National Bosun’s Call Vol 2 No 5 Once Navy, Always Navy June 2021 International Rescue HMAS Anzac’s embarked MH-60R helicopter on 15 May transferred one of the Indonesian fisherman to a Perth hospital for urgent care for a badly injured hand. Anzac’s doctor, Lieutenant Michael Dobson, said the fisherman who was airlifted to Perth had an infection that needed surgery. “These infections can get nasty rather quickly and sur- gery is needed to treat the wound. Without that, the infection will remain or get worse,” Lieutenant Dobson said. Anzac arrived in Indonesia early in the morning of May 21 and sailed in company with the KRI Yos Sudarso into the harbour area of Benoa out- side Denpasar. On Friday 14 May HMAS Anzac supported the res- cue of 20 Indonesian fishermen in the Indian A contactless transfer of the 19 fishermen was Ocean, 670 nautical miles west of Perth which was then done in conjunction with the Indonesian patrol co-ordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Au- vessel KRI Escolar. thority (AMSA). The Perth AMSA Challenger jet had Commanding Officer Anzac Commander Brendan dropped life jackets to the group on Friday before Horn praised the response of his crew, as well as Australian Defence Force (ADF) aircraft deployed the Indonesian fishermen, the crew of the Fu- life rafts to the vessel on 13 May. kuseki Maru 15 and the civilian authorities involved The crew of the fishing vessel Bandar Nelayan in coordinating the rescue. were at first picked up by the Japanese commercial “RAN and ABC News fishing vessel Fukuseki Maru No. 15 following a mayday call that led to an international search effort that included Anzac. The Indonesian fishermen had been clinging to their partially submerged vessel for a day in rough seas when they were found. A Japanese-speaking member of Anzac’s ship’s company was able to speak to Fukuseki Maru No. 15 crew members to coordinate the transfer. All 20 fishermen were transferred to Anzac by Anzac’s sailors in a small-boat operation. Anzac was just hours from returning home after a 10-week deployment throughout South-East Asia and the north-east Indian Ocean when it answered the distress call and changed course back to sea to aid the rescue effort.. National Newsletter of the Naval Association of Australia June 2021 National Bosun’s Call Page 2 Update to Government Response to the Productivity Commission Report, A Better Way to Support Veterans An update to the Government response to supporting the more immediate needs of the recommendations in the Productivity the veteran community. Commission report, A Better Way to Sup- The remaining recommendations primarily port Veterans, has been posted on DVA’s relate to structural and legislative reform, website at https://www.dva.gov.au/about- including harmonisation of entitlements us/overview/reporting/reviews-and- across the existing three veteran Acts. reports/productivity-commission-inquiry- system-compensation Through engagement with defence force personnel, veterans, their families and ex- service organisations, it is clear that there The update includes a short statement are still considerable differences on the copied below of the Government’s current best approach to this legislative reform. position and a table showing status and The Government will continue to consult next steps for each of the 69 recommen- with the veteran community to reduce the dations which can be viewed on the seb- complexity of the legislative framework. site above. The Government recognises that the most recent legislation, the Military Rehabilitation On 8 October 2020, the Interim Govern- and Compensation Act 2004, will be the ment Response to the Report of the primary veterans’ legislation going forward Productivity Commission, “A Better Way and there will be a “long tail” of the two ear- to Support Veterans” was tabled as part lier Acts, the Veterans’ Entitlements Act of the 2020-21 Budget process. The in- 1986 and the Safety, Rehabilitation and terim response delivered a package of Compensation (Defence-related Claims) $211.1 million in targeted measures with Act 1988. a focus on mental health and increased The Government will finalise any outstand- transition support. ing matters from the Productivity Commis- In the 2021-22 Budget, the Government is sion report at the completion of the Royal building on this response and is investing Commission into Defence and Veteran Sui- a further $175.3 million for additional cide. measures to support the health and well- The Departments of Defence and Veter- being of veterans and their families. ans’ Affairs will continue to progress ad- To-date, the Government has invested ministrative recommendations that improve more than $386 million in addressing 35 operations between the Departments and of the report’s 69 recommendations and deliver better outcomes for veterans. The Naval Association of Australia Inc ABN 56 653 989 978 221 Centenary Avenue MELTON