Radio Interview - ABC Sydney drive with Thomas Oriti

Wednesday, 2 September 2026 The Hon Matt Keogh MP Minister for Veterans' Affairs Minister for Defence Personnel E&OE TRANSCRIPT RADIO INTERVIEW ABC SYDNEY DRIVE WITH THOMAS ORITI WEDNESDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2026 : Allied Health changes for the veteran community THOMAS ORITI, HOST : At the centre of all of this is a planned change to veterans access to Allied Health.

So, there's said to be a $5,000 limit on allied health care spending for veterans. With spending over that amount to require demonstrated clinical need, it's a bit complex. Normie Rowe was with us on drive a couple of weeks ago, himself a Vietnam veteran, making this argument: NORMIE ROWE : That cap of $5,000 for allied health services that can kill people.

I can tell you that right now. I know people who, without those services will die. They just can't survive. : Now, we've spoken to Legacy, we've had the Vietnam Veteran Association on this program as well, also airing their concerns, and the changes are set to take effect from July next year.

So, to find out more, the Veterans' Affairs Minister, Matt Keogh, has agreed to come on the program, which we appreciate. Minister, good afternoon. MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFARIS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL : Good afternoon, Thomas.

Great to be with you and your listeners. : Thank you for joining us. Now, I should acknowledge at the outset, there's a lot in this new plan, right? There's a lot of talk about the $5,000 threshold at the moment, but it doesn't end there, does it.

So, what's the Government planning here more broadly? MINISTER KEOGH : So, what we're looking at trying to do here is really recognising that there's some impediments in the way of veterans accessing allied health care and improving the way in which they can access allied health care. And there's two key parts to that.

The first is feedback we've had for a long time from Allied Health professionals, as well as from the veteran community themselves, that allied health services providers are saying, look, DVA doesn't pay us enough to keep servicing veterans. Because an important part of how we support veterans is there's no gap. DVA pays the full bill, but they've been saying, look, you're not paying us enough.

And so part of what we're doing here is increasing the fees. The biggest increase in 20 years in the fees going to allied health providers to make sure that they're still providing good service to our veterans, which is incredibly important. The other element is that what we have had up to date, up to now, is this treatment cycle where veterans have to get a referral to access an allied health professional, but after every 12 sessions of treatment, they have to go back and get a new referral.

And that puts a burden on the veteran. But it also puts a burden on the allied health provider and GPs. And so what we've said is, look, as part of increasing fees and accessibility, we want to take that burden away as well.

And we're going to change that so that you can continue to access your allied health services all the way to a $5,000 threshold. And at that point, DVA will then do an assessment around your needs, making sure we're looking at the entire, you know, treatment plan for that veteran. Now, really importantly, though, we're not saying that they stop receiving services and we're not saying they'll even stop receiving services while DVA is doing that assessment, because we're very clear we don't want any gap in service provision.

And so that's why we've designed it in that way. And we're consulting around how those processes of assessment will occur now. And that's what we've released a discussion paper about and are engaging with the veteran community about.

And just one last point. It's important to recognise that Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Veterans, or those on the Special Rate Disability Pension or who are eligible for that pension, or those that have been determined to be catastrophically injured, so all cohorts that you would appreciate would have complex needs, more likely to need more allied health support.

They're exempt from the $5,000 threshold as well. : OK, I just want to play a bit of Michael McCormack, the Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs. He was speaking on News24, formerly Sky, this afternoon about this. MICHAEL MCCORMACK, SHADOW MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS : We've got veterans who cannot understand why Minister Matt Keogh has placed a $5,000 cap on allied health.

Our veterans, and there are more than half a million of them, cannot understand why their service and sacrifice is being betrayed in this way. And I've had wall to wall opposition to this $5,000 insidious cap. : OK, now, Matt Keogh, obviously you don't see this as an insidious cap, but one point he made today was that nobody saw this coming. It's not just Michael McCormack.

The Vietnam Veterans Association says it took them by surprise. Legacy said it didn’t know it was coming either. Should there have been more consultation about this?

