Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

Omit paragraph (f), substitute:

(f) calls on the government to implement the government response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide recommendations, recognising that further delay could place veterans' health at serious risk.

This is a very important issue, which the government is very passionate about and which Minister Keogh has been delivering on as part of the Albanese government. We want to turn attention to the record of what we have done in ensuring that we want all Australians to see serving in our Australian Defence Force as an option and be safe in the knowledge that, whatever may happen in their service, they and their families will be looked after and acknowledged by a grateful nation.

The Albanese Labor government has undertaken significant work to enact real, meaningful and enduring reform for Defence personnel, veterans and their families following the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. The final report of the royal commission was delivered in September 2024 and included 122 recommendations. The government responded in December 2024 agreeing or agreeing in principle to 104 recommendations and noting 17 for further work. At the end of December 2025, 32 recommendations had been implemented and work is underway on a further 89, including some that were initially noted for further work. We anticipate that two-thirds of the recommendations will be implemented by the end of this year. We have taken action on some of the most important recommendations of the royal commission. The new Defence and Veterans' Service Commission is now up and running as at 29 September last year and will provide independent oversight and evidence based advice to improve suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for the Defence and veterans community.

We have provided significant funding of $44.5 million over four years for the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission, and we will introduce standalone legislation to ensure the independence of the commission. We have released the Defence and veteran mental health and wellbeing strategy and have begun work to establish a new wellbeing agency by mid-2026 to better support personnel and veterans. We are working on a range of preventive measures to minimise exposures to activities with a link to causing brain injury and establishing a comprehensive brain injury program to improve prevention, early detection and treatment pathways for current and former ADF members with neurocognitive issues.

This follows our significant work following the interim report of the royal commission to reduce the claims backlog at the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the passage of the new VETS act. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide found that the veteran compensation scheme was so complex it contributes to suicidality in veterans, highlighting the need for this to be simplified and harmonised. The passage of the VETS act will streamline the current three legislative acts into one single ongoing act so all veteran claims will be assessed under the same scheme from 1 July 2026, ensuring that it's easier to make a claim and faster for DVA to process. This will see support reach veterans and families of veterans more quickly. In the meantime, we've significantly improved the time it takes for claims to be processed for veterans; however, we're working to improve this.

The Australian government is committed to ensuring that veterans have access to quality health services and acknowledges the thousands of providers who treat veterans and their families. In the 2025-26 MYEFO the government provided $58.3 million over three years to strengthen mental health support for veterans across the continuum of care, including expanded access to mental health treatment clinics. These new arrangements will commence from 1 July 2026.

As the minister announced in his speech to the National Press Club at the end of last year, the Department of Veterans' Affairs is updating their fee schedule for report writing, ensuring payments for reports are more consistent with other equivalent jurisdictions and better reflect the actual cost to practitioners. The Department of Veterans' Affairs will publish this guidance shortly. The department also works with hospitals across the nation to make sure appropriate mental health beds are funded and available for veterans when they need them.

In addition to DVA working to expand innovative mental health programs in the country, reducing the need for inpatient admissions, we're working to improve the availability of appropriate training, and therefore care for veterans, through the Military and Veteran Psychiatry Training Program, which provides services training placements in military and veteran mental health. This initiative seeks to improve access to psychiatrists with specialist training in veteran and trauma focused care, decreasing the need for inpatient mental health beds. I'd like to remind families needing mental health support to contact Open Arms on 1800 011 046.

The Albanese government is committed to ensuring Defence and veterans' families receive the care, services and supports that they need and, more importantly, that they deserve.