take them from that civilian way of life to a very different way of life. It's a way of life that is unique. It's very difficult for those who haven't served to understand and contemplate the changes that go on within a young person's mind and heart to change them from a civilian to a soldier. We must remember at all times that our role in the military is to keep Australia safe using lethal force, to seek out and close with our enemy, to kill or capture him. These are the lessons we teach our young people, and they're very difficult lessons to get across.

We also teach our young people that the person on their right and the person on their left are the most important and that the value of the team is far greater than the value of the individual. Again, this is a very difficult concept to get across to average Joe Blow on the street. But, once that transition is made and that trust is placed in that person on their right and their left, that's a very valuable bond, and that young person's life changes forever. Many people ask why. Why would you trust that person so much? Why would you give your life for that person on your right or your left? The answer is very simple: it's because that person on your right or your left would give their life for you.

I can't help but think of when the member for Herbert talked about the tribe. He used the word 'tribe' to describe what we have as an organisation—that trust and that bond, those changes that I talked about earlier, that we have in our military, right across the entire ADF. But, once those bonds are made, when someone leaves Defence, then they have to leave that tribe. In the member for Herbert's case, he had no choice. In my case, I was medically discharged after 20 years service. Once you have to leave due to a medical issue—to leave the big tribe that you've grown so accustomed to and that you think so much of—that's a very different transformation. That's the transformation that this bill plays a very important part in.

I mentioned before that knowledge is power. Knowledge is key. Knowledge builds confidence. I talked briefly about the change in those young individuals that we get off the bus at Kapooka. You can see them after their recruit training course. They're a different person. They stick their chest out; they pull their shoulders back; they're confident. They're confident in their team and their mates. They're proud of being in the Army. They're proud of serving the country. They're proud to protect that person on their right or their left. You can see it in their eyes, and you can feel it when you walk into a training area and you've got young recruits. After a while, you can feel that culture, and it's very strong. But once that tribe is broken and that individual leaves the tribe, then they feel as if they're an outcast in life, and that's where the problems start. Bills like this help give that confidence, through training, through rehabilitation and through taking that purpose and changing and shaping that purpose into a different purpose. That's where we can unlock the future of that young person's success.

There are a number of other elements, I think, that come into play when we talk about transitioning. I talked briefly about the importance that that training and knowledge brings—training like what we're talking about within the confines of the bill—but I also want to make the very succinct point that families play an important part in this. A veteran's family is going to be the mechanism, the conduit, by which that veteran makes that transformation. As a government and as a nation, I think we need to embrace the entire family unit. I think that that soldier, sailor or aviator's spouse, their child or their children, and their family are going to be their future. When we start talking about transition and rehabilitation and training, I think we should involve the entire family unit. At the end of the day, that family unit is going to be the new tribe. It's going to be the connecter between their military service and their new service, which, of course, will be meaningful employment.

We often hear—and I've heard them here today—anecdotal stories about veterans who do it tough, and sadly many do. But, as has been proven time and time again, the vast majority of our defence personnel transition very seamlessly. They transition very smoothly. In fact, when they enter their new world—their new role, their new job, their civilian employment—they transition so well that they excel. They have a skill set that is second to none. They have, over the duration of their service, built up things like teamwork, leadership skills and communication skills. They understand what integrity really means. They understand what it's like to work in big teams and small teams. They understand their commander's intent and the importance of understanding what your boss wants from you. They are very proud people; they take pride in what they do. They like to see a good job done, a proper job done, a professional job done. So my point is: to all prospective employers out there right across the nation, employing a veteran is good for your business. It really is. If we can better translate the skills, knowledge and attitudes that they learnt in the big tribe of the military into the industry-centric language that most bosses would understand, then they'd have a veteran in a heartbeat.

In the state of Tasmania, where I'm from, I'm pleased to say that we've delivered $7½ million for veterans' wellness centres, with $2½ million of that money spent on the North West veterans' hub. We talk about success stories and making a transition—well, the guy that runs this particular veterans' hub is a guy that I served with. He was an ammunition technician, a major in the Army, an officer. For retraining, for resettlement, he decided that he would stick his hand up and become a general practitioner. He wanted to be a GP; he wanted to be a doctor. He wanted to help people. So he did. And now he's one of the finest GPs that we've got in the great state of Tassie, and he's helping us out with this North West veterans' clinic.

