The Bill – what it is and what it will do

The Bill

The Veterans’ Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024 was introduced into Parliament on 3 July 2024. The Bill will now follow the Parliamentary process, which you can read about on the Parliamentary Education Office website.

Since consultation was undertaken in early 2024, the following changes have been made to the Bill:

• The concept of a ‘veteran’ as a ‘member or former member of the Defence Force’ has been inserted into the simplified outline of the MRCA in Chapter 1, Part 1
• Veterans in receipt of DRCA incapacity payments will automatically transition to MRCA incapacity payments on the date of commencement
• Where the RMA updates a Statement of Principles (SoP) between the veterans primary and reviewable decision, the version of the SoP which is most beneficial to the veteran's circumstances is applied. 
• An introduction of an instrument making power that will enable the Commission to determine circumstances where a veteran must receive financial advice before receiving a lump sum payment.

When would the new model commence?

It is proposed that the new model for veterans’ compensation commences on 1 July 2026.

We want to ensure that veterans have time to consider their individual circumstances, including allowing them to determine whether claims should be made under the current arrangements or when the new model commences. It is also important to allow sufficient time to train veteran delegates and advocates appropriately.

How we got here

Veterans’ legislation is widely acknowledged as being complex and difficult to navigate and calls to simplify the current arrangements are longstanding. The complexity of the current system creates confusion and negatively impacts veterans and their families, advocates, and DVA staff, directly contributing to delays, inconsistent processing and claims backlogs.

This complexity has developed over decades so there are now three different pieces of veterans’ entitlements legislation that can apply to a veteran.

Several reports over recent years, including the 2019 Productivity Commission’s report ‘A Better Way to Support Veterans’  and the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide’s Interim Report have highlighted these issues and called for change.

New legislation approach

The Bill would implement the single Act model proposed in the Veterans’ Legislation Reform Consultation Pathway, shaped by the feedback provided by the veteran community in 2023.

The core elements of the model are:

• Single act – an improved Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) where all new claims for compensation and rehabilitation will be considered under the improved MRCA
• Closing the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence‑related claims) Act 1988 (DRCA) to new claims for compensation and rehabilitation, with grandparenting of already approved VEA/DRCA compensation payments

Figure 1 – Current and proposed legislation pathway.txt (TXT: 1.5KB)