VETS Act consultation process

How and why DVA consulted on legislation reform

Veterans’ legislation is widely acknowledged as being complex and difficult to navigate. There are 3 different pieces of veterans’ entitlements legislation that can apply to a veteran. There have been longstanding calls for veterans’ legislation to be simplified. 
The current system can create confusion and may negatively impact veterans and veteran families by contributing to delays, inconsistent processing and claims backlogs.

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.

A vital part of ensuring we got this change in legislation right, was making sure it met the needs of the veteran community. It was important that we heard from veterans, veteran families, and other key stakeholders, about what they thought about the proposed legislation.

The Australian Government undertook 3 rounds of public consultation for the Veterans’ Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Support) Bill 2024 (VETS Bill) from 2022 to 2024. Submissions helped the Government to respond to the issues that were of most concern to veterans.

Consultation in 2022

The first round of consultation was undertaken on the Royal Commission and related Productivity Commission recommendations from 17 October to 14 November 2022. There was strong overall support for legislative simplification and harmonisation. However, there was concern about the potential for the reduction of existing and future benefits.

Consultation in 2023

The outcomes of the 2022 consultation informed a proposed pathway to simplify veterans’ compensation and rehabilitation legislation. The proposed pathway entailed: 

• establishing an improved MRCA as the sole ongoing scheme
• closing out the VEA and DRCA to new compensation-related claims
• grandparenting existing arrangements to ensure there is no reduction in entitlements currently being received by veterans and families.

Public consultation on the pathway occurred between 16 February and 12 May 2023.

2023 material available for viewing and download:

• Consultation Report (PDF 480 KB)
• Submissions Received
• Information booklet used during 2023 consultation on the pathway 
• Webinar transcript, webinar questions and answers, case study examples and general frequently asked questions developed to support the 2023 consultation process.* 

*Please note that the answers given to support the 2023 process may be different to those in the 2024 process due to feedback having been incorporated.

Release of draft VETS Bill for comment in 2024

The feedback provided in both rounds of consultation informed the development of the exposure draft VETS Bill, which was open for consultation between 28 February to 28 April 2024.

2024 material available for viewing and download:

• Consultation Report (PDF 480 KB)
• Submissions Received
• Information booklet used during 2024 consultation on draft legislation (PDF 2.2 MB) 
• Questions and Answers - 2024 Webinars - Veterans' Legislation Reform 

We valued your feedback

In response to your feedback during the consultation processes, the following key elements were incorporated in the VETS Bill that was introduced to Parliament on 3 July 2024:

• the safeguarding of current veteran and dependant entitlements by grandparenting existing payments;
• recognition under the new Act of previously determined compensable conditions, with no need to re-establish liability;
• continuation of the automatic eligibility for benefits for those dependants whose partner died while they had permanent impairments of more than 80 points or were eligible for the MRCA Special Rate Disability Pension
• retention of two standards of proof when applying the Statements of Principles (SoPs); 
• inclusion of the Additional Disablement Amount (ADA) in the MRCA to replicate the Extreme Disablement Amount (EDA) payment under the VEA to veterans who are of pension age and have high levels of incapacity due to service conditions;
• the legislated ability for the Repatriation Commission to specify injuries and diseases that can be accepted on a presumptive basis where they are known to have a common connection with military service without needing to engage with the SoPs;
• the definition of service injury is being amended to allow for an injury to be accepted on the basis that it occurred while the person was ‘on duty’ as a defence member (such as heart attacks and strokes), regardless of whether or not the injury was caused by the member’s duties.   

Senate Committee Report on the VETS Bill

The VETS Bill was introduced to Parliament and was referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 3 October 2024.

The report published by the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee can be accessed on the Australian Parliament House website. 

Material available for download:

• DVA’s submission (PDF 8.3MB) and supplementary submission (868 kB) to the Senate Committee.
• Thematic Analysis of submissions received by DVA during consultation on the VETS Bill (PDF 624 KB)
• Submissions received by the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee. 

Veteran Forums

We continued to seek consultation from the veteran community even after the VETS Bill went before Parliament. 

In August and September 2024, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, the Hon Matt Keogh MP, hosted a series of Veteran Forums in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

The forums were an opportunity for the veteran community to ask questions about the reforms, and other matters affecting the veteran community.