Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to make a contribution to the debate on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Veteran-centric Reforms No. 2) Bill 2018, a very important piece of legislation which contains several measures that seek to improve outcomes for those who have served and their loved ones. When an individual undertakes to serve their country, we in turn make a commitment to them and their families that we will support them post their time in the ADF. Labor supports the measures in this bill because they're a step towards recognising this commitment. Schedule 1 recognises the importance of education and retraining post service, particularly for those whose service has had a greater impact on them. These changes will provide financial security to those on incapacity payments undertaking further study as part of their rehabilitation plan with DVA. Currently payments reduce to 75 per cent after 45 weeks; this measure will maintain these payments at 100 per cent while they are undertaking approved full-time study. This change will mean that these individuals can focus on their education without worrying about their finances.

Further education and training can be very important, particularly in circumstances such as these when the individual has had no choice but to leave the ADF and reorientate their lives. The support will make a difference for these individuals, assisting them to retrain and find meaningful employment post service. Finding and maintaining employment after leaving the ADF is important for so many reasons. Employment is much more than simply financial security; it provides structure, community, a sense of purpose and belonging. However, the statistics show us that, of the 5,500 veterans who transition out of Defence each year, about one in three fail to find or maintain employment. Best estimates cite the total unemployment rate of veterans as approximately 30 per cent. Even those who didn't medically discharge face a jobless rate of 11.2 per cent, which is almost twice the national unemployment rate. In addition, those who do find employment have experienced an average drop in their incomes of about 30 per cent, and 19 per cent are underemployed in jobs that don't meet their capabilities. Veterans have a large range of skills and set of experiences, but these figures show that these skills and experiences of great value that they bring to our local communities upon return from service are simply, practically, not adequately valued by civil society.

It's for this reason that Labor has committed to a $121 million veterans employment program. Our program is not about charity; it's about ensuring the wealth of skills and experience that a veteran has is not lost in translation to civilian life. There are four elements to our program which will assist those transitioning out of Defence. Firstly we will provide eligible businesses with training grants of up to $5,000 in order to help veterans gain the skills and experience that they need to obtain a civilian job. While businesses are at least notionally open to employing veterans, there can be specific short-term skill gaps or a lack of specific experience, which can act as a barrier to employment for an otherwise suitable veteran applicant. For example, the veteran might be one unit shy of a certificate or fail to meet the minimum two years prior experience, meaning they won't meet an arbitrary tick-and-flick assessment of their capacity in the job-and-person process and will be immediately discounted. These $5,000 grants are designed to overcome this barrier. In addition, Labor will work with the industry advisory committee to develop and provide proper resources to a national campaign which will highlight the many benefits and transferable skills of those leaving the ADF and encourage businesses to employ veterans.

Secondly, Labor will establish a service which will provide greater individualised and tailored support to transitioning veterans over a longer period of time. This service will provide one-on-one support and advice to transitioning ADF members, including a comprehensive audit of the skills they have obtained during their service, and ensure appropriate civil recognition is obtained. It will also work with veterans to identify other barriers to a successful transition to employment, such as secure housing and psychosocial supports. Importantly, this service will continue to be available to those who have left the ADF for a period of five years, enabling veterans to return to the service if their circumstances change and they need additional support.

Thirdly, our plan will reduce the length of service required to access the higher levels of support through the Career Transition Assistance Scheme. Labor's proposal reduces the qualifying period for the extra education or training assistance down from the current requirement of 12 years service to five years service and the top-up level of assistance down from 18 years service to 15 years service. In addition, we will increase the funding available to individuals and allow for greater flexibility in the way members use this funding, such as enabling multiple qualifications, to achieve their career goals.

Lastly, we will work with the states and territories and peak industry bodies to identify opportunities for greater recognition of the many skills of our ADF members. The program run in Queensland which translates rank and length of service into a university entrance rank is one of these opportunities. While not every member who leaves the ADF will want to go to university, this program smooths the processes for those who are wishing to pursue further study and, importantly, recognises their experience and skills.

The changes in schedule 1 align well with this element, which would then provide greater financial security to those who are undertaking this study as part of a rehabilitation plan with DVA. Labor understand that this schedule is expected to assist 150 people per year, including those who are already undertaking study as part of their rehabilitation plan. Labor support this schedule that will provide greater financial security for veterans on incapacity payments and their families while they complete their studies.

Schedule 2 of the bill will create a new suicide prevention pilot which will provide greater support to those who have been hospitalised after attempted suicide. Those with suicidal ideation or who might be at increased risk of suicide are also eligible because of their mental health or other factors. This important pilot will provide coordinated support to ensure veterans are accessing treatment and social support to reduce their risk of suicide and enhance their quality of life. It will provide intensive and assertive management services to support a veteran after they have been discharged from hospital. The type of support that is being offered would include support to access other relevant government entities and non-government treatment and services. The aim, of course, is to reduce risk and to massively improve outcomes for those who are involved.

