Australian military veterans compensation, rehabilitation legislation to change

Laws dating back to 1917 linked to Australia’s high rates of veteran suicide will be torn up. See what changes are coming.

Exclusive: Century-old laws governing how military veterans are compensated and rehabilitated will be torn up and replaced with a single new Act.

A review prompted by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has found the three pieces of legislation, first created in 1917 post the First World War, were so complex they had adversely affected mental health, contributing to a “national tragedy” in suicide rates.

The 105-year-old legislation has never been fully overhauled, but has been updated with bolt-ons and amendments, which have not been deemed not fit for purpose.

Now the Federal Government is set to announce those three Acts will be consolidated into a single piece of legislation, for a simplified pathway to administer claims for veterans and their families.

The laws governing how Aussie veterans are compensated and rehabilitated are set to change. Picture: Picture: Supplied/US Army

The draft for that single Act will be developed in consultation with the veteran community to create a “contemporary” claims scheme.

A detailed “pathway” will “grandparent” all existing arrangements to ensure changes don’t add more complexity and delays.

The decision will be seen as a significant victory for those who for years have pleaded to successive governments and Department of Veterans’ Affairs chiefs for change.

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh, who led the unpicking of current legislation, said the future single Act, when completed, would cover veterans irrespective of when they served.

“The proposed pathway seeks to reform more than a century of veterans’ entitlement legislation providing veterans the support they not only need but deserve,” he said.

He added the current system was just too complex.

Matt Keogh, Minister for Veterans' Affairs in Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“It can be difficult to understand, stressful to navigate and complex to administer, resulting in delays, backlogs and confusion for veterans and families,” he said.

“The pathway proposes a future model whereby all claims are considered under one piece of legislation rather than three creating a simpler system….”

An eight page document is to be made available to the veteran community to guide discussion for how the simple pathway law could be done.

The new legislation will build on the 2004 Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

In addition to the Royal Commission’s interim recommendations, made last August, and a 2019 Productivity Commission report, there have been 50 previous reports since 2000 citing the system’s complexity and high suicide rates among serving and ex-serving members of the ADF.

Originally published as Australian military veterans compensation, rehabilitation legislation to change