VICTORIA 3337 Patron In Chief: HM The Queen of Australia. National Patron His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC Retd Governor General of Australia June 2021 National Bosun’s Call Page 3 More support for older veterans and their families in residential aged care 19 May 2021 Older veterans and their families will receive increased support through the Budget 2021-22 with $246 million to im- prove the care delivered to veterans and their families through mainstream in-home and residential aged care. As part of this measure, the Government is provid- ing $22.7 million to ensure the 17,000 DVA clients living in residential aged care facilities are able to access allied health, aids and appliances through DVA card arrangements, just as they did when they were living in their own home. Currently, only those clients classified as requiring low level care can access these DVA-funded services. The expansion is a component of the Government reforms to Australia’s aged care system. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recognised the importance of allied health in sup- aged care facility, DVA clients can continue to ac- porting ageing Australians to maximise independ- cess allied health and aids and appliances through ence and autonomy. DVA card arrangements, so long as it is not dupli- cating services provided by the facility. Veterans and their families have existing access to allied health and rehabilitation aids and appliances This initiative will commence on 1 October 2022 while living in their own homes. However, that ac- when the new Australian National Aged Care Clas- cess becomes limited once clients move into resi- sification funding model commences. dential aged care. This initiative ensures that in ad- For further information on the broader aged care dition to the services provided by their residential reform measures visit www.health.gov.au 2021/22 Federal Budget Good afternoon colleagues, and their families to support their lifetime well- I’m writing to provide you with an update on a being and transition from ADF to civilian life number of recent activities and events. and to address the backlog of claims. In Tuesday’s Federal Budget, the Australian The Department will also receive an additional Government is continuing its commitment to 447 staff, primarily to address the backlog of delivering a veteran support system that em- claims and manage the increased workload to powers veterans and their families to live ful- better support veterans and their families. This filling lives after service by creating and imple- funding will support all of our clients, compris- menting simpler and more effective programs, ing around 220,000 veterans and 100,000 de- services, and benefits. The Government in- pendants. vests over $11.5 billion each year for DVA to DVA’s Portfolio Budget Statements and addi- support the continuation of important pro- tional information sheets are available on our grams, services and support for veterans, as website: Budget 2021–22 | Department of Vet- well as to keep our department running. erans' Affairs (dva.gov.au) In this latest Budget, $775.6 million has been allocated over four years with a focus on well- Further information on cross-portfolio ness, support, suicide prevention and addition- measures are also available from the Depart- al resourcing for DVA. This includes $463.1 ment of Health and the Department of Social million in funding directly allocated to DVA to Services website – links are available on the improve, expand and enhance a range of pro- above website page. grams, support and services for our veterans June 2021 National Bosun’s Call Page 4 NAA response to DVA request for input to the Terms of Reference for the Royal Commission on Veteran Suicide Queensland Section have also provided detailed feedback from both Section and individual mem- 28 May 2021 bers. Some of the submissions have also been separately submitted to the DVA website directly. AGGREGATED NAA COMMENTS – 3. Comments on the Draft Terms of Refer- ROYAL COMMISSION INTO VETERANS ence in Aggregated Form SUICIDE – DRAFT (a) Responses to the Draft TOR TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) Systemic issues and analysis of the contributing 1 Introduction risk factors relevant to Defence and Veteran Sui- cide, including: The Minister for Veteran Affairs released a state- ment on 21 April 2021 encouraging Veterans and Contribution of pre-service (including train- their Families, ESO's, States and Territories to pro- ing), transition and post service issues. vide input for the Terms of Reference for the Royal Additional Input – contribution of pre-service, Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. All service as a member of the Trained and Train- feedback maybe provided through the Attorney ing Forces, transition and post service issues. General's Department and through the site – royal- [email protected].