Veteran mental health and suicide rates, service delivery failures by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and the Brereton Report into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan were among the issues discussed at a veterans’ roundtable event held at the Richmond RSL Sub-Branch today (March 9).
Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel, Shayne Neumann, heard from veterans from across the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains at the event, hosted by Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman.
Mr Neumann said he had met with veterans from around the country, and many were fed up with the Morrison Government’s and DVA’s performance.
“For a start, veterans are waiting too long to get their entitlements and waiting times for compensation claims have continued to blow out while DVA deals with a huge backlog of applications,” he said.
In attendance were representatives of the Far Western Metropolitan District of RSL NSW, various local RSL Sub Branches, Blue Mountains Vietnam Veterans, the National Serviceman’s Association (NSW) and Australian IEDD Operations.
Mr Neumann told the roundtable that more needed to be done to tackle defence and veteran suicides, particularly as the mental health of many current and former defence personnel had been affected by the Brereton report and the Government’s poor handling of it.
“It’s more than a year now since the Government announced a National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention, but many veterans and families have rejected this as a marketing exercise designed to placate them and avoid a proper investigation,” Mr Neumann said.
“Labor has called for a Royal Commission into defence and veteran suicides instead to try to get to the bottom of the issue once and for all.
“And we need to do more to support our defence personnel when it comes to transitioning out of the Australian Defence Force and into civilian life through assistance with mental health, employment and training, and housing and homelessness, for example.
“I know many veterans are also very unhappy with the Government’s responses to reviews of the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits (DFRDB) scheme and the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI) pension,” he said.
Ms Templeman said she has held a number of roundtables in recent years, as they were an important way to hear directly from veterans to help inform policy in this area, and today’s event was no different.
“My electorate of Macquarie is home to the Richmond RAAF Base and RAAF Base Glenbrook, so we are home to a large defence and veteran population. They are an integral part of our local community,” Ms Templeman said.
“Of particular concern to attendees at the roundtable was the issue of veterans’ mental health and suicide.
“Too many veterans are feeling isolated when they leave the service, and this has a huge negative impact on their mental health. Some have shared with us that they did not receive the mental health support they needed while still in their Defence roles.
“We need to ensure our veterans aren’t left behind, and those present at the roundtable expressed support for a scheme that would see a more gradual transition from the service when they retired, so they weren’t