The two suicide prevention trials being coordinated by the Department of Veterans' Affairs are a result of both the National Mental Health Commission's review of services available to veterans and members of the Australian Defence Force and the recommendations made during the Senate's inquiry into suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel, which was completed last year. The National Mental Health Commission recommended step-down services that take into account factors that may lead to suicide, such as primary health, financial stress, lack of housing and lack of employment. These factors were considered heavily during the Senate inquiry, which received 458 submissions from the ex-service community and other interested parties. I take the opportunity to thank each one of those members of the ex-service community, in particular, for their contribution to this important debate.

The Senate inquiry process was particularly important as it enabled veterans and their loved ones to highlight the issues they have experienced and to identify what we can do better to support them post their time in the ADF. Labor supported the establishment of the Senate inquiry. We're pleased to see these recommendations being progressively implemented, and we urge the government to maintain the momentum. Labor is supportive of measures which seek to provide greater assistance to veterans, particularly those who are struggling in their time post the ADF. As such, we offer our full support to the establishment of this trial and we look forward to seeing the results of both this trial and other trials currently underway.

Schedule 3 of the bill seeks to assist those recently widowed by providing them additional time to make a decision about how they would like to receive compensation. Currently, partners have six months to decide whether they would like to receive their compensation as a weekly payment or convert the whole or part of the payment into a lump sum. Where there is the ability for the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission to make an extension of time, this requires an application in writing. The change that is proposed in schedule 3 will give partners two years to make this decision, giving these individuals in very difficult circumstances sufficient time to decide. The commission will also be able to extend this time for consideration beyond two years where they deem it appropriate. That will be subject to application. For example, such a situation might be where there are complicated family law issues to be resolved. The government have advised this came about during conversations with ex-service organisations. It is a logical and compassionate change, and we offer our full support to it.

Schedule 4 amends the Veterans' Entitlements Act, the VEA, in order to extend the eligibility of the Long Tan Bursary scheme to the grandchildren of Vietnam veterans. The Long Tan Bursary scheme offers 37 scholarships of up to $12,000 over three years to the children of Vietnam veterans to assist with post-secondary school education and training. While the criteria for applications won't change, this amendment will enable more individuals to apply for that support to help those students continue their study. Priority will be given to supporting those children of Vietnam veterans. Labor is supportive of this measure, which recognises the sacrifices that our brave men made in Vietnam and assists their descendants to undertake further study.

Schedule 5 makes a provision to ensure that a submariner who served on a special submarine operation between 1 July 1978 and 31 December 1992 is deemed to have operational service for any period they served on a submarine during this period. This will simplify the support available to those individuals who served during this period and who have a claim with the Department of Veterans' Affairs. We are also supportive of this measure because it formally recognises the service that these individuals undertook during the period.

The final schedule of the bill simplifies the process for veterans applying for compensation under the MRCA during a needs assessment. Under the MRCA, a claim for compensation is distinct from a claim for liability. In many cases, compensation is claimed concurrently with the liability by a member or former member indicating on the liability claim form that they're seeking compensation. However, in some cases, a claim for liability will be made without an application for compensation. During this process, a needs assessment will be carried out. These are often conducted over the telephone. During this call, a member or former member will sometimes state that they would like to seek some form of compensation under the MRCA. This currently requires the individual to put in a separate application. Under the changes in the piece of legislation being discussed here this morning, a verbal indication that they are seeking compensation under the act will now be considered an application. That being said, they will still be able to make a claim in writing should they wish to do so.

Labor is supportive of measures which make the claim process easier for veterans, as long as it doesn't disadvantage them. Issues around information provided during this needs assessment have been raised with the shadow minister for veterans' affairs by advocates and members of the ex-service community. These individuals have raised concerns about the needs assessment being used to determine compensation claims. According to advocates, in their experience, information provided during this assessment has been used to decline the severity of claims further down the track. For example, the assessment will ask a veteran if they can still mow the lawn. The veteran replies that they can, without detailing that, following this activity, they experience several days of restricted or no movement. So while the veteran may technically be able to mow the lawn, they are severely impacted by doing so. According to advocates, a simple answer to that question is then pointed to further down the track and used to assert that the veteran is able to undertake the activity, which is simply not the case.

Labor has raised this issue with the government and requested that it ensure that it is clear to those applying what the answers to these seemingly innocuous questions will be used for. Subsequently, the government has advised that the needs assessments are not used by the DVA to determine compensation but, instead, are used to identify forms of support and assistance that the veteran may be eligible for or benefit from, such as household assistance or rehabilitation. That being said, the government has taken this feedback on board and will be providing further clarification to veterans applying online that this assessment will not be used to calculate compensation rates. It is these assurances that enable Labor to support this measure, which seeks to make the complicated claims process easier for veterans and their loved ones.

