Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to sincerely thank senators for their contributions to the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill 2025 and the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. I refer here not just to the contributions during this debate but to the work done in committee and, indeed, the many contributions made over the years in relation to these issues.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide highlighted the devastating scale and impact of veteran suicide and made it clear that this is a national tragedy that desperately needed to be addressed. The government understands the seriousness of these issues and the gravity of the recommendations put before us by the royal commission, and that is why we have worked to implement the agreed recommendations of the royal commission as quickly as possible.

In his address to the National Press Club on the one-year anniversary of the government's response to the final report of the royal commission, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel provided an update that 32 recommendations would be implemented by the end of 2025, and we expect two-thirds of the agreed recommendations to be complete by the end of this year.

The royal commission described recommendation 122, the establishment of an independent oversight body, as its most important recommendation. In acknowledgement of the significance and urgency of this recommendation, the Albanese Labor government legislated the creation of the Defence and Veteran Service Commission in February 2025, and it has been up and running since September 2025. The current enactment within part 8E of the Defence Act 1903 by way of schedule 9 of the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025 passed the parliament in February 2025 and ensured that the commission could be up and running by September and not be subject to the intervening federal election. Noting the swift passage of that legislation, the government supported a Senate inquiry into this, enabling the defence and veteran community to provide feedback on schedule 9 and the establishment of this oversight body.

These bills before us are a direct result of that engagement. We seek to demonstrate our commitment to working with the defence and veteran community. We want to get this right. The bills address the first recommendation of the Senate inquiry by establishing standalone legislation for the commission. The bills also add a specific reference to families as part of the commissioner's functions, strengthen the commissioner's independence and powers, improve witness protections and increase transparency.

The bills require the commission to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of the measures and actions taken to implement the government response to the royal commission, and this is in addition to other inquiries that may be undertaken by the commissioner, including a recently announced inquiry into the implementation of the government's response to recommendations 9 to13 of the royal commission's interim report. The timeline for the first legislated inquiry will enable a proper consideration of our work and an opportunity to genuinely evaluate whether the recommendations have been implemented appropriately and are making a difference for the defence and veteran community.

Again, I want to sincerely thank all who have contributed to this debate for your unwavering support for our veteran community. The commission is an integral part of this work and will ensure ongoing scrutiny of our efforts to achieve this aim.