Veterans ‘left behind’ by looming legal service closure

A lauded national legal service helping veterans fight for their entitlements, compensation and rehabilitation is being quietly axed, prompting warnings they will be left to the mercy of legal ‘sharks’.

Ex ADF soldier Billy Starr, who is highlighting the withdrawal of funding for DAVLS. Picture: Peter Mathew

A lauded national legal service helping veterans fight for their entitlements, compensation and rehabilitation is being quietly axed, prompting warnings they will be left to the mercy of legal “sharks”.

The Defence and Veterans Legal Service faces closure because of a federal funding “cliff”, despite a 41,000 backlog of stalled claims and expectations that findings of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide findings will generate thousands more.

The nationwide service is prized by veterans because its support and guidance is expert, free, confidential and independent of government and military bodies.

However, its funding ends in September.

If the service, also known as DAVLS, is allowed to close, there are fears many veterans will resort to fee-for-service lawyers and advocates, some of whom are described by veterans as “sharks”.

“Applying for compensation can be difficult and veterans often seek legal assistance during that process,” said Katherine McKernan, executive director of National Legal Aid, which set up the service in late 2021.

“Sadly, some law firms charge large amounts for legal support that is freely available from DAVLS … High fees are also being charged by some fee-for-service advocates – non-lawyers who don’t have to cap their fees when helping people to apply for veteran entitlements.

“The compensation claim process is complex and can be stressful, so access to specialist legal help is critical. We are concerned that if the service ends in September, veterans could be left behind without access to free legal help.”

Ms McKernan said the ­expertise of DAVLS’s lawyers and staff would be lost if it disbanded in September.

With the funding cliff approaching, its staff has already halved from about 40 to about 20.

Veteran Billy Starr’s almost 30-year wait for compensation – after being physically injured, bullied, sexually harassed and raped in the army – was resolved only after she obtained assistance from DAVLS.

After discharging in 1994, Ms Starr, who while in the Army also witnessed horrific injuries, bloodshed and deaths involving other soldiers. was never told about entitlements.

Her later experience of seeking compensation was “hell”. “I was so exhausted by the whole process – if DAVLS hadn’t helped me, I would have given up,” said the 54-year-old. “The outcome they achieved is phenomenal.

“There was a really important human element too. They had genuine care and compassion, and they had my best interests at heart. That is what veterans need.”

Without DAVLS, she feared others seeking justice would fall victim to “sharks”.

“There’s a lot of people making money out of this at the moment,” she said. “There’s a vulnerable group of veterans, so people start to target them because they see that they may not have the capacity to manage an application.

“And then that causes the ­veteran more financial distress – or they just give up.”

ADF soldier Billy Starr, who joined the Army in the late 1980s, aged 18, but who suffered sexual assault and harassment while on duty, only receiving compensation after the Defence and Veterans Legal Service took up her case decades later.

National Legal Aid has so far unsuccessfully sought $8m a year in federal funding to save DAVLS; a drop in the ocean of the billions being promised to bolster veterans’ compensation and rehabilitation payments.

DAVLS assisted 1500 veterans to make submissions to the royal commission and has since handled more than 1100 queries related to veterans’ entitlements, including pensions, compensation and rehabilitation.

Ms McKernan said the government’s review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership agreement recommended veterans and defence personnel be regarded as a priority group for legal assistance.

A spokesman for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government was considering this review “and how the next (legal aid) agreement could better provide access to justice for all who need it”.

“The objective of DAVLS is to support individuals to engage with the royal commission and services it provides are strictly to support the work for the royal commission,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh said veterans could receive support in making a claim via free advocacy services listed on an Advocate Register. “These accredited advocates have undertaken the advocacy training and development program,” she said.