Thread: The productivity Commission report into Veterans support, draft copy.

They are suggesting young soldiers going to War should be given no more health support than those going thru training.



PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION INQUIRY INTO VETERAN SUPPORT – A CRITICAL COMMENT ON THE DRAFT REPORT
Ten days before Christmas, the Productivity Commission issued a draft report on its inquiry into the compensation and rehabilitation of veterans. Frankly, the report comes up with some disquieting recommendations.
 In resorting to large scale ‘deck chair’ organisational changes, the report recommends the abolition of DVA & the transfer of the veteran support function into Defence – it has already attracted much public attention & publicity in the media. For many of us who have spent years in the Defence bureaucracy, its difficult to see how amidst the fundamentality of Defence’s charter to prepare & engage in warfighting, the administration of veteran support could find a place of priority.  In recommending large scale organisational changes, the report does not estimate costings!  More worryingly, the organisational changes subtly mask the more devastatingly serious implications of the Commission’s recommendations that effectively withdraw special compensation for veterans of war. Effectively, the Commission doesn’t believe that the trauma of war service calls for any specific form of compensation or health support service beyond that encountered by a serviceperson in peace. This will directly result in contemporary veterans with war service being denied their rights.

 The Commission also recommends that use of the ‘gold card’ be discontinued beyond existing clients on the basis that it does not target veterans or lead to their wellbeing! Surely, the Commission understands that the ‘gold card’ targets & directly supports the wellbeing of some 300,000 of the most maligned of all veterans namely Vietnam veterans & their dependents.

 To be fair, there are some sensible recommendations largely directed at improving the transition of service people from Defence to civil life. Also welcomed are some attempts to streamline legislation.
In not recognising the special needs of veterans of war, the commission resorts to an extraordinary degree of rationalization that treats all injury as having the same consequence where ever it occurs & in whatever circumstances whether on active service or in peace..– ‘an injury is an injury’ is the simplistic notion. Moreover and whilst the Commission agrees that war or warlike service warrants recognition and reward above that provided for peacetime or operational service, it believes that there are deployment allowances, awards and other direct mechanisms for this.
Some of the Commissions misguided logic may in fact be drawn from the nonsensical view adopted in recent years that a veteran is one who has completed one day of service in the ADF. It’s another case of gross rationalization that leads to a reduction in the perceived worth, respect & value of the war veteran.
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The PC is totally misguided in their suggestion that deployment allowance be used as an instrument of compensation for war service – deployment allowance covers risks, hardships associated with deployments & has nothing to do with the essential business of engaging in war with adversaries. They are simply wrong in using risk assessment as an arbiter of determining trauma of war service – it rather fundamentally has to do with engaging with enemy. As a principle, it is wrong to use an allowance as a form of compensation.
For example, how possibly could an allowance payable for the period of a deployment (may be as short as 3 months) provide adequate compensation for latent impairment carrying the trauma of being occasioned during war service but occurring years after the deployment.
Even some of the ex-service organisation submissions made to the Commission miss & confuse this point. The line that ‘the ADF trains for, as it will prosecute, war’ is often raised to suggest that the risks are the same for war as in peace. However, it’s not a matter of risk but rather that in war, the person is committed to engage in armed conflict with all that brings in one’s state of mind, one’s capacity to adapt to use lethal force & one’s acceptance of delivering lethality. Every person who takes up a weapon to engage with an enemy if necessary faces those issues. And for over 100 years, they have been accepted as justifying special compensation. That the PC would wish to overturn the principle represents at the best confused & erroneous thinking & at the worst, a gross form of rationalisation to justify a reduction in levels of compensation & consequent reductions in financial outlays for the veteran community.
So what can be done?
 Firstly, recognise that as a Vietnam veteran, your entitlements are largely not affected by the Commissions’ recommendations. They will continue as long as there is a client base; that is & for example, gold cards will continue until we all die out!  What we need to recognise is that the future veteran of war will receive no further compensation beyond that of the service person with peacetime service.  If you are a member of an ex-service organisation such as the RSL, Legacy, VVA, VVF, RAAF Association etc, then make sure your views are passed to your Sub branch or Branch. They are aware of the Commission’s report & will most likely have made submissions.  If the Commission persists with its draft recommendations, then the veteran community should engage with Ministers & Cabinet to have the draft report not accepted.

A positive DVA story. They always come with a 'but ". Subject to the passage of Legislation. I wont hold my breath.

DVA Information Sheet Gold Card for members of the SEATO medical teams • On 16 December 2018, the Treasurer, the Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP and the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs the Hon Darren Chester MP announced that members of the SEATO surgical-medical teams who were employed in Vietnam between 1964 and 1972 will become eligible for the DVA Gold Card (Gold Card). • On 14 February 2019 the Treatment Benefits (Special Access) Bill was introduced into Parliament.

• This measure, which is subject to the passage of enabling legislation, will provide important recognition to the civilian surgical and medical teams, and will provide access to medical treatment via a Gold Card from 1 July 2019.

• Approximately 240 doctors, 210 nurses and a small number of administrative and technical staff were employed on the teams during the Vietnam War. • These teams played a vital role during the conflict through providing much needed medical assistance and training and treating thousands of Vietnamese civilian casualties. They provided this support, at a time when Vietnamese medical facilities and capability had dramatically diminished as a result of the war. • The measure recognises that while the medical teams were not under the direct command and control of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) during the Vietnam War, they were exposed to hazards and dangers as a result of working in a conflict zone for the Australian Government. While their experiences did not parallel those of ADF members, SEATO members were not untouched by their experiences. •
To date, these civilians have not had the same access to treatment and counselling for a range of mental-health conditions that ADF veterans have had. • The Gold Card will now provide the necessary support. With a Gold Card, regardless of whether it is related to employment in Vietnam, eligible SEATO members will be provided with access to medical treatment for any medical condition. Questions and answers

What changes are being made in this measure? • From 1 July 2019, eligible members of the civilian surgical and medical teams (CSMT)—employed by the then Department of External Affairs, as part of a Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) aid program during the Vietnam War—will be provided with additional health support in the form of a Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Gold Card.

When will the changes take effect? • The measure, dependent on the passing of legislation, will come into effect from 1 July 2019. Who will this impact? • Approximately 240 doctors, 210 nurses and a small number of administrative and technical staff were employed on the teams during the Vietnam War. We estimate that there are approximately 200 members who are eligible

What will be the impact of this change? • The measure will provide eligible CSMT members with treatment for all injuries or illnesses, not just those that may have arisen as a result of their employment in Vietnam, through a Gold Card from 1 July 2019. • Services available through this card include general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, medication, public or private hospital treatment and counselling. • CSMT members will also be eligible for the pharmaceutical supplement and payment for reasonable travel costs related to receiving medical treatment.

Does this measure provide compensation? • No, compensation payments for conditions relating to CSMT service will be available through Comcare. However, a person will not be eligible to receive treatment from both Comcare and DVA. • The measure does not provide CSMT members with eligibility for the service pension or eligibility for qualifying service under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986.

Why was the implementation date brought forward? • The original start date of 2020 announced in December 2018 was predicated on the need for DVA to develop new eligibility criteria, processes, procedures and IT systems for a group of people outside the usual DVA client group. • Members of the teams raised a number of concerns about their failing health, and advocacy was received from them and a number of associations requesting the measure be brought forward. • The Government has listened to these concerns and has brought the measure forward as a result.