Radio interview - ABC Hobart, Mornings with Leon Compton

E&OE
ABC Hobart 
Mornings with Leon Compton
Monday, 22 June 2026

SUBJECTS: Veterans’ entitlement system reform, The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, veterans’ access to allied health services

LEON COMPTON, HOST: Matt Keogh joins me this morning. Minister, good morning to you.

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

COMPTON: Thank you for talking with us this morning. So, there is a new portal. From our understanding, it will reduce three potential portals down to one. Can you explain specifically to my listener how it will work?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, we've got two things that are coming on the first of July. The first thing is the simplification of the legislation that underpins our veterans’ entitlement system. So, we've had three different schemes, different legislation, cover different time periods, cover different types of service by someone in Defence. Some veterans could be covered by one scheme or two schemes, or even all three schemes. Incredibly complex. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide really called this out and called on government to simplify this, and that's exactly what we've done. So, from the first of July, there'll now only be one scheme going forward. It's a modern 21st century scheme. Importantly, we've designed this so anyone who's already receiving benefits or support through DVA keeps getting what they're getting. No one goes backwards. That's really important, but it means going forward for any veteran, it's much easier for them to understand what they're entitled to. And it's going to be quicker and easier for the department to process, because you're not going to have these three complicated schemes interacting with each other and that helps veterans get their claims.

COMPTON: It could be quicker to process. That has been a major problem for the Federal Government in the past, processing veterans’ requests in a timely manner. What guarantees can you offer that this will be quicker and simpler, less stressful, once it's up and running?

KEOGH: Well, because we've got only one scheme, you don't have these interactions between three different schemes. And as I said, veterans sometimes can fall under two of the three, or all three schemes. Those claims become much more complex to process and they take longer. And sometimes you start processing a veteran under one scheme and realise that a particular condition falls under another scheme, so this removes that complication. So it is more straightforward for the department to be able to process claims sitting under one scheme. And we see that in the way that we operate now when we're processing claims under that scheme at the moment. So, that's a significant change for people.

COMPTON: If you're just tuning in this morning, Matt Keogh is my guest, Minister for Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel. We contacted our local RSL Minister and said, what do you want to know or what's got your attention? They're concerned about the $5,000 annual cap that will be applied to allied health services. So, things like physio, occupational therapy, et cetera. They are concerned that you've capped access to those services. What's your response to that?

KEOGH: So, that's not a change that happens until 1 July next year. But - and importantly, though - in addition to the legislative change of the 1 July this year, we also have the new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency that starts from 1 July this year. But in terms of the changes to allied health that start from the 1st of July next year, what we're doing is we're increasing the amount that DVA pays in fees to allied health providers. Biggest increase in 20 years. This addresses a concern raised by the Royal Commission, where we were seeing it was becoming more difficult for veterans to access allied health because providers didn't want to see veterans. So, we're increasing the fees. That's important. The other thing we're doing is we're removing something called the treatment cycle and replacing it with that $5,000 allocation. So, the treatment cycle meant that in order to access allied health professionals, veterans had to go to a GP to get a referral, but then they had to keep going back every 12 sessions. Very annoying to the veteran and taking up valuable GP resources as well. So, now they'll get an allocation of $5,000 to access allied health services each year. It's important to realise that the median use by a veteran of allied health is about $1,900, so well below that $5,000 allocation. But for any veteran who's got complex needs or has a clinical need to access more than $5,000 worth of services in a year, we'll have a process for that to be approved so that they can go above. What we have been seeing in this system is some health professionals and practices trying to take advantage of this system for veterans and providing services, billing DVA, where the veteran doesn't need that service. Or we're seeing the veterans getting some benefit from a service, but you shouldn't need to see that particular type of allied health professional that regularly or that often to have a recovery or see the full benefit. So, if someone's continually going back, that tells us there's something else that the veteran may need, and this provides us a trigger opportunity to make sure that the veteran’s overall wellbeing is properly being looked after.

COMPTON: Minister, always good to chat over to our listeners. We'll find out what they have to say about this and how they're feeling about a system that's promised to simplify, make less stressful, the process of having your claims and needs met as a Defence veteran in this country. Matt Keogh, thanks for the chat.

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