MINISTER KEOGH : Well, what we've been clear on, and we have been getting feedback on for a long period of time, is about those payment rates and also about the treatment cycle putting an undue burden on veterans and providers. And so what we outlined was that we wanted to change that system out, remove the treatment cycle, move to this system where you don't need to be going backwards and forwards if you're using under $5,000 worth of allied health and then only have a system of assessment after that 5,000.

And to understand that, that means more than 90% of veterans no longer have to do the treatment cycle and they don't get near the $5,000 threshold. So, that's a great improvement for them. : And to be clear, sorry to interrupt, even before they reach that threshold, it's my understanding that DVA will work with them and their healthcare team to review their treatment plans and approve additional care.

So, is that to say that even if they reach that $5,000 cap, if they need more treatment, they will get it? It won't be cut off? MINISTER KEOGH : Absolutely.

We are not cutting anybody off from access to treatment that they need. Of course, we would never do that. This is about making sure that we're improving wellbeing outcomes for our veteran community, making sure that there is some assessment over where they need over $5,000 worth of allied health service to say, is this meeting all of your needs?

Is this properly working? Are there other things that might provide you a greater health outcome? And making sure that we're properly supporting those veterans who are clearly using a more than average amount of allied health.

And so we're going to work with them if that's what they need. But we're not about stopping people accessing things that they need clinically to support them. That's really important.

And I think that's why veterans are shocked when Michael McCormack and others talk about it in the terms that they are, because that's not what we're actually doing. : Okay. Could you have solved that burden that you were talking about a moment ago, Minister, without having to put in the threshold, the cap? MINISTER KEOGH : Well, we would need to have a marker that says at a certain point, we are going to work with you around making sure that your health needs are being properly met.

And so when you look at the median use, so even with the increase in fees that we're making, so this is a significant increase, biggest increase in 20 years. The median usage rate for allied health services, about $2,600 a year. So, the threshold we've set is almost double that. : You say the majority of veterans don't actually use that much in Allied Health services every year?

MINISTER KEOGH : More than 90%. : We should also make it clear because I've got a, sorry to interrupt again, but I've just got a few people questioning this on the text line. We're not talking about going to a doctor for treatment, are we? We're talking about Allied Health services… there’s a difference there..

MINISTER KEOGH : That’s a really important element. So, we're not talking about GPs, we're not talking about dental, we're not talking about optical, we're not talking about hearing, we're not talking about mental health services that are accessed through Open Arms, which is our Defence, veteran and family counselling service. We're talking about things like a chiropractor, a psych outside of Open Arms.

You know, diabetes, dietitian, exercise physiology, OTs, physiotherapy, podiatrists, social workers. That's what Allied Health is. It's not surgery, it's none of those things.

So, it's really important that people understand it's a particular cohort of medical support services that are called allied health. And the median usage at the moment, with the increase in fees that we're going to bring in, is about 2,600. The threshold for further assessment kicks in at 5,000.

It means for the more than 90% of veterans that are under that, this makes it easier because they're not having to continually go back and get new referrals every 12 sessions. : I've just got a couple of questions on that. Louise in Katoomba has said, how will that assessment be done? Will it be done using AI, is Louise's question.

But once you reach that threshold, who makes the decision about whether you can keep getting the care? MINISTER KEOGH : So, that'll be done based on information from the veteran's own medical providers and then it'll be assessed within DVA. And we will also use medical experts in DVA in that assessment.

It's not an AI assessment at all. And where DVA thinks there's a change required, then they'll engage with the veteran and their medical providers around that. That's not going to be just some sort of cut off.

And I know that there's a concern. I just want to talk to this, some people say, oh, well, what if DVA takes too long to assess it? : It's funny. So, John has just said, can you ask the Minister why some decisions are taking so long?

I've had a claim in since November 24th. I assume you mean the 24th of November last year, not 2024. But anyway, there you go.