He's teamed up with other great organisations, like Open Arms, like Soldier On, like Mates4Mates and many others. What that clinic does is provide a way of life and a mechanism by which veterans can pre-empt the rigours of that change. They arm them with the skills, knowledge and attitude that they need for their new mission, for their new role. They give them purpose again, and, in doing so, they encourage that confidence. And the results speak for themselves! The incredible amount of positive feedback that we get from that organisation really makes us proud—proud that we can provide that support. And it's given by, as I said, veterans. Veterans are helping veterans, and you'll never find a better scenario.

I want to refer also to another organisation which works with the North West veterans' hub, and that is Disaster Relief Australia. It's run by a young bloke called Geoff Evans, and he's an ex-military engineer. He's got a volunteer organisation which helps out in many areas during floods, fires and other disasters. In fact, we had a terrible storm in Tassie some months ago, and 60 of these volunteers were down there helping people in communities, cutting trees off houses and helping people who couldn't ordinarily help themselves. The teamwork and camaraderie and esprit de corps that existed in their group took me back to my Army days. By doing that, the mentorship and the peer support that existed was therapy in itself, and the end result was that the community was proud of the help that they'd received from Disaster Relief Australia. I can't speak highly enough of them. But it also put pride on the faces of those ex-Defence personnel, those veterans, who did the work, and that's what it's all about.

I guess the main point that I want to get across today is that family is going to unlock the future for our veterans, and everybody needs a family. I think that knowledge is key, and I think that knowledge is empowering. I think that the more training and the more knowledge we can give our veterans, then the better their chance of success will be.

Finally, as a nation, I want to reiterate exactly what the member for Herbert said, and that is: the time for feeling sorry for veterans is over. We should not pity our veterans. We should be proud of them. There are veterans who, yes, will tug at our heartstrings, with the extreme nature of some injuries that still exist. But, for the most part, our veterans transition very well. They're an asset, so give them a go. If a veteran comes knocking on your door, at least give them a go because they come highly recommended and with a set of skills that are second to none.

Finally, I want to say that the royal commission has been difficult. I want to thank every single last witness who has given evidence to that royal commission. I want to recognise the hardships they would have had to endure and the gumption they would have had to build up before they went and gave that evidence. To relive that trauma would have been unbelievably difficult. I want to recognise that formally. I want to recognise that from my own perspective and from the parliament's perspective. I want to thank you for that. I want you to recognise that the work that you've done in doing so will save lives. I can't thank you enough for that.

This is a great bill. It comes at the end of a long road, and I'm pleased to see it's finally coming to fruition. We can't fix veterans' issues overnight; I think the royal commission will identify that. But we're moving in the right direction. I want to look across the chamber today at the minister and I want him to be reassured that, if there is anything veterans from this side can do, he has our support. At the end of the day, our aim is to look after our fine community of veterans.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to sum up this debate, if I may speak briefly. Firstly, I'd like to thank the members who have contributed to the debate on this bill this evening. In particular, I'd like to thank all parties in the House for their support of this bill and for its prompt passage. And I thank the honourable members for their commitment to supporting our service personnel, veterans and families, especially the contributions that we have heard tonight from those who have served in our defence forces. I'd like to acknowledge the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, the member for New England, who spoke about the service of his grandfather and his recently deceased father, and also about the national obligation to our veterans that falls upon us. In particular, he picked up on the point that it's the way that we treat our veterans and support them after their service that will be reflected in our capacity to recruit to our defence forces as well, especially at a time when we are seeking to significantly grow the size of our Defence Force.

The member for McEwen made the very interesting observation that despite his service in the cadets it proved to him that he did not have a future career in the Defence Force because of his desire to avoid having to continually polish boots! But he did speak very favourably of the organisation that he is aware of, Vets in Construction, and that organisation's support for the employment of veterans—their support in the construction industry and the importance of employment generally for our veterans. He too wanted to see better support for our veterans, particularly to make sure that they don't feel—as veterans had said to him that they did feel—that they were, and had been in the past, ignored. Of course, our government is committed to making sure that no veteran feels that they are being ignored by their government.

