Radio Interview - FIVEAA Adelaide, Mornings with Matthew Pantelis

E&OE 
5AA ADELAIDE
MORNINGS WITH MATTHEW PANTELIS

WEDNESDAY, 1 JULY 2026 

SUBJECTS: New, simplified veteran claims system; Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency; house prices

MATTHEW PANTELIS, HOST: Let's talk about veterans and changes that kick in from today you need to be aware of, the first of July. There's a lot of changes across the board in various different areas, but veterans will need to know about this information. The Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Matt Keogh, is on the line. Minister, good morning,

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

PANTELIS: Tell me about what's changing.

KEOGH: So, two big changes coming in from today. The first is changing the legislation that supports our veterans when it comes to their claims for health, rehabilitation or compensation with DVA. There's been three different schemes. Some veterans fell under all three different schemes for different periods of service or different types of service. And so that made it very complex, stressful. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide said that complexity was contributing to suicidality in the veteran community. We've now simplified that. We've harmonised those three schemes into one ongoing scheme. From today, all, all new claims will be dealt with under one scheme only, making it simpler for veterans and families to know what they're entitled to, quicker for DVA to process those claims, importantly as well. But for existing veterans who may be listening, and there's some 48,000 veterans across South Australia, if they're already getting benefits out of DVA, nothing changes for them. They don't have to do anything. They keep getting what they were already getting and in some cases, some payments, some allowances actually go up as part of the harmonisation that we've introduced. And the other big change is we've now started a new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency, better connecting our veterans and families to services and supports across the community.

PANTELIS: Ok, what does that mean? Just flesh that out.

KEOGH: Yeah so one of the things that the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide recognised, and it's why it recommended we set up this agency, was DVA is primarily there to provide health care, to provide rehab, compensation. But there's a whole range of other wellbeing areas that veterans and their families need support in sometimes. And, you know, that includes areas like education, employment, housing, different areas where some vulnerable veterans need that extra assistance and support. But the Royal Commission also said, look, there's thousands of these services out here that support veterans specifically or in the general community that are great services, but veterans don't know where to go, they don't know how to connect to them. And so what the agency is about is making sure that wherever they are, a veteran or family member can find services close to them that will provide that support that they need. There's an online portal that allows them to search those services. There's also a telephone hotline to help people. And it sort of builds on, if you like, the Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs that we've already got on the ground that do a similar service physically in those communities with high concentrations of veterans. So, in South Australia you've got the Northern Adelaide Hub, that's up in Elizabeth Vale and that's supporting about 11,000 veterans just in that area. And there's the original Veterans Hub down at the Veteran Wellbeing Centre down in Daw Park. And you know, they’re walk in services, they've got services on the ground, they connect people. This provides that point of connection across the whole country.

PANTELIS: Yeah, okay, so that is certainly good. If people need information, Minister, where do they go? Is it to Veterans' Affairs?

KEOGH: So if they're looking for information about the new claims system going forward, go to the DVA website, all the information is there. But importantly for wellbeing services and support, connection, being able to search the database, go to veteranwellbeing.gov au.

PANTELIS: And this obviously, all of this just streamlines the system. You would argue, I'm sure, makes it better for people needing responses, needing assistance, all the rest.

KEOGH: It's all about improving that service and support for our veterans, making sure they can get what they need more easily and quicker.

PANTELIS: All right, while I have you, the government's taking a lot of flak at the moment regarding the drop in house prices around the country. What's more important, getting people into their first home, or assisting those who have invested in a property keep the value up?

KEOGH: Well, certainly what's really important is getting a roof over people's head. And that is the primary objective, I think, of what government is trying to do, both with the assistance we've provided with the 5 percent deposit scheme, the building of more houses, which we are investing billions of dollars into. By looking at the veterans space, we’ve put $30 million just into veteran acute housing, for example. And the tax changes we're making about levelling that playing field, what we're seeing in the market, you know, markets move from time to time. There's been movements that were happening before the changes that we've introduced. But what it means is that over time that playing field is being levelled by the tax changes to make it easier for people to get into their first home, but still giving people the opportunity to make those investments in new build homes, which means we have more homes being built and that's really important.

PANTELIS: All right, Minister, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

KEOGH: Great to be with you, cheers.

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