And I still don't have a decision John says. MINISTER KEOGH : Yeah, so in terms of these Allied Health decisions, where there's an assessment, if someone needs to go over the threshold, what we're saying is veterans will still be able to access the allied health services while DVA is making that assessment. So, if DVA takes longer, there's no stop in access services on the veteran, the veteran continues to access.

That's really important. We understand that. But in terms of the other question you just had - right now, if someone's bringing a new claim for initial liability so that's they get an accepted health condition and can access health care and support within DVA, those claims that are being brought in the last 12 months and decided they're averaging around 140 days.

So, that's about four months or so. Some of that time is time where we might be waiting on a further medical report or information from Defence, for example. So, DVA itself spends around 100 days on them.

Now we obviously want to make that shorter. There are some other claims for other compensation that can take longer and we're working through that. We've really bolstered the numbers within DVA.

We've made a significant increase. DVA is the best resourced it's been in three decades. But what we've also seen is the number of conditions that people are claiming for now has more than doubled in the last few years.

So, there's been a big increase. And part of that's because people have recognised we've improved the system which is good and so they're bringing forward more claims and you know, veterans should get the treatment and support that they deserve and we're about delivering that. MINISTER KEOGH : But in any individual case there can be different reasons why things, why a claim may take a different amount of time.

But we've got a web page on the DVA website that sets out those average processing times and how we're performing and improving those outcomes. : It's not working for John. He said 20, it was November 2024, not the 24th of November last year. MINISTER KEOGH : And there may be, I don't know what sort of claim that is and, and where there was further information.

So, I just don't know. And some claims do take longer because they can be quite complex. You know this is less like getting a pension through Services Australia and more like workers compensation. : Is it because veterans are getting older as well with respect to them?

Is that why you are getting more claims? MINISTER KEOGH : So, there's a myriad of reasons there. Part of it is that we've improved the system which is really good that people feel that they can get their claims looked at.

And I know talking to older veterans where they weren't even aware that sometimes they could get support through DVA because when they left the Defence Force they weren't eligible but now they are and we're making that more known. So, for example, this is a good opportunity for me to promote this. If you're a National Serviceman, but you didn't deploy, but you did get injured during your National Service here in Australia, you are eligible to get support for those injuries that were caused through your Defence service and you can make a claim through DVA.

Now, a lot of that cohort, and I hope many are listening, they're not aware that they can get support through DVA because at the time they couldn't. MINISTER KEOGH : And so we are seeing more of those claims and, you know, they are older, if you like, and those conditions have, they've had them for some time and that adds complexity as well. : Okay. Minister Matt Keogh is with us on 702 ABC Sydney.

It's 22 past five. I don't want to sound insensitive here because, but I feel like you, you do deserve the right of reply to this because I played the Jacqui Lambie audio earlier and she, she was open about her own health issues. And I, and I'm, you know, I don't want to sound insensitive about it, but someone's texted in saying, well, we should, we should clarify here.

Is the surgery she was talking about, is that actually irrelevant? Because it would never been performed by allied health anyway, so we bring in sort of seeking surgery through the DVA and a decision to pay for it out of her own pocket, would that have actually been relevant when it comes to providing Allied Health services and this cap MINISTER KEOGH : Yeah, look, and can I just address it this way?

You know, obviously I have great respect for Jacqui and work really closely with her and I'm in contact with her very regularly. I don't really want to get into her personal health circumstances, but to clarify… : It’s not my intention and obviously it's an issue she's very passionate about and she's a veteran herself. So, I, I didn't want to go into that either.

I totally agree. But there's a lot of confusion on the text line about that difference between health support and surgery and Allied Health. MINISTER KEOGH : So, I'll clarify the general issue.

MINISTER KEOGH : So, surgery is not part of Allied Health, but there are circumstances where sometimes a particular type of surgery that someone needs or where they want to access that surgery or how it's going to be delivered or for whatever reason, sometimes people need a particular type of health delivery and that's outside the normal scope of how DVA ordinarily does things.