I want to thank the member for Herbert for his contribution to the debate this evening. He spoke, and not for the first time in this House, about the 'bad time', as he described it, that he had from his injuries, both physical and mental. He spoke about the importance of connection to and continuance of having purpose in one's life and in what one does post service with the Defence Force. It was why he joined the Defence Force and it was what he was looking for after it. It was that which showed him the importance of education and being able to see a different future that would also provide purpose. He made the very astute observation, that was repeated by many—and which we do need to reinforce and remember—that not all vets are broken. Indeed, the report last week from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did highlight the many positives for our veterans and our veteran community in the way in which they exceed the general Australian population when it comes to their rates of employment, their home ownership and their income levels, and that is a good thing. It is a very good thing and we should celebrate that and continue to promote that. But of course that doesn't mean we can ignore those who do need special and additional assistance.

The member for Blair spoke about a veterans' charity work in his own electorate and the great work that they do in supporting the community there, and the very important aspect of making sure that what we talk about here and in other places is not where it ends—that we have practical supports put in place to support our veterans. I very much want to acknowledge the work of the member for Blair, as the shadow minister for veterans' affairs during the last term of parliament, in putting together a policy suite that we took to the election and that I now have the honour of seeking to implement. It is all about providing practical support measures for our defence personnel, veterans and families.

The member for Braddon also spoke of his own experience in the Defence Force, the work that he did in training soldiers and the special bond that exists between soldiers. This repeated the words of the member for Herbert in describing them as a 'tribe' and the difficulty of transition—in leaving the tribe and the need to undertake a transformation for the soldier as they transition out of defence. He also referred to something which we absolutely embrace on this side, as the government: embracing the family unit and its importance to a successful transition out of defence. It's partly why we have made the decision to refer to what were previously 'wellbeing hubs' as 'Veterans' and Families' Hubs. This is because it's about supporting not only the veterans but also families, because getting that right is so vital to seeing a positive transition into civilian life and an ongoing successful transition to civilian life.

He also spoke about something that's very close to us over here, which is the importance of highlighting to business the skills that veterans bring to the private sector—skills that they've developed in the Defence Force. They are soft skills like leadership, teamwork, being able to work under pressure, having agility—things that we do want to make sure that our employers are very well aware of—as well as the hard skills they have developed in Defence, whether that's in a trade or in some other technical area. It's why we committed in the last election $24 million to developing a veterans' employment program that is partly about highlighting these very important soft and hard skills that our veterans bring and are able to provide to businesses who may employ them.

The member for Kingsford Smith—and I want to thank him for his great work and commitment to our veterans as the Assistant Minister for Defence and Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs—spoke about an excellent program that Defence, the Department of Veterans' Affairs and Phoenix have been working on: a new PTSD treatment, which is now available through Open Arms, the mental health and counselling support service for our veterans. That is a new program. We're very happy to support it. It's proving to be very efficacious. In particular, as he referred to, because of the way it operates, the drop-out rates from the program are much lower.

All of this feeds into how we as a government are making sure our veterans and their families are well supported and looked after as they transition from the Australian Defence Force, and this is an important task and responsibility of government. Indeed, it is a solemn commitment that we must make. The previous government did not before the dissolution of the 46th Parliament introduce legislation to deal with the issues that are being dealt with by this bill, and that resulted in financial uncertainty and distress for some 370 veterans. The Albanese Labor government has prioritised this important legislation. This legislation will ensure our commitment to veteran employment as it supports education opportunities to upskill veterans who currently have reduced ability to work.

The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Bill will resume access to the beneficial calculation of incapacity payments for eligible veterans. This means that eligible veterans—those undertaking approved study under a rehabilitation plan—will again have their incapacity payments restored to 100 per cent of pre-injury earnings. The lack of action on this pre election has meant that veterans receiving such payments had them unnecessarily reduced from 1 July, but this bill also backdates payments for those veterans, making good on the loss they've sustained because of the inaction of the previous government. We're committed to delivering a comprehensive veterans' employment program, as I referred to before, to support personnel as they transition to civilian life. This program that we are debating in this legislation is a key part of that.

It's initiatives like this that not only support a veteran and their family financially but can support a veteran's mental health as they undergo their transition from service. We have an obligation to ensure all our Defence personnel are kept safe here and abroad mentally and physically. The same goes for when they come home. This pilot program will ensure that veterans can continue their education as they transition from service, ultimately increasing their capacity and, indeed, opportunities for employment, which is a key predictor of success as they return to civilian life. It will ensure they are best placed to succeed. It will help address some of the issues that have been presented to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and that are referred to in its interim report of only a few weeks ago.

Our serving personnel put themselves in harm's way to protect our national interest. We want our service personnel, veterans and families, to know that Australia is proud of them and that our country will always be there for them, and so I commend the bill to the House.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.