Address to RSL NSW 2023 Congress

** CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY**

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Awabakal and Worimi peoples and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

I also pay my respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have served our nation in the past and continue to do so today.

I acknowledge all current and former defence force personnel who join us today, and the families that have supported them.

And of course, I acknowledge:

• RSL Australia CEO, Phil Winter;

• Outgoing NSW President, Ray James;

• Incoming NSW President, Mick Bainbridge;

• Outgoing NSW RSL CEO, Jon Black; and 

• Incoming NSW CEO Giles Hurst

It is my honour to join you all here today.

We are now nearly halfway through our first term as a Government and reaching the conclusion of our first full calendar year in office, so I wanted to take this opportunity to give you an update on the work our Government has undertaken in the Veterans’ Affairs space, and then perhaps provide time for you to ask questions at the end. 

I’m sure you and I would all prefer more of a chat than just a monologue from me the entire time. 

So, firstly, I'm proud that after almost a decade of chronic under-resourcing and underfunding of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the Albanese Labor Government has now turned that around.

We have invested in DVA, placing it in the best financial position – as the highest funded it has been in in three decades. 

You can all have no doubt that supporting defence personnel, veterans and families is a key priority for our government.

We are spending $322.3 million, as set out in the last two Labor Budgets, to employ and retain additional staff at the Department of Veterans' Affairs to get through the backlog and make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

One of the key game changers is the expansion of the use of Claims Support Officers across the country. 

They focus on initial information gathering to make sure that when someone submits their claim, all the information is there before it goes to a delegate for assessment, cutting down on that time consuming back and forth once assigned to a delegate and also making sure delegate time is focused on claims that are assessment ready. 

That, coupled with the extra 500 claims processing staff we’ve now employed is having a significant impact on the backlog. 

It takes up to 6 months to train up a delegate that processes claims, so now we’re really seeing their expertise, and sheer numbers make an impact. 
 
We've also budgeted $341.1 million to fund the modernisation and sustainment of the IT systems within DVA to support the processing of those claims. 

The dividends of these investments and system improvements are showing.

In September of last year, the claims backlog that we inherited was still on an upward trajectory and had hit 45,000 DVA claims. 

At the end of September this year, I can report it’s down to 21,915 — that's a 52 per cent drop from its peak, and it is continuing to fall, with initial liability claims to all be with a delegate by the end of this year, and compensation claims to all be with a delegate in early 2024. 

Similarly, now, and unlike when we came into government, over 90 per cent—in fact, nearly 100 per cent—of invoices for in-home support for veterans and families are being processed by DVA within 20 days. 

That had blown out to over three months for most invoices when we came into government. We now have that under control. 

We've budgeted $46.7 million to fund the delivery of 10 veterans and families hubs in the areas where we have the highest concentration of veterans around the country. 

Last year I opened RSL NSW Life Care Veterans Services Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs in Nowra and the Hub in Wodonga, and this year I have opened the Mates4Mates operated Hub in Darwin and the Caboolture Brisbane North Hub operated by Lives Lived Well. 

It’s great to see the program really being embraced by the veteran community and organisations around the country taking on the challenge of getting those up and running as quickly as possible. 

I know that RSL NSW, alongside RSL LifeCare, have been working away at business cases for the Hubs for Tweed Heads, Queanbeyan, Maitland and the Hawkesbury-Greater Western Sydney region, which are being assessed now.

We're also rolling out our $24 million Veterans' Employment Program.

The Program is delivering on a commitment at the 2022 election to shift the approach we're taking to supporting veterans into the civilian workforce.  

We're working to better recognise the pre-existing capability veterans have and make it easier for them to be more universally competitive in the labour market.

The Veteran Employment Program is a game changer, not only empowering Australian veterans, but also supporting civilian employers to better understand the unique value veterans can bring to their businesses.

The Veteran Employment Program includes the establishment of a Business Advisory Service to support employers target, build and sustain veteran employment and retention.

It also features a Recognition of Prior Learning Program that will provide funding in order to establish or enhance recognition of prior learning frameworks for veterans, pursuing further study within tertiary institutions, or for vocational qualifications.

Applicants to run these programs are currently being assessed and we should have further detail to share soon. 

We’re also due to roll out a campaign next year that will promote the diverse and valuable experience and skills of veterans, to encourage veterans to recognise the value of their skills and encourage employers to recruit veterans.

We also increased the annual TPI payment by $1,000 from January this year, to support some 27,000 of our most injured veterans. 

Late last year the Albanese Government introduced the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package and expanded twice, firstly to ensure coverage under all three veteran scheme and remove artificial silos within earlier programs, and then in this year’s Budget we expanded the program to also support grandcarer veteran families. 

We've also improved access to mental health supports – including the introduction, following a pilot, of the very popular PTSD Assistance Dog Program, so we can make more dogs available to support veterans, faster. 

On the 1st November, I’m very happy to share, the tripling of the Veterans Access Payment will come into effect. We expect that this will make a significant impact on retaining and increasing the number of GPs servicing our more than 276,000 veterans using Gold and White cards. 

And we've now taken action on all 13 recommendations of the interim report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, including; 

• tackling the backlog as mentioned before;

• removing the artificial staffing cap imposed by the previous government;

• ensuring proper funding for DVA discussed before;

• improving claims processes;

• protecting witnesses giving evidence to the royal commission;

• clarifying parliamentary privilege and public interest immunity issues; and 

• improving access by relatives about their loved ones from Defence and DVA;

• as well as significant work on the first recommendation to simplify and harmonise veteran rehabilitation and compensation legislation.

This is not a small project – for those of you who might not be across it, we’re working to harmonise a century’s worth of convoluted and confusing legislation, to move from three active schemes – each under their own separate legislation – to a single ongoing scheme under once piece of legislation. 

Thank you to all of you who participated in consultations last year and earlier this year. Hearing your lived experience really does make a massive difference in projects like this. 

We’re seeking to get an exposure draft of legislation out for another round of consultation late this year or early next year, and I will be calling on you once again to weigh in, to make sure we get this right. 

We also released our Veterans Transition Strategy earlier this year and are currently in the processes of developing our Defence & Veterans Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy to replace the previous separate strategies for Defence and DVA, which were not joined up and aligned, and our new Defence & Veteran Family Support Strategy as promised at the election.

So, there is just a bit going on.

Finally, I was especially keen to make sure I made it to your Congress this year, to say thank you to Ray and Jon.

Under Their watchful eyes, RSL NSW has righted the ship and also seen membership growth for the first time in four decades. 

This was both impressive and very necessary.

I would also like to endorse and thank Ray for his important words for the 50th Anniversary of the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War, apologising for the mistreatment by some RSL sub-branches of many veterans who returned home from the conflict, and reaffirming the RSL’s stand for all veterans now and into the future.

Ray’s words were brave but also very necessary. I know that for many Vietnam veterans, this acknowledgement from the RSL now, similarly to my Government’s own acknowledgements by the Prime Minister and me, have been well received and help bring some positive closure.

Ray’s words also shone a light for much needed positive future engagement with our veterans of today and tomorrow.

It is now incumbent on the many Vietnam veterans in this room to be bringing forward the leadership of contemporary veterans – as we are seeing - looking out for them, and providing them with the benefit of your wisdom and experience in ESO leadership, advocacy, welfare support and in ensuring that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

Ray and Jon, today we honour your service and the service of you all in this room. 

I wish Mick and his new team all the best in their important work in the service of our veteran and families, and look forward to working closely with him.

Thanks again for having me with you today and I’m now happy to answer any questions.   

Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 or the Open Arms website. Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072. Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 or the Defence Health Portal. Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608