Opening remarks - Tweed Veterans' and Families' Hub grand opening

OPENING REMARKS
TWEED VETERANS’ AND FAMILIES’ HUB GRAND OPENING 
22 SEPTEMBER 2026

SUBJECTS: Tweed Veterans’ and Families Hub, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Report, Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide

MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL MATT KEOGH: Thanks, James, and I also acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we're gathered here today, and pay my respects to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and of course, acknowledge all of our serving personnel, our veterans, and the families that support them.

It's been a bit of a journey to get to this point, but it is so significant that we are now here. Justine and I have been on this journey. Justine is the Local Member, you know, as a fierce local advocate, making sure that we weren't just going to have a Hub, there was going to be Federal funding for a Hub, and we were going to find the right location for it. And getting those locations right is critical, and if it takes a bit of time, it's worth it. And I think we can see that here today. But also making sure it's not just about the right location, but it's about the right services and meeting the community where it is.

There's some 25,000 serving personnel and veterans in this region. We started off by making sure we were listening to them. We did a forum at the Twin Cities - had lots of RSL members and other veterans come along, making sure we heard what were the sorts of services that they thought were right for this community to make sure that their needs were being met, and being able to continue that journey and working closely with RSL Life Care to make sure that we get the great facility that we have here today, and it is important to see it in the broader picture.

I'll get a little bit serious for a moment. This morning we had released from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare their latest annual statistics on Defence and veteran suicide, and what that showed pleasingly is that we are seeing a downward trend in the rates of veteran suicide, but we still see that they're too high. We know that it was those statistics that led to the calls for and then the holding of a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Very importantly, and what the Royal Commission found, and what we can see in the statistics released today, is that that point of transition is incredibly important. But also that we need to make sure that we're not just providing good access to healthcare and mental health support through organisations like DVA and Open Arms and many others, but that we are looking at that more holistic wellbeing approach. That we understand that it can be lots of different things that can impact on suicidality in our Defence Force and in our veteran community, and making sure that we put veterans in the best position to thrive by looking at all those different areas of wellbeing is incredibly important, and the Veteran and Family Hub network across Australia and across New South Wales, operated by RSL Life Care, is an incredibly important part of how we do that. Not just in being able to provide access to advocates for claims with DVA, but those broader wellbeing advocate support services, connection to employment, connection to housing, able to access those broader services that are available in the community, but also can be delivered right here at the Hub as well.

And those points of connection are so incredibly important. And so sometimes those things that might look to some as sometimes benign, a yoga class, a cooking class, are incredibly important for building connection between some veterans that may find themselves isolated or alone. Not just about building a skill, but also providing a point of connection and someone to reach out to. It's also why the end families part in these Hubs is so incredibly important. Firstly, recognising that families themselves need support, but also that families are very often the first responder to a veteran in crisis. They're the one that may end up dragging the veteran into a Hub, or going to the Hub themselves and asking about what are the services available to help my veteran who's clearly in need. And so that in itself is a clearly important part. It's why we highlight that by making it front and center in the name, so our veteran community and our family community know that they are welcome here, and you can see it in the nook at the back there to support the kids. So when someone walks in, they know that it's a friendly environment for children too.

That is incredibly important, and we're now augmenting that through implementing one of the recommendations of the Royal Commission, which is setting up a separate Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency, which augments the work of the Hubs on the ground by providing that virtual connection point of a database, a web hub, a phone point of connection nationally, where people can be connected to services, connected to supports, given that extra case management if they need separately to the work that DVA does, recognising the importance of those broader wellbeing connections and assistance that needs to be provided to support our veteran community. And as we continue to do this work in partnership across Government. With ex-service organisations, with veteran service organisations, we look forward to seeing those rates continue to fall. But of course, any one is too many, and we're committed to always making sure that we're supporting all of our veterans and their family members, and of course those that are still serving as well.

So, on this important milestone, and with all of the importance of the work that we are doing collectively together, it's great to be here for the official launch of the Veteran and Family Hub here in Northern New South Wales, supporting even those people across the border. And I think you know that's an important challenge to recognise and support. When I came into this role, there wasn't a lot of cooperation. A lot of people spoke to me about the need for greater cooperation in the veteran support sector, and what we are seeing is a great example of that, where borders that were pretty hard during COVID are not there when it comes to making sure that people get the support that they need, and that people work collaboratively and cooperatively together to make sure that our veteran community gets the support they need in the way that they need it, regardless of who's providing that support. Understanding some organisations do this better, some do that better, and that together, holistically, we can make sure the right supports are provided. So a very happy day, congratulations, and I thank RSL Life Care once again for the great work they've done, working with the whole community here to get to this very important milestone.

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