Australia needs to develop a new veteran affairs strategy. Failure to do so will worsen the Australian Defence Force’s recruiting crisis, increase separations from service, and grow cynicism from families and taxpayers about how government and Defence treats its people.
The Alliance of Defence Service Organisations (ADSO) comprises representatives from army, navy and air force associations, acting on behalf of all veterans and their families.
In preparation for the upcoming election, ADSO presented Labor and the Coalition, as well as minor parties and independent candidates, with 22 yes-or-no questions regarding veterans’ concerns.
ADSO’s pre-election policy submission details its recommendations for change. For example, the Alliance calls for the veterans’ minister to be made a permanent member of Cabinet. Currently, the portfolio sits with a junior minister who is left to argue for the funds to repair the bodies, minds and hearts of returned veterans and their families, all from outside the Cabinet room.
Financial support systems for veterans are awash with inequities and inadequacy. An independent judicial review of the military superannuation system is needed, as well as a separate review of compensation and rehabilitation entitlements for veterans and their families. Reservists should be entitled to the Veteran White Card, a government-issued card that provides access to medical treatment, as well as discounts and concessions on medical costs.
At present, only servicepeople who have served in certain declared overseas warzones qualify for service pensions and health Gold Card benefits. The government should extend this to include veterans involved in dangerous peacekeeping operations in warzones around the globe, in designated Counter Terrorist and Special Recovery (CT/SR) operations, and in Rifle Company Butterworth operations during Malaysia’s 1968–89 counter-insurgency war. Twenty-two soldiers have been killed and hundreds injured on CT/SR operations alone, and more while peacekeeping.
There must be reform of the military justice system and legislative protection for veterans. For example, it may be time to consider Australia’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute and the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Had the organisation existed during World War II, Australian airmen may have been liable to war crime charges over civilian casualties of aerial bombings in Germany. Australian law and Australian due process alone should govern our veterans.
The Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), announced in November 2020 and established in January 2021, should be given no more than two years from the election date to find credible evidence of war crimes and lay charges. If it is unable to do so, it should be wound up.
The OSI cost $57.14 million in 2021–22 and $63.3 million in 2022–23. In the 2023–24 budget, the office was allocated a further $129.4 million from the Defence budget. This scant taxpayer money could be spent on more important priorities, including veterans’ support needs. Further funding was allocated in the 2025 federal budget, bringing the total funding to around $300 million. It is not in the national interest for this expensive and damaging OSI process to go on indefinitely without results and closure.
Finally, Defence must fix its broken honours and awards system and produce an End of War list of Afghanistan veterans who were eligible or recommended for awards, or who had their awards downgraded, so that their awards can be reconsidered.
All is not lost. Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh, with bipartisan support, passed important veterans’ law reform designed to streamline the management of compensation and rehabilitation claims. The government provided funding to hire hundreds of additional staff members for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to deal with a massive backlog of claims. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide made important recommendations, which must now be funded and implemented.
There is sound leadership and goodwill within Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the Repatriation Commission and other branches of government to tackle these issues. But the incoming government must continue the effort post-election.
Australian families, potential recruits and serving personnel carefully consider the way the nation deals with its veterans when deciding whether to join or remain serving in the ADF. Without a modern, responsive, well-funded and dynamic veteran affairs strategy, our defence capability and our national resilience are weakened.
The Author. Martin Hamilton-Smith is a spokesperson for ADSO. He is a former ADF officer, is the national chairman of the SAS Association and was South Australian minister for veterans’ affairs.
Image of poppies and the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial: Rodney Braithwaite/Department of Defence.
Source: This week on The Strategist