Labor is supportive of this bill, which seeks to improve outcomes for veterans and to smooth processes. As I said at the beginning, when an individual undertakes to serve in the ADF, we in turn commit to looking after them and their loved ones. These measures, in particular those aimed at providing increased support for those whose service has had a greater impact on them, seek to ensure that we recognise this obligation to our ex-serving community.

I take the opportunity in the time remaining to me to speak with pride about knowing a former veteran, who was a former student of mine as well: a great man by the name of Mark Lang, who lives on the Central Coast in the same community in which I live. I still run into his mother, Debbie; I remember first meeting her at parent-teacher interviews. Mark has served for a very long period of time in the Australian Defence Force, and in fact he made an effort at one stage to return to me and showed up at school in his uniform with great pride in his service. Mark has met with me on a number of occasions in my office. He's a powerful advocate for his mates who have served this nation with pride and distinction in many theatres overseas. At this time Mark is particularly unwell, so I want to recognise his service. I want to recognise his advocacy and the advocacy of men, women and families across this nation who continue to make sure that those who return from serving this country are treated in ways that engender further respect for the service that they've given and give them access to the services and opportunities that they need. I give our full support to this bill, and I commend the bill to the house. (Time expired)

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Veteran-centric Reforms No. 2) Bill 2018, which contains a series of amendments to legislation which affects our veterans community. This is a non-controversial bill, which means it has the support of both sides of the Senate, as it should.

This bill does a number of valuable things: it amends the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act to provide former members of the Australian Defence Force with incapacity payments at 100 per cent of their normal weekly earnings where they are studying full time as part of their approved rehabilitation plan; it amends the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 to create a Veteran Suicide Prevention Pilot aimed at providing coordinated care to veterans who have attempted suicide, have suicide ideation or are in crisis; it deems a submariner's service on a special submarine operation between 1 January 1978 and 31 December 1992 to be operational service; and it extends the eligibility for the Long Tan Bursary scheme to the grandchildren of a veteran who has operational service in Vietnam. As that conflict recedes further into history, obviously it was sensible to extend it to grandchildren rather than just the children of the veterans. The bill amends the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to allow a wholly dependent partner up to two years to decide whether to take a lump sum, a pension, or a combination of both as compensation for their partner's death, and to enable veterans to lodge a claim for compensation orally.

The section of the bill I particularly want to comment on is the section which amends the Veterans' Entitlements Act to create the Veteran Suicide Prevention Pilot aimed at providing coordinated care to veterans who have attempted suicide, have suicide ideation or are in crisis. These amendments would create a pilot scheme for a service aimed at improving the mental health services available to veterans and to prevent veterans' suicide. The Veteran Suicide Prevention Pilot, which is also known as the Mental Health Clinical Management Pilot as part of the 2017-18 budget measure 'Suicide prevention pilots', will provide intensive and assertive management services to support a veteran's mental health outcomes after they have been discharged from a hospital following an attempted suicide crisis or to support those who may be at increased risk of suicide because of their mental health or other factors. This will include support to access other relevant government and non-government treatment and services that will help reduce the risk of suicide and enhance their quality of life.

This is an issue I have spoken on before. In an earlier speech I pointed out that, since the Vietnam War and the traumatic effects that service in Vietnam had on many—perhaps the majority—of those who served there, we have become much more aware of the mental health needs of veterans. From virtually nothing in the 1960s, we now spend nearly $250 million a year on mental health services for ADF members, Defence veterans and their families. This includes services provided by doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers as well as online information and support services. It includes the Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service, which provides free and confidential counselling and support to ADF members, veterans and families at 26 centres around Australia.

The VVCS serves more than 27,000 people every year. This parliament in recent years has spent quite a lot of time on these issues, as it should, and I want to highlight an inquiry that the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has just started in into the transition to civilian life of men and women who have served in the ADF. That inquiry is going to look at three specific areas: the barriers that prevent people from effectively engaging with ADF members, the Department of Defence and the Veterans' Affairs to provide more effective support to ADF personnel as they transition out of service; the model of mental health care while in the ADF service and through the transition period to the Department of Veterans' Affairs; the efficacy of whole-of-government support to facilitate the effective transition to employment in civilian life of men and women who have served in the ADF; and any matters that relate to the above three areas. These are important because, the more light that is shone on these areas, the more information we have and the better we are able to deal with these issues.

