Final Report – Volume 5: Transition, DVA and support for ex-serving members

Recommendation 79: Ensure that respect for and recognition of service are embedded throughout Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs

Respect and recognition should be a key element of separation and transition processes; they must also be the foundation for all interactions with members and former members of the Australian Defence Force during service and civilian life.

Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs should:

1. examine their processes to identify ways in which respect in interactions with serving and ex-serving members can be increased
2. create a survey to benchmark the levels of respect shown to current and ex-serving members prior to 30 June 2025
3. conduct this survey every two years to identify areas for improvement, and introduce improvements no later than the following year
4. support the Joint Transition Authority to review its policy on recognition and farewells on a regular basis (at least every three years) to identify areas for improvement, and introduce these improvements by the following year.

Recommendation 80: The Department of Veterans' Affairs to take responsibility for supporting members to transition out of the Australian Defence Force

Defence should continue to be responsible for supporting members to prepare for and complete separation from the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The new executive agency to be established in the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) (Recommendation 87) should take responsibility for supporting members to transition into civilian life.

Through the new agency, DVA should:

1. establish a meaningful relationship with serving members as soon as they begin a pathway towards transition
2. conduct a transition readiness review prior to separation, which includes the member, their commanding officer and DVA support person
3. lead transition screening and expand it to assess members' psychosocial readiness for transition, including purpose and connection, help-seeking, beliefs about civilians, and regimentation and adaptability
4. with the consent of the member, share transition screening results (wholly or partially) with the member's commanding officer and key transition support people within Defence and DVA (with Defence and DVA implementing a proactive process to obtain members' consent to share this information)
5. proactively reach out to ex-serving members in the 12 months after they leave the ADF to understand their experience of transition, how they are adjusting to civilian life, and connect them with supports delivered by Australian Government agencies, states and territories, and ex-service organisations.

Recommendation 81: The Department of Veterans' Affairs to fund a program to support members' wellbeing during transition to civilian life

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) should fund and commission a cultural transition program to support members to build and maintain wellbeing during the transition from military to civilian life. The purpose of the program should be to empower members to develop the skills to adjust and integrate into civilian culture successfully and sustain social connections.

The program should:

1. be designed by an expert panel independent from DVA, including people with lived experience of service and transition (both serving and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members) and expertise in cultural adjustment and trauma-informed approaches
2. be delivered in two parts, the first prior to separation and the second within six months of separation
3. be evaluated three years after the commencement of the program to assess its outcomes and effectiveness, with adjustments made accordingly.

Recommendation 82: Establish a consistent, locally responsive policy on ex-serving members' access to bases

Defence should establish a consistent policy on access to military bases that includes the objective of supporting ex-serving members and their families to maintain social connections following separation from the Australian Defence Force. The policy should allow for local decision-making that balances the benefits of maintaining social connection with former colleagues in the 12 months following separation, with the need to maintain base security.

Recommendation 83: Increase opportunities for members to gain civilian qualifications from Defence training and education

Defence should expand the objective of its education and training policies and programs from a sole focus on Defence capability requirements to include member lifetime wellbeing. Specifically, Defence should:

1. commencing 1 July 2025, issue all civilian accreditations for Defence training at the point of completion of the requisite training, rather than at the point of transition from service
2. remove arbitrary limits on the number of civilian qualifications that may be awarded to a member in recognition of Defence training they have completed
3. 'fill the gap' between Defence and civilian training (where an equivalent civilian qualification exists), either by expanding the content of the Defence training course or by funding bridging training for members prior to separation.

Recommendation 84: Issue separating members with a reference that states their skills, experience and capabilities

To support ex-serving members to promote their skills and experience in the civilian job market, the Australian Defence Force should issue a reference to each member at separation. The reference should reflect the individual skills and experience of the member and include a personalised statement on the capabilities they demonstrated in their most recent role/s. Contact details of the member's commanding officer approximate to, or at, the point of transition should be provided wherever possible.

Recommendation 85: Develop employment pathways for ex-serving members in public sector agencies

The Australian Public Service Commission and its state and territory equivalents should work with public sector agencies to develop and prioritise employment pathways for ex-serving members. They should prioritise agencies in portfolios where military capabilities and lived experience of service are especially relevant, including health, justice, corrections, police, veterans' affairs and defence.

Recommendation 86: Ongoing funding for Veterans' and Families' Hubs

The Australian Government should develop a recurrent funding model for Veterans' and Families' Hubs to support their financial sustainability and ongoing operations. In particular, the funding model should ensure that the operating costs of hubs can be met (that is, separate from the costs associated with the services delivered by various providers). The funding model should be developed in consultation with lead organisations of Veterans' and Families' Hubs, as bespoke arrangements are likely to be needed.

