‘No idea’: Question senator Jacqui Lambie wants answered

Senator Jacqui Lambie has grilled government officials on how they are going to communicate changes to veteran supports as parliament prepares to review legislation that will overhaul how ex-servicepeople’s entitlements are processed. The Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024 aims to streamline claims processes for veterans, with all claims from former defence personnel to be handled under a single piece of legislation from July 1, 2026. But with the Bill set to return to the upper house after a senate inquiry probing the legislation completes its final report in early October, questions remain over how veterans will be told about key changes. Questioning Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) officials fronting a senate hearing on Friday, Senator Lambie noted the Bill was weeks away from potentially passing and said she was “worried” about veterans who could be left asking how the changes affect them. “Once this goes through the floor, you’re going to get a bump because people are going to go, ‘What the hell, I don’t know anything’,” Senator Lambie said. Senator Lambie, an army veteran, said most former defence personnel had “no idea what’s going on up here”. “They’ve got no idea,” she said. “I’m just a bit worried about them.” Simon Hill, an assistant secretary working on rolling out the reforms process, said he agreed with Senator Lambie. “You are right. We need to be ready to ensure that veterans understand, at least at a general level, from passage of legislation, what’s changing, and then that will be filtered down to a more detailed understanding for them, for those who want to know that detail.” He said the DVA was “constrained somewhat” by the legislative process, meaning that the department could not start telling veterans about changes until the Bill passed parliament. “So we need to await the finalisation of that before we can effectively flick the switch and start sending, getting that messaging out,” Mr Hill said. “But we will be ready to do it.” The hearing comes after the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide handed down its final report on Monday, drawing the three-year inquiry to an end. Royal commission chair Nick Kaldas and fellow commissioners James Douglas and Peggy Brown concluded they did not believe the DVA in its current form and level of resourcing could deliver the wellbeing support to the community. The royal commissioners recommended establishing a new executive agency to be co-designed with veterans.