Radio Interview - ABC Perth with Oliver Peterson

Tuesday, 23 June 2026 The Hon Matt Keogh MP Minister for Veterans' Affairs Minister for Defence Personnel E&OE TRANSCRIPT ABC PERTH, WITH OLIVER PETERSON MONDAY 22 JUNE 2026 Changes for the veteran community on 1 July 2026 – Veterans’ entitlements system reform, launch of Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency, Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide OLIVER PETERSON, HOST : It is at 12 after 5.

Now, you may recall during open lines and open mics Friday a week ago, John in Melville called up to get the word out there that there are some big changes coming for our veterans. : I just wanted the world to know that on the 30th of… on the 1st of July of this year, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or the Government is going to issue a new act, a new Veterans Affairs act, which will replace the previous three acts that we had.

And there's going to be considerable changes in the entitlements and support given to veterans and I'm not sure the words getting out there because there's going to be a lot of stuff that veterans should know about and make sure that their entitlements that they currently get. Now, for those who are on the very gracious Veteran Affairs entitlements, appreciate the changes that are going to take place because a lot of them are going to be affected this time.

Oly, it's really sad because when the other Act was introduced many years ago, they did have a lot of training went on and a lot of, what would you call it, publicity about the new Act when the new MRCA Act came in in 2004, spreading the word around the whole veteran community. But this time there's been very little. I haven't seen any.

I have seen bits and pieces of it because I'm an advocate and I've been keen to learn about a lot of it. But I've only been to one meeting with DVA where they've sort of talked about this new Act and even then the guy that ran it didn't know a lot of the answers to the questions that were being put to them. : So, that was John in Melville Friday week ago, but on 1322 1225, are you a veteran?

And if so, does that all speak to you? Are you across these changes? Because the Federal Government says from the first of July it's going to become much simpler to submit and it'll be quicker to make a claim.

And a new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency is going to open up. To talk through the changes and to answer your questions, I'm joined live on Drive by Matt Keogh, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. Good afternoon.

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL : Hey, Oly, great to be with you. : Thank you. Minister, can you just step us through this new Veterans Act because we understand it's essentially the merging of three old pieces of legislation. : Yeah. So, great opportunity - I heard that call the other day and really wanted to make sure that everyone's clear about the changes that come in from the 1st of July.

So, up until now, we've had three different schemes that have supported veteran claims for compensation, access to health cover and that covered veterans over different time periods, different types of service, and some veterans are covered by two, or sometimes even all three different schemes. Incredibly complex, created a lot of delay. The Royal Commission itself - the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, called this out and said, this needs to be fixed, it needs to be simplified, it's contributing to suicidality in the veteran community.

So, we took that on, did a huge amount of consultation across the veteran community all across Australia over a number of years to make sure we got this change right. What we're moving to from the first of July is instead of having three systems, there'll be one system going forward. Now, what's really important about this is for any veteran that's already getting benefits, who's receiving payments, they will continue to get what they were already getting.

No one goes backwards, no one gets changed in that way, they get to keep what they're already getting. But for any new claim - so, if a veteran has a new condition arise, or if an existing condition gets materially worse and they put in a new claim to DVA, that'll be dealt with under this one ongoing scheme. That's important because it means it's easier for veterans to know what they're entitled to because they only need to worry about one piece of legislation.

And it means it's easier for the Department to process those claims because we don't have this complexity of interacting across three different pieces of legislation. So, we're trying to make it simpler, we're trying to make it better for veterans and we're making sure that it's not complicated, because if you're already getting something, there's nothing you need to do.

You keep getting what you were already getting and in some cases it's actually improved for you. So, for example, under some of the old schemes, if we were reimbursing you for travel costs, you were reimbursed at a lower amount. Under one of the schemes, you were reimbursed at a higher amount, but not for the first certain number of kilometres.

We're making it clear that we're going to give you the higher amount for every kilometre that you're being reimbursed, and that will apply for no matter what scheme you were coming under. So, there's some improvements here, which is really important and it makes it simpler for everybody going forward. But importantly, no one goes backwards.

And we have been rolling out training for the advocates. There's videos online. People can see this on the DVA website, not just for advocates, but for any veteran or family member who wants to know how this works, there's examples about how it may impact somebody going forward.

So, people can really understand this. And that's come out of the consultations that we've done over a number of years now to make sure we've got really clear information for the veteran community. . So, those who are on their current benefits, they're going to be grandfathered.

But as you said, if a new situation arises, or there needs to be some re-evaluation of perhaps an entitlement because a condition may have deteriorated, they could be up for reassessment. Minister that's right? : That'll happen under, and that'll happen under the single ongoing scheme. But importantly, in the way we've designed this, no one ever goes backwards.

And let's give you another example. You're probably familiar with the Nashos, those that were conscripted to serve in our army. Some of them went off to Vietnam, others did their two years of national service here in Australia.

When they finished that national service, they didn't have any entitlements. Now, that's changed over the years, So, some of them have been able to get entitlements through what we call a White Card, but they had no pathway to a Gold Card. With these changes, with the new scheme, the ongoing scheme, the single scheme, if a Nasho is to put in a claim under the new scheme and their level of impairment crosses the threshold, they will become eligible for a Gold Card that was something never available to them before.

So, these are some significant improvements in what we're delivering. : You've also established a Family Wellbeing Agency. How is that going to work, Minister? And will it be a physical location that people can actually attend? : So, this is the new Veterans and Family Wellbeing Agency.

And this comes out of another Royal Commission recommendation that DVA processes claims so people can access health care, get rehabilitation treatment, compensation, but the need to look at veterans more holistically, to look at the broader wellbeing factors that come into play, especially when we're considering things like veteran suicide, is really important and that's what this Wellbeing Agency will be targeting.

So, initially you will see that there will be a new website, there will be a phone line that people can access that will support things like navigating veteran services, trying to find a service that can support what a veteran needs. But this will coordinate in with things like the Veteran and Family Hubs that we have in key locations around Australia where you've got a concentration of veterans.

So, you'll have this Agency sitting nationally, those Hubs sitting in key locations coordinating with the Agency as well as. And it'll be doing work on the ground with those veterans that are transitioning from full time Defence service to civilian life as well, making sure that no gaps open up, say between what someone, how someone supported while they're in Defence and then if they need further support through DVA once they leave Defence, making sure that no gaps open up there, that they're connected to the right services before they leave the Defence Force, so that if they need that extra support, they're getting it at what can be a critical time for a veteran in that point of transition. : You would have heard John earlier saying that there hasn't been enough communication going out to veterans now those changes come in under a fortnight.

Do you think people are prepared? : Well, yeah, I'm sorry to hear him say that because I know that DVA has been reaching out and engaging very clearly with advocates and with the ex-service organisations that engage those advocates to support our veterans. And there's been a lot of training programs run, but more broadly, as well as on social media, we've also got the Veterans Affairs magazine that goes out to every existing DVA client twice a year, sorry, four times a year.

And so that's had information about this as a coming up change now for a long period of time. So, we have been reinforcing this message over and over again and we're doing a lot of that over the next few weeks as well to make sure everyone's aware. But of course people don't need to stress because it's not like, oh, this changes on the 1st of July and now all of your benefits are going to change.

No, no, no. People keep getting what they were already getting. So, they don't need to make a change in their arrangements because of the legislative change.

But it means for new claims going forward, they're going to be looked after better. : Alright. Just finally. The work doesn't stop here though, Minister.

There are still dozens of recommendations from the Royal Commission yet to be implemented. Where is your attention turning to next? : So, Oly, I was really happy that by the end of last year we had about a quarter of those recommendations, 32 had been implemented. We're on track for about two thirds of them being implemented by the end of this year.

We've got a number of pieces of legislation that will be going through the Parliament this year that are about implementing those recommendations that need legislative change. That's really important, but importantly, the first or the most… what the Royal Commission said was its most important recommendation was to set up a new legislative body, that legislated body that has oversight over the Government implementing these recommendations.

And we did that straight away. That's been up and running since September last year and it's already started its first inquiry looking into how we're going and implementing these recommendations. So, we've got them, you know, sitting over our shoulder, making sure that we're doing the hard yards to support our veterans and our Defence personnel and families in implementing these recommendations and we're moving through them quickly. : Matt Keogh, thank you very much for your time. : Thanks, Oly.

Great to chat. : That's the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs outlining those changes coming into effect from the first of July. Over to you. 1300 22. 1025. It's 23 past five.

This is drive with Oliver Peterson. Media Contact Stephanie Mathews (Minister Keogh’s Office): 0407 034 485 [email protected] Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 Open Arms website Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072 Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 Defence Health Portal Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608