Commissioner meets with PVA
Repatriation Commissioner Don Spinks AM addressed the annual conference of the Partners of Veterans Association of Australia (PVA), which was held in Canberra on 24 October.
The PVA was established in NSW in 1999 and became a national body in 2003. There are branches in all six states. It offers its 3,000 members support, friendship, information and understanding from people in similar situations. The Association states its core belief to be ‘that there must always be an association to represent this previously forgotten and at-risk group’ and that ‘it is imperative that no Partner should ever feel deserted, defeated or most of all, totally isolated’. The PVA’s patron is Lady Lynne Cosgrove.
The Commissioner is impressed by the PVA's commitment and dedication to supporting veterans.
‘It was a good opportunity to have a chat to them about what changes and improvements are taking place at DVA,’ he said. ‘I talked about the Transformation work taking place at the department, the Australian Defence Veterans’ Covenant, and provided an update on the Productivity Commission report.
‘And I had the chance to hear about their concerns and issues as they see them from the coalface. These included questions about MyService and telephony, and other issues around the day-today process of interacting with the department.
‘They were quite positive about the changes for the department generally, and they had good ideas about how we can improve it. It was a great chance for them to have direct engagement with the department.’
More information on the PVA is available at www.pva.org.au or by phoning 1300 553 835.