And so of course, we're always going to support everyone who has an injury caused by service. But there can be an extra process for approval for those and they get worked through. And that's different, that's completely different to Allied Health.

Now, this is a good example, though, of where in talking about this, sometimes a veteran will require surgery for something, and then after that they're going to require some allied health services as part of that recovery. And so part of the thing we are asking people to provide us with feedback on with the discussion paper we've released in the consultation is, are there particular ways we could support people in those circumstances to make sure that they are able to access allied health services where that may take them over the threshold in one instance, because they need intense support immediately after surgery, for example?

And is there an easier way to approve that in the whole so that’s done in advance, for example. So, that's something we're seeking feedback on at the moment, to make sure that people always get access to the service that they need, because that's what fundamentally DVA and the Government is here to do to support those people who put on our nation's uniform, to potentially fight in our defence and on our behalf, to make sure they get all the support that they need and deserve. : But to be clear and with all sensitivity, that scenario of not being able to seek surgery anymore… MINISTER KEOGH : Surgery's not part of allied health. : It is not part of this situation.

So, that scenario we heard about there is not necessarily applicable to the conversation we're having now. MINISTER KEOGH : I think… no. So, surgery is not covered by any of these arrangements that we've been discussing today.

In fairness to Jacqui, in the speech that she gave in the Senate, she was speaking about some of the issues that she raised personally, and then she also spoke about the Allied Health matter. And they're unrelated. : Yeah. The only reason why I wanted to bring it up is there's a lot of language going on.

And leaving Senator Lambie aside, it's an issue she's passionate about. But, you know, people saying, you know, people are going to die as a result of this. That was a quote from Normie Rowe a couple of weeks ago.

If you do this, people are going to die. What's your response to that language at the moment around this? Because there's a lot of people out there that have been very passionate about this topic for a number of weeks now.

MINISTER KEOGH : Sure. And I think people have had some concern that somehow by making these changes, we were going to stop people being able to access services if they were going to use more than $5,000, even where they needed those services. And what we've been very clear and is articulated in the discussion paper that we've released, that firstly, where people need those services, they will be assessed and be able to get access to those services.

And two, while they're waiting on an assessment, which shouldn't take too long, but while they're waiting, they can continue to access services so there's no break in service delivery. And what's, I can understand, though, not helpful in the discussion and this was something that was raised with me today... I did a roundtable with a number of veteran organisations this afternoon here in Sydney around this policy, is where people are focusing on an element which they may be misdescribing, like the $5,000 and not providing the information around but DVA will support people who have a clinical need to get more services.

And we've been clear that whilst they're waiting for DVA to do an assessment, they can continue to access services. Because we obviously don't want to take away a service that people need. And that's not what this is about.

It's about improving access by making sure providers continue to provide that access and it makes it easier for the vast majority of veterans by taking an administrative burden off them when they're using allied health as well. : Ok, we're going to head to the news and the traffic in a moment, Minister, but consultation ahead. How's all that going to work ahead of all of this?

Coming in in, what is it? July next year? Is that right?

MINISTER KEOGH : July next year. So, we've still got time. So, how it works is, I've been doing a number of engagements with ex-service organisations since we announced the policy back in May and we've now released a discussion paper with some specific questions around how do we make the… how do we operationalise this, if you like, in terms of people getting approvals, how DVA does that assessment, et cetera.

And I had a meeting with veteran organisations here today in Sydney. I'm off to Adelaide tonight to do another one there and I'm working around the country doing those as well as, there is an online information session tonight, 6:00pm, that DVA is doing online. There'll be a number of those over the next month or so, as well as some broader town hall type engagements to make sure that we're collecting that feedback directly as well as, of course, through the discussion paper, people can send written feedback back to DVA.

So, all the information and the discussion paper and how to provide feedback is available online on the DVA website. All people need to do, really, probably the easiest way to do it is Google DVA Allied Health changes. You'll get the webpage.

It's got the discussion paper. People can provide feedback but that's the best way to understand how these changes actually work to support our veteran community better. : Okay. We appreciate you coