Radio interview – ABC AM with Sabra Lane

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Radio Interview
ABC AM WITH SABRA LANE
THURSDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Federal Government’s action since the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide’s Final Report, establishment of the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commission, Inquiry into sexual misconduct within the Defence Force.

SABRA LANE, HOST: The Federal Government is updating the public today on what actions it's taken since the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was handed down a year ago. That inquiry made 122 recommendations. Matt Keogh is the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel.

Matt Keogh, thanks for joining AM.

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

SABRA LANE: Before we discuss what you're announcing today, we heard on AM this week from defence personnel and families.

They feel that nothing has changed in Defence, with perpetrators of violence still protected and victims not protected.

MINISTER KEOGH: Certainly, you know, the stories we heard earlier this week, as we heard throughout the Royal Commission, have been harrowing and have pointed to cultural problems and procedural problems within Defence that no one finds acceptable, and we certainly don't in the Government. And that's why since even before we had the final report of the Royal Commission just under a year ago, but certainly since, we've been undertaking a lot of work in terms of improving culture, improving training, and also changing policies to make sure that where the wrong things occur within Defence, that people are held properly accountable in a more transparent way as well.

SABRA LANE: Julie-Ann Finney, who was crucial in pushing for that Royal Commission, says that people are still coming to her on a daily basis with major problems and that she's advising people who are thinking about a career in Defence not to enlist. That's pretty damning, really.

MINISTER KEOGH: Certainly, you know, Defence is a large organisation, and part of the cultural change that we are undertaking through the recommendations that we've already been able to implement, as well as the work that we are undertaking on the rest of those recommendations now, is about making sure that we don't have those incidences still occurring. We want to see that stamped out.

But the Royal Commission Chair himself was very clear when asked about this, that the vast majority of people that are in the Defence Force have a great time in the Defence Force. They go on to lead very successful careers after their time in Defence. And I don't think the issues that were, and he didn't think that the issues that were, you know, had a light shine upon them through the Royal Commission were a reason for people to not join the Defence Force.

But it's a very clear task set for the government to improve these issues so that we can reduce the incidences of suicide with our Defence personnel and our veteran community and improve the culture within Defence, and make sure that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs is best placed to be able to provide the support to our veterans and families that they need.

SABRA LANE: A new veteran and wellbeing agency will be set up and running by the end of this month. It's still without a commissioner; you're recruiting there. What guarantees are there that this will deliver the kind of support veterans need?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, the Royal Commission, when it handed down its final report, said that its most important recommendation was that there be a statutory oversight body that would, you know, keep an eye on Government's implementation of these Royal Commission recommendations, as well as provide advice to Government on how we can continue, over the long term, to make sure that we are reducing those incidences of suicide, that we're improving culture, that we're fixing processes. And we understood the importance of that, and within three months of the Government's response, we'd legislated the establishment of the Defence and Veterans’ Services Commission, and we're advertising right now for the permanent head. We've had an Interim Commissioner in that role, getting it all up and ready to commence from the end of this month. We're now advertising for the permanent Commissioner.

It's independent of Government. It has quite strong powers to be able to conduct investigations and to report on those issues and how are we going on implementing the Royal Commission's recommendations. That's important because, as the Royal Commission said, lots of inquiries have happened in the past and their view is that not enough had been done to actually implement the recommendations from those past inquiries. But also, it will provide advice to Government about how we can continue to make things better into the future.

We've been very clear with military leadership, with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs leadership, across Government: this is an important task for Government that's been set for us by the Royal Commission. We expect change; we expect the recommendations to be implemented.

Defence is also a huge organisation, and part of our task, working with military leadership, is to make sure that this isn't just a discussion that happens amongst, you know, three and two star generals. This is a discussion that has to happen all the way down the ranks. So, the fact that we've been able to roll out training, for example, to some 67,000 Defence personnel when it comes to reducing suicide over just the last six months is exactly the sort of thing that we need to be doing and building upon, reaching from the lowest ranks to the most senior.

SABRA LANE: The Royal Commission recommended an inquiry into sexual misconduct. You're still taking advice on what the terms of reference should be. Why is that taking so long?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, there's a number of steps that have to be put in place to get that up and running and we've made sure that we do that properly, because the Royal Commission wanted to see that done. And one of the things it identified, though, was that Defence systems were not up to scratch when it came to being able to understand what is the prevalence of sexual violence and sexual misconduct within the Defence Force. And so, we've started the work on that research that they recommended happen into the prevalence of sexual misconduct, sexual violence within the Defence Force. That will, that needs to happen to feed into the inquiry. At the same time, we've started work on developing the terms of reference for the inquiry, and we'll start consulting on those terms of references shortly as well, so that the inquiry can start next year.

SABRA LANE: Matt Keogh, thanks for talking to AM.

MINISTER KEOGH: Been great to be with you.

SABRA LANE: It's Veterans' Affairs Minister Matt Keogh, and if you're a current or former ADF member and this story has raised concerns for you or someone you know, you can contact Open Arms on 1800-011-046.

END

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