Funding agreements should include standardised, de-identified data collection and reporting requirements to inform ongoing service delivery improvements and help to identify service gaps. Data should be shared with state and territory governments.

Recommendation 87: Establish a new agency to focus on veteran wellbeing

The Australian Government should establish a new executive agency focused on veteran wellbeing. The new agency should have distinctive branding, but be administratively nested within the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) to ensure seamless information sharing and referrals.

The new veteran wellbeing agency should have the following functions:

1. Transition – to play a key role in supporting veterans to transition from military to civilian life (Recommendation 80), build relationships and encourage veterans to access early interventions and supports
2. System navigation and connection to wellbeing supports at the individual level – to help veterans to navigate the wellbeing ecosystem by providing clear information online about available services, and by working in partnership with Veterans' and Families' Hubs and expanding engagement with veterans through state and territory shopfronts
3. Improve referral pathways and service integration at the systems level by:
   1. managing relationships between Veterans' and Families' Hubs, ex-service organisations (ESOs), DVA, Australian and state and territory government agencies and non-government service providers
   2. ensuring referral pathways are in place and services are integrated to the greatest extent possible
   3. advising DVA and state and territory governments on service gaps
4. Co-designing wellbeing supports – to work with veterans and ESOs to co-design new prevention and early intervention wellbeing programs and services at the local level, supported by a dedicated funding stream under the redesigned grants program for ESOs.

The new veteran wellbeing agency should have an ongoing operating budget, and the following capabilities and features:

5. staff who have lived experience of military service
6. offices established in area/s where large numbers of veterans live
7. customer service expertise, including in digital-led solutions
8. a trauma-informed communications and service-delivery approach
9. led by a CEO who reports to the Secretary of DVA
10. adhering to a service charter and associated key performance indicators, supported by regular and transparent reporting requirements.

Recommendation 88: Develop a national funding agreement on veterans' wellbeing

A national funding agreement on veterans' wellbeing should be developed, with immediate focus on the following priorities:

1. improving outcomes for veterans who are experiencing homelessness, including a long-term investment framework that supports capital and operational expenditure for veteran-specific housing and the provision of wraparound services
2. supporting veterans who are incarcerated, both during and after their incarceration
3. facilitating school enrolments for children of serving members, without requiring a confirmed address
4. developing networks of health care for veterans (see Recommendation 72)
5. obtaining individual consent from veterans who separate involuntarily for medical or other reasons (and other cohorts at higher risk of suicide and suicidality) to provide their personal data to state and territory governments to ensure they can receive tailored support and referrals to veteran-specific services, including Veterans' and Families' Hubs.

Recommendation 89: Establish a national peak body for ex-service organisations

The Australian Government, in consultation with ex-service organisations (ESOs), should establish a national peak body for ESOs following a co-design process.

The role, functions, membership, governance and funding model of the peak body should be informed by the outcomes of the business case, and agreed between the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the ESO sector. The funding model should not exclude participation of any eligible ESOs, particularly those who operate on a not-for-profit basis.

Recommendation 90: Remove the service differential for permanent impairment compensation and expand mental health support to all reserve personnel

The Australian Government should:

1. remove the service differential as it relates to permanent impairment compensation
2. extend non-liability health care for mental health conditions to all reserve personnel.

Recommendation 91: Implement combined benefits processing for all initial liability and permanent impairment claims

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) should implement combined benefits processing for all initial liability and permanent impairment claims under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (Cth) (the new single Act) for veterans' entitlements, noting that some limited exceptions will apply.

The Australian Government should ensure that DVA has sufficient additional funding to implement this new approach to claims processing.

Recommendation 92: Review claims to the Department of Veterans' Affairs associated with physical and sexual abuse

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) should commission an independent review of claims made between 2015 and 2024 that are associated with physical and sexual abuse during service. The review should:

1. determine if there is any material difference in the acceptance or correctness rates for these claims compared to other claim types and, if so, identify why and any required changes to veterans' entitlements legislation, DVA policy, and/or training and support provided to delegates
2. recommend any necessary improvements that will ensure delegates deliver services in a trauma-informed way and understand the dynamics of military sexual violence and other forms of abuse during service
3. examine the supports in place for victims who have submitted a claim of this kind and recommend any necessary improvements to align with best practice.

