Doorstep interview, Parliament House

E&OE transcript
Doorstep interview
Parliament House

MATT KEOGH: Hello everyone, thank you for being here, we’ve got Canberra Raiders, Bowls ACT, Rowing Australia, we've got Park Run with us as well, and Members of Parliament have been challenged in the sorts of sports and activities that are available through Invictus Australia and it's partnerships. We all know about Invictus Australia as participation and encouragement for the Invictus Games. And we've got the next set of games coming up in Germany in September next year. But what we're also seeing, which is wonderful, is this opportunity of Invictus engaging with other sporting organisations throughout the community. And that's really important because it's engaging with our veterans community, not just at the elite level, but all veterans and encouraging them into sport. And that's great, because what we see as veterans transition out of Defence is the need to reengage with community, to find a new community and sport is such a powerful way to do that. Community sport and engagement. And so this example that we've had out here today, you can see behind me a bit of wheelchair basketball, we've had bowls, we've had people out on the ergos during rowing, getting our Defence service personnel as they leave defence engaging with community and sports is so terribly important.

And I'm really proud to be announcing here today that the Australian Government is committing $9 million towards enabling Invictus Australia to be able to move forward with their participation in the Invictus Games and their work in community sport as well. Bringing people together, providing that opportunity for our veterans to engage with the broader community through sport, to engage with one another, to stay fit and to maintain good mental health as well. They're all win win outcomes for our veterans, wins for our sports community, and a great way of supporting our representation in the Invictus Games in Germany in 2023. And I'd like to hand over to Michael to say a few words about that.

MICHAEL HARTUNG (CEO INVICTUS AUSTRALIA): Good morning, everybody, and thank you very much for being here. Terrific and great to have the support of the Federal Government on behalf of our board and the staff and the team and the teams to come. You know, those teams we are supporting to go to the Invictus Games and the people that we'll support through community sport we say thank you for that support. It's going to enable us to deliver these important services that, through sport and the power of sport we can really make a difference in people's lives. Whether you're facing rehabilitation challenges in mental or physical health, or whether you're healthy and trying to be proactive about protecting that health for the future, that's where Invictus can play a role.

Invictus is a world first. Invictus Australia is a world first. It came out of the Invictus Games in 2018 and in Australia we've been awarded the right to use Invictus in an ongoing way, not just to support the Australian team attending the Invictus Games, but also to support veterans and their families engage in community sport. We're tremendously proud of the approach. It's something that the rest of the world is looking to replicate and so we're looking forward to using these funds provided by the Federal Government to support more veterans and families. I'd just like to say a quick thank you to all of the veterans and the family members, the sports that joined us here this morning, and especially the Members of Parliament for their time to come and take part in these sporting activities. So thank you very much.

END

Authorised by The Hon Matt Keogh MP

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