Something that the US Department of Veterans Affairs does is provide long-term veterans and the people who might employ them with tax credits in a scheme where under the returning heroes tax credit they get US$5,600 for employing veterans and under the wounded warriors tax credit they get approximately double the credits for longer-term unemployed veterans with service-connected disabilities. Obviously, there are a far greater number of veterans in the US, but it is of interest and for the good of society that there is a smooth transition from the ADF into civilian life, because we have, tragically, seen the instances where that hasn't been successful. I'm thinking of the veterans and the witnesses who came to speak to the Senate committee's inquiry into veteran suicide.

Australia does provide veterans with free mental health services. Veterans have access to full cover for five of the most common mental health conditions: post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and substance abuse. They don't have to prove that these conditions were caused by their service; as soon as they contact the department, these mental health needs are met without questions being asked. That is an expensive commitment but, I think, a necessary one, and I hope the measure outlined in this bill will improve our capacity to meet the needs of veterans who are at risk of suicide.

In estimates a couple of weeks ago, the Department of Veterans' Affairs gave an update on the technology updates and improvements that the department is undergoing. Hopefully, there will be a greater synergy between the systems contained within the Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs, because it is likely to be very helpful for veterans when there's a full integration of those systems.

In the Senate's inquiry into suicide and suicide prevention by veterans and ex-service personnel, we heard from veterans, family members and support organisations about their experiences with suicide among former members of the Australian Defence Force. We learnt that suicide among former ADF members causes more deaths than overseas operational service does. One of the most touching, poignant things I have seen about this is on the wall of honour in the Middle East area of operations. It now contains not only those who have died in active service but also those who have committed suicide upon their return from active service. I think that's an important acknowledgement to make.

We learnt in that inquiry that the overall suicide rate among defence veterans is not greatly different from the rate in the general population once we control for age and gender, but that is a big qualification because the veteran population is predominantly male and men are far more likely to commit suicide than women. We learnt in that inquiry that we do not have the exact figures for the number of suicides and attempted suicides among former ADF members, but a recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study found that between 2001 and 2015 there were 325 certified suicides amongst ADF veterans, although the real figure may well be higher. That is the importance of the technology updates that the department is undergoing. It will be able to track people and former service personnel more adequately. It certainly doesn't do that now, but the hope is that, down the track, it will be able to do that.

We learnt that the group most at risk of suicide was young veterans involuntarily discharged due to physical or mental injury. This group exhibited suicide rates double that of the comparable national population. This suggests that our attention needs to be focused on the transition from service to civilian life, particularly among young men who have been involuntarily discharged for whatever reason. These men may suffer from a variety of psychological factors that may well dispose them to suicide.

The key finding of our report was that we currently have an inadequate infrastructure of support for those who are at risk. An accurate assessment of the impact of military service on the mental health of our veterans and the provision of appropriate services for them are a pressing issue, something that we need to address and now.

Some of the organisations that do work—outside of the department, for example—offer, for example, arts therapies. Recently I went to an exhibition which was held by ANVAM, which is a veterans arts society. That is actually going to be in Old Parliament House, I think, later on this year. I would suggest to people that they go to see it. Every piece of art is different, but every one has a point of view, and it does give an insight into how veterans are feeling and thinking and how they're making that transition. It's quite a powerful exhibition.

The report shows that we can do a much better job of fulfilling our responsibilities to our veterans, and this bill goes some way to doing that. Every suicide among former ADF members, whatever its cause, is a reminder of our obligation to protect those who have protected us. This bill before us represents some progress towards that goal, and that's why this side of the chamber is supporting it.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I commend the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Veteran-centric Reforms No. 2) Bill 2018 to the house, could I just draw to the attention of the chamber a couple of things that were mentioned by those opposite in making their contributions. Can I put on the record some clarification in relation to a couple of things that were raised.

Firstly, there was a comment made by the shadow minister for veterans' affairs that the unemployment rate for veterans is approximately 30 per cent. It's important that we note in this chamber that the latest research on veterans and unemployment would indicate that, in the first 10 months from defence into civilian life, the unemployment rate is about eight per cent, which is obviously higher than the national average, but it's nowhere near the 30 per cent which has often been quoted. We can do better in partnership with the community, with the business sector and with industry, along with government agencies at all levels, to make sure more veterans make the transition into employment.

Another comment made by the shadow minister for veterans' affairs and, I believe, the member for Bass was about how DVA uses the particular information provided by veterans during the claim process, particularly the online claim process, MyService. I can confirm that the responses to questions about lifestyle and needs assessment are not used by DVA to determine compensation but are instead used to identify forms of support and assistance that the veteran may be entitled to. DVA has now updated the online page on MyService to make it clear that the information is optional and the answers are not used to calculate compensation rates.

Can I also draw to your attention—through you, Mr Acting Deputy President—that Senator Kitching made a comment in her contribution a minute ago that non-liability health care was for just five conditions. If you refer to the 2017-18 budget measures, you'll see that the non-liability health care is for all mental health conditions. With that, can I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.