Recommendation 93: Fund the Transition Medical Assessment Pilot Program on an ongoing and national basis

The Australian Government should provide funding to the Department of Veterans' Affairs and Defence to support:

1. expanding the Transition Medical Assessment Pilot Program to North Queensland in 2025–26
2. rolling out the program nationally to serve all Australian Defence Force members who are medically separating with complex needs from 2026–27 onwards.

Recommendation 94: Improve timeliness and reporting on information-sharing between Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs for claims processing

To ensure timely information-sharing between the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) and Defence for the purpose of claims processing:

1. DVA and Defence should establish a key performance indicator for the timeliness of information provided by Defence through the Single Access Mechanism, and report on performance in annual reports
2. Defence should report annually on the progress of records digitisation until all records are fully digitised.

Recommendation 95: Support the expanded application of 'presumptive liability'

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) should:

1. establish a dedicated ongoing workstream to support the expanded use of presumptive liability as part of its research and evaluation model, informed by the views of the expert committee on veteran health research (Recommendation 117)
2. follow developments in civilian workers' compensation schemes, and consider where they are relevant to Australian Defence Force (ADF) contexts. As an immediate priority, DVA should consider whether a presumption related to liability for post-traumatic stress disorder should apply to certain roles within the ADF.

Recommendation 96: Ongoing funding for Provisional Access to Medical Treatment

The Australian Government should fund Provisional Access to Medical Treatment beyond June 2026 on an ongoing basis.

Recommendation 97: Consider giving the Veteran Payment to more veterans with physical health conditions

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA), in conjunction with the Repatriation Commission, should examine whether there are specific cohorts of veterans with physical health conditions who are at higher risk of suicide and may therefore benefit from receiving the Veteran Payment.

If such cohorts are identified, DVA should seek the appropriate authority from the Australian Government to extend the Veteran Payment to those cohorts.

Recommendation 98: Strengthen Department of Veterans' Affairs performance targets for claims processing timeframes, and improve transparency

Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) performance targets for the timeliness of liability and permanent impairment claims under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (Cth) (the new single Act) should be reset so that:

1. by 1 July 2026, at least 65% of claims are determined within 90 days
2. by 1 July 2028, at least 80% of claims are determined within 90 days.

Starting in 2024–25, DVA should include in its annual reports:

3. data-driven measures of DVA's compliance with its customer service standards
4. the percentage of claims for which DVA requested an independent medical examination
5. the number of additional conditions and sequelae covered by presumptive liability compared with the previous year, as well as the number and percentage of initial liability determinations that were made pursuant to presumptive liability provisions.

Recommendation 99: Improve compensation advocacy by funding professional, paid advocates

The Australian Government should replace the Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST) grant program with an ongoing, demand-driven funding program for professional, paid veteran compensation advocates. At a minimum, the amount of funding should be increased to provide compensation advocacy for:

1. all veterans who need support to submit a liability and/or compensation claim with the Department of Veterans' Affairs
2. all veterans seeking an internal or external review of a claims decision.

Funding allocations should be for a minimum of three years to provide employment stability. They should be designed to ensure equitable geographic service coverage and meet the diverse demographic needs of the veteran population, including female veterans and LGBTIQ+ veterans.

Recommendation 100: Improve the transparency, accountability and effectiveness of the Department of Veterans' Affairs rehabilitation program

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) should improve the transparency of the DVA Rehabilitation Program and how its effectiveness is measured. At a minimum, this should include:

1. reinstating the program performance indicator that measures the percentage of clients for whom rehabilitation goals were met or exceeded, with a target of 75%, and including this measure in annual public reporting
2. expanding key performance indicators for rehabilitation program providers to measure the percentage of clients who meet or exceed their rehabilitation goals, disaggregated by goal type (for example, medical management, vocational and psychosocial). This information should be shared with DVA rehabilitation clients so they can make an informed choice of provider (as related to Recommendation 101 on choice and autonomy).

Recommendation 101: Give Department of Veterans' Affairs clients more choice and autonomy

Veterans supported by the Department of Veterans' Affairs should be afforded similar levels of choice and autonomy to National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants, to the greatest extent possible. At a minimum, this should include:

1. enabling veterans to:
   1. choose their rehabilitation provider, supported by clear information about provider quality and service characteristics (including information specified in Recommendation 100)
   2. self-manage their budget for approved household assistance on an opt-in basis, to align with the autonomy and payment conditions afforded to NDIS clients and providers
2. reimbursing veterans for travel costs to see their preferred healthcare providers (noting that some constraints will apply), supported by legislative reform developed in consultation with veterans.