Radio Interview - 2HD Newcastle, Breakfast with Richard King

E&OE 
2HD NEWCASTLE
BREAKFAST WITH RICHARD KING

WEDNESDAY, 1 JULY 2026 

SUBJECTS: New, simplified veteran claims system; Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency; allied health payments; budget

RICHARD KING, HOST: Some of the other changes that come into effect today are those that will affect veterans in this country. And with more on that, joining me now is our Veterans' Affairs Minister, Matt Keogh, who's on the line. Good morning, Matt.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL: Morning, Richard. Great to be with you.

KING: Yeah, likewise. Thank you very much for your time. Look, can you just outline the major changes that will affect the veterans community in Australia that come into effect as of today?

KEOGH: So, two sets of major changes. One is that we're moving from having three different schemes that supported different sorts of veterans with medical care, rehab, compensation, quite a complex scheme, to a much simpler single scheme going forward from today. And we're also starting the new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency, which is about connecting our veterans and their families to the broad array of different supports that they may need.

KING: This $5,000 annual limit on veterans allied health expenditure, that's raised a fair amount of criticism. I know the Opposition Spokesperson for Defence Industry and Defence Personnel last week, I think, said they intend to table a petition in Parliament calling for the changes to be reversed. A lot of people not happy about it. Exactly how's this going to work, this cap on allied health expenditure?

KEOGH: So, the first thing is that those changes don't start until the one July next year, 2027. That's not about today. The other thing that the Minister's missed, the Shadow Minister's missed, in his petition is that we've been very clear that where a veteran has a legitimate clinical need, they will be able to access more allied health services. And we're going to be working with the veteran community over the second half of this year, as well as practitioners, around how we make sure there's an effective system so that they can get access to additional care if they need it. But also for everyone to be aware, the median use of allied health services by veterans, about $1,900 a year. So, that $5,000 initial allocation is well above that. But by putting that in place, we're removing something that was very annoying to the veteran community, which is where they would have to go back to a GP every 12 allied health sessions for a new referral. And so that was putting a lot of burden on our veteran community as well as on our GPS frankly. So this change actually removes that burden and will make sure that veterans who need additional care still have access to it.

KING: Alright, and you did reference the Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency that comes into effect as of today. What's the purpose of that agency?

KEOGH: So, this comes out of a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans Suicide, which identified that DVA, rightly, is focused on access to health supports, rehab, compensation. But there's a broad array of other supports that veterans and families need access to, especially when we're considering how do we reduce rates of suicide. So, when we're thinking about education, employment, looking at other opportunities to support them around housing, for example. And there are lots of services out there that support veterans, which is wonderful, but they don't know how to find them. We have been setting up hubs around the country, our Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs. So, for example, in the Hunter region we have the Veterans’ and Families’ Hub in Maitland, which services the 22,000 odd serving and former serving people across that region. And people can go in there, they can get access to services on site and be referred to services. But across the country we need another way to do that and so that's what this agency will be doing. There's an online portal with a telephone helpline, and over time it will be also providing more specialist support to those who are sometimes seen as being most at risk, which is those transitioning from the Defence Force. Those that have been in full time service moving to civilian life, especially if they're not doing that voluntarily. You know, if they've had a medical condition that means they have to leave Defence, for example, making sure there's no gaps between the support they get while they're in service in Defence and then what they get out in civilian life.

KING: My guest, Matt Keogh, the Minister for Veteran affairs and Defence Personnel. Look, one of the cuts that other people have mentioned, and I know there's been a lot of criticism of the fact that the public service has been boosted since you came to power, since you won the election, and a lot of it was extra staff to deal with the delay in claims processing. But I believe in the budget there's a cut, a fairly substantial cut to the staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which seems counterintuitive. I mean, you know, you boost the numbers to help claims processing, but I believe there will be a fairly sizeable cut in the DVA staff, is that correct?

KEOGH: There's been a bit of a variance over the course of the year. But to put that in context, when we came into government, the staffing level for DVA was set at just under 1,300. It's now over 3,400. We've made a significant increase in the resourcing of the Department. It's now better resourced than it's been in three decades.

KING: Right, OK. And the other one that has copped a bit of criticism is the budget completely cut Invictus Australia's annual funding, I think it's about $3 million a year. And a number of veterans now don't have access to the charity's national sporting and rehabilitation programs. What was the reason for cutting that funding to Invictus?

KEOGH: So, what we're doing with this new Wellbeing Agency is transitioning a number of support services for veterans into being funded by this agency and that would include services like those offered by Invictus. But what we've also done, just to ensure that we do have continuity of service delivery by organisations like Invictus and some others, we've actually extended that funding now through for the next three years. So their funding is secure so that we can manage those transitions properly and don't get any gaps.

KING: Alright, look, I really appreciate your time this morning. So, the two major points that come into effect today, correct me if I'm wrong, a simplified system for getting claims into the Department and also this new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency, which is really basically there to help people navigate the, well, the complexities of dealing with the DVA. Is that correct? They're the two?

KEOGH: Well, it's not for dealing with DVA, it's to connect people to the whole range of other services that are out there, so that people are not just looking at health, but looking at, you know, education, employment, housing, whatever they may need, so that we make sure that we don't have gaps in the support for our veteran community.

KING: Okay, really appreciate your time this morning, Minister. Thank you very much for that and enjoy your Wednesday.

KEOGH: Great. Thanks a lot, Richard. Good to be with you.

ENDS

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