Press Conference - Parliament House, Canberra

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA
WEDNESDAY, 28 February 2024

SUBJECTS: Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide; Veterans’ Legislation Reform; Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL, MATT KEOGH:  Okay, good morning everyone. So today is an important day in improving the lives of veterans and families. We know that the rate of suicide amongst our veteran community is a national tragedy, and that’s why, in opposition, we called for the establishment of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. So I'm very pleased today to be releasing an exposure draft of legislation that is a step forward in our implementation of Recommendation 1 of the Royal Commission's interim report.

This draft legislation is going to reform highly complex, overlapping veterans’ legislation currently set up under three separate pieces of legislation, which causes such anxiety to the veteran community, replacing it with one piece of legislation going forward to cover all new claims. This comes about after I released our pathway for reform, about a year ago. After that time, we've undertaken extensive consultation across the veteran and family community, as well as with experts and advocates working in this field.

And what that means is that we are now going to be in a position to replace this entire suite of legislation, with legislation that's only this thick here. This will mean that it's going to be much simpler for veterans and their families going forward. It means from 1 July 2026, all new claims will be dealt with under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. It also means that veterans that are already receiving benefits under the two older pieces of legislation built up over the last century, the VEA and the DRCA, will be grandparented. They will continue to receive the benefits that they're already receiving under that legislation. Under the exposure draft we're releasing today, no veteran will see a decline in the benefits that they are already receiving. It also means that we're going to be making some improvements to the MRCA going forward. We'll be introducing a new additional disablement amount. This is the modern equivalent of the extreme disablement adjustment that is currently available under the VEA. We will also be improving travel reimbursements, we will be increasing the rate of funeral payments, we will be consolidating household and attendant care, and we'll be providing the opportunity for presumptive conditions under the MRCA, which will mean more straightforward processing for certain cohorts of veterans, where we accept already that their conditions are related to their time of service. These changes that we're putting forward in the exposure draft being released today will mean that it's easier for veterans and their families to understand what veterans are entitled to, it'll mean that it's easier for advocates to support veterans in lodging a claim with DVA. And it'll make it quicker for DVA to assess and process claims from veterans, meaning that veterans can get access to the support and payments that they need and frankly deserve. I do want to thank everybody that's been involved in the consultation process to date. It has been extensive and the feedback has been incredibly useful.

And I want to encourage everybody now to engage with the exposure draft, the materials that we’re releasing today, including this booklet, which explains in simple terms what the exposure draft will be doing to amend the legislation, to simplify and harmonise veterans legislation here in Australia.  Engage with that material and please provide feedback by 28 April. We'll be holding extensive engagement in person, webinars and of course, accepting formal submissions up until that point, and I encourage everybody to engage in this process of consultation. It's important that we get this right for our veterans. Have we got any questions?

JOURNALIST: So the interim report recommended that the legislation be completed, the drafting, no later than by the end of December last year. And by no later than early 2024, the Government should present it Parliament and seek the passage of the legislation. Is the Government not missing the deadline, and why has it missed that deadline?

MINISTER KEOGH: So we were very happy to agree to Recommendation 1 of the Royal Commission. And when we did that, we were very clear as well that it was important that we undertook the necessary consultation. Importantly, the Royal Commission asked Government to consider the recommendations that had been made in a Productivity Commission report from 2019. And that report recommended taking three pieces of legislation, and combining that into just two pieces of legislation. And that would have led to a different type of complexity. What we have done is gone even further, moving to just one piece of ongoing legislation in our proposal. It was important though, that we consulted extensively with the veteran community about that. And that's exactly what we have done to get to this point, now in February 2024, being able to release this exposure draft for consultation through to the end of April, to then move into introducing legislation into the Parliament.

JOURNALIST: The Royal Commission was very clear that these were urgent recommendations that needed to be met. Have you been in discussion with them about the fact that the deadline will be missed, and potentially any impact that will have?

MINISTER KEOGH: So we have communicated with the Royal Commission about our timing, and they've been aware of that, and that we'd be releasing this exposure draft today. And the important thing is we have moved quickly on moving through a consultation process on the pathway for reform that we outlined in February last year consulting with the veteran community and experts to get to this point of producing what is an extensive exposure draft here that people do need to review to understand so we can move to a simplified form of legislation going forward.

