__________________________________________________________ PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION COMPENSATION AND REHABILITATION FOR VETERANS MR R FITZGERALD Commissioner MR R SPENCER, Commissioner TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS AT 4 NATIONAL CIRCUIT, BARTON ON TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019 AT 9 AM Compensation and Rehabilitation for Veterans 12/02/19 Canberra © C'wlth of Australia INDEX DEPARTMENT OF VE TERANS’ AFFAIRS 447-471 LEGACY AUSTRALIA 472-488 VIETNAM VETERANS FEDERATION OF 488-508 AUSTRALIA INC AUSTRALIAN FEDERATION OF TOTALLY AND 508-524 PERMANENTLY INCAPACITATED EX SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN LTD PETER SUTHERLAND 526-540 MACK WELLER 540-550 PETER REECE 551-565 JACK FORDYCE 565-568 ROYAL AUSTRALASIAN COLLEGE OF 568-584 PHYSICIANS RSL WODEN VALLEY SUB -BRANCH 584-601 CONNIE BOGLIS & KAREN BIRD 601-615 MR GILCHRIST 616-619 MS MOORE 619-621 Compensation and Rehabilitation for Veterans 12/02/19 Canberra © C'wlth of Australia COMMISSIONER FITZGERALD: We might start just a couple of moments early. So thanks very much for participating, thanks for being here. I'm sorry this room doesn't have any light in it, natural light, but it's the way of the world. I'm just going to make a formal statement and then 5 we'll get on with our first participant. So firstly welcome to the public hearing for the Productivity Commission's Inquiry into Veterans' Compensation and Rehabilitation following the release of our draft report in December of last year. I'm 10 Robert Fitzgerald. I'm the presiding Commissioner on this inquiry, and my fellow Commissioner is Richard Spencer and we've met many of you previously. The purpose of this round of hearings is to facilitate public scrutiny of the 15 Commission's work and to get comment and feedback on the draft report in order to complete the final report. So far we've held hearings in Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Wagga Wagga, and following today we will have hearings in Melbourne, Hobart, Townsville, Brisbane and Sydney. We'll then work towards completing the final draft to government which 20 will be provided at the end of June, having considered all the evidence presented at the hearings and in submissions as well in other formal discussions. Participants, and those who have registered their interest in this inquiry, 25 will automatically be advised of the final report's release by government The Commission produces and publishes the draft report but the government publishes the final report. However, they are required to do so within 25 Parliamentary sitting days after the completion and presentation of the report to the government. So governments have to 30 publish our reports in full within a specified period. We like to conduct all hearings in a reasonably informal manner, although some people may say this isn't very informal, but I remind participants that a full transcript is being taken. For this reason comments from the 35 floor cannot be taken, but during the proceedings and at the end of the day I'll provide an opportunity for any persons wishing to make a brief presentation, subject to time permitting. Participants are not required to take an oath, but they are required by our 40 act to be truthful in their remarks. Participants are welcome to comment on the issues raised in other submissions by other participants. The transcripts will be made available to participants and will be available from the Commission's website following the hearings. Submissions will also be available on the website. 45 447 Compensation and Rehabilitation for Veterans 12/02/19 Canberra © C'wlth of Australia And just for occupational health and safety reasons, there's only two entrances out, those two doors, and just follow the signs past reception, and also all of the facilities unfortunately are outside past the reception so you have to go out of the actual offices to access those. 5 So I'd just like to start today with Liz Cosson, Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs as our first participant. So if you can give me your full name and the agency you represent for the record. 10 MS COSSON: Certainly. Elizabeth Cosson. I'm the Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs. COMMISSIONER FITZGERALD: Good. Liz, if you can give us an opening statement. 15 MS COSSON: Thank you. So the Department of Veterans' Affairs welcomes the Productivity Commission's Inquiry and its draft report and the opportunity to present at today's hearings. We are very grateful for the efforts that the Commission has made in understanding the complexities 20 of the veterans' support system and the many part of the system. DVA has a long history and is proud of its support of veterans, but we also appreciate that some veterans have at times not had the best experience with the department due to the system being difficult to 25 navigate, confusing and difficult to engage. The complexities of legislation and systems and how they interact has been challenging for veterans and their families, DVA staff and for our veterans' advocates. We acknowledge that much of the complexity in this system stems from 30 response to the needs expressed by veterans and their support organisations over many decades. We have now a system which does reflect a wide variety of veterans' circumstances and needs but which is complex because each iteration and improvement has been layered upon the previous one. 35 We also recognise that one of the most significant causes of the frustration to veterans and their families results from the time lag between an injury and the acceptance of a claim. This aspect is where much of the ambiguity in the system lies. We are continuing to work very closely with 40 Defence to improve the determination of liability to make it clear where an injury or an illness is related to service and to do that from day one. Improving this aspect alone would introduce much greater certainty, immensely improve the claim experience of veterans and their families 45 and ensure continuity of care where needed, but reforms needed to the 448 Compensation and Rehabilitation for Veterans 12/02/19 Canberra © C'wlth of Australia system are much broader and go to legislation and policy, structure, culture, delivery, engagement with ex-service organisations and with the veteran community that this system supports. 5 It is worth briefly discussing how the broad veteran community is supported and the challenges for this support. We estimate there are more than 640,000 living veterans from all conflicts, including peace time and reserve service since the Second World War. DVA has around 282,000 clients of which 165,000 are veterans, 117,000 are widows, partners and 10 other dependants. Our clients also range in age with 18 per cent over the age of 90, 67 per cent over the age of 65 and 9 per cent under 35, so of the 640,000 veterans, DVA knows 165,000 of them as clients. The veteran community is very broad. There are more than 3,400 15 registered charities in Australia that have veterans and/or families as beneficiaries which includes 500 or more ex-service organisations. The advocacy services that ex-service organisations provide, overwhelmingly through volunteers, support veterans and their families with compensation claims, predominantly with compensation claims. 20 Newer generations of veterans are not stepping into advocacy roles as the previous cohorts of veterans age. Younger veterans are not members of these ESO's, and potentially advocates find it difficult to deal with the complex legislation that was less significant for previous generations of 25 veterans. There is a challenge across the veteran community which includes DVA and ex-service organisations in how to respond to the needs of veterans and their families into the future how to build capability to ensure the 30 model is sustainable. I welcome the Productivity Commission's draft report observation that through our veteran-centric reform methods DVA is streamlining and improving the claiming experience, but we don't have a good track record for change and we know that more can be done. 35 Some three years ago DVA commenced a significant transformation program to deliver improvements in the way DVA assists veterans and their families. It commenced this reform on the basis that the veteran and their family are at the centre of all that we do. Our program of veteran- centric reform is now well under way. We believe we are on a path to a 40 better system, but we are not there yet and have several more years to go. I have available to table our ICT road map which sets out this program of transformation. It is a multi-year program and I must say that it is still dependent on government investment through budget process. We 45 acknowledge the areas of DVA services which the Commission has been 449 Compensation and Rehabilitation for Veterans 12/02/19 Canberra © C'wlth of Australia critical of in its draft report. However we do have some of our reforms that are addressing these shortfalls and we have made significant improvements to our services for veterans and their families, and I'd like to offer our thoughts in six of these areas. 5 Firstly, the fundamental principle which is the unique nature of military service of being different to workers' compensation system and we note the Commission's views on military compensation compared to workers' compensation schemes and I'm pleased that the Commission has accepted 10 that military service is unique. The requirements of military service include elements which are best dealt with by remuneration and there are others that should be considered through compensation.