Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I would like to recognise and thank the many dedicated community organisations that support Mackellar's 2,800 veterans and their families. These organisations are driven by deep care and compassion to support those who have served our nation. Thank you to RSL LifeCare, which operates both Homes for Heroes, at the RSL Anzac Village in Narrabeen, and the Northern Beaches Veteran Wellbeing Centre, which they run in partnership with Dee Why RSL. Thank you also to Saltwater Veterans, for strengthening veterans' wellbeing and mateship through sailing, and to Roses in the Ocean, for your powerful work in lived-experience suicide prevention. And, of course, an immense thank you goes to our RSL sub-branches: Pittwater, Avalon Beach, Collaroy, Dee Why, Forestville, Narrabeen, Palm Beach and the War Veterans Village. Through remembrance, advocacy and community, you continue to stand beside and pay tribute to those who have served our nation, ensuring their service and sacrifice are never forgotten.

I also want to acknowledge the government's recent increase in the DVA rebates for veterans accessing medical and allied health care. After years of neglect, this increase was desperately needed, and it was something I called for very strongly to ensure our veterans have access to the care they need when they need it.