JOURNALIST: It won’t actually come into effect until July 2026. So what does this mean for veterans between now and then? That’s a really long time, some of them have already been going through this convoluted process for years and it's incredibly frustrating. Others that are about start putting in a claim, are they going to have to go through this entire frustrating, tedious process for the next two and a half years?

MINISTER KEOGH: So one of the things that's really important as we go through a process of outlining the pathway for reform, consulting on this exposure draft, moving into legislation through the Parliament, is that once that legislation comes into effect, once it gets through the Parliament, is that the veteran community have sufficient time to understand it, the advocates that will be supporting veterans can be properly trained in implementing it, and that the systems that need to be updated within the Department are appropriately updated, and that's why the commencement date has been set where it is. But importantly, also, in fulfillment of an election commitment, we engaged an additional 500 staff into claims processing in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. And that was because we recognise that the backlog of claims that we inherited, they were claims that had not even been looked at by anybody in the Department, be dealt with. And that was some 42,000 claims that had not been looked at, at all. We've now got to a position where essentially that backlog is resolved. Now if you lodge a claim with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs today, it will be with somebody to be assessed within 14 days. So we're back to a business as usual situation there. And that's a significant improvement for the veteran community. Those claims are now being processed and assessed, and of course, some of those claims those veterans have been waiting a significant time because of the backlog that we inherited. And we're moving through that process as well as improving the legislation that underpins the system. So we don't have a situation where a backlog like this develops again.

JOURNALIST: And you just said there's two weeks until the claim’s allocated. Does the actual process from there, has that sped up at all, until it's actually resolved or payments are coming through?

MINISTER KEOGH: It's certainly speeding up and we've got a little way to go on getting that moving even faster. As we get through these claims that are now being processed, that time to process will continue to reduce as well. Of course if claims have been submitted that are incomplete or require further medical evidence that can add to the time for a claim. So some can move through quite quickly versus others. But it's great now that when someone lodges a claim, within 14 days, it's with somebody being assessed.

JOURNALIST: You’ve chosen to expand the Gold Card to a broader range of people against the Productivity Commission’s recommendation. Why has the Government chosen to do that?

MINISTER KEOGH: Look, the Productivity Commission made its recommendations as a cost save. What we've recognised is that there have been under these three different regimes, a cohort of veterans that do suffer significant disability and health issues that have missed out under the way in which that framework has operated to date. And so in implementing these reforms, for veterans that would have fallen under that system, that bring a new claim after the new legislation commences, they'll be able to access a Gold Card.

JOURNALIST: And just quickly, you said before you had been in contact with the Royal Commission about the altered timeline for the legislation, what was their response to the fact that it would be delayed?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well I’ll let the Royal Commission speak for itself. It's going to be handing down a report in September this year. And that's something that we in the Government very much look forward to. We've called for the Royal Commission because we want their recommendations. They're pleased to see that we're progressing with implementing this recommendation as we've been progressing with implementing all the recommendations that came out of the interim report.

JOURNALIST: Today the Ukrainian Ambassador will be addressing the National Press Club, you've met with troops who are training Ukrainian soldiers in Europe. Take us through what kind of impact that has had, and would you be personally supportive of further measures from Australia to support Ukraine those efforts?

MINISTER KEOGH: I’m really proud that the Australian Government is one of the most significant non-NATO contributors to the effort in Ukraine across a range of domains, financially contributing equipment, but especially in the area of training. And I've had the great honour of meeting not just with the Australian troops that are participating in that training, but also with Ukrainian troops being trained and observing the training that they've been undertaking. It's a significant effort that we're engaged in, and it's certainly a personally moving opportunity to meet with those Ukrainian soldiers who spoke to me about how much they value Australia's contribution in training them, they really see that that is a significant contribution from Australia, and it means a lot to them personally, that we've invested in that way. When I met with the Ukrainians it was on Remembrance Day itself, and we held a small Remembrance Day ceremony with the Australians and Ukrainian troops, which was a particularly poignant way of engaging with them as well as being able to have discussions with them at the time.

JOURNALIST: Is the Federal Government considering more measures, particularly around equipment and resources, like sending more tanks?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, certainly, as I said, the Australian Government's already one of the largest non-NATO contributors in support of Ukraine and its efforts against Russia having invaded them. We are always open to listening to their requests for further support, and we will consider them as appropriate at the time.

Okay, thank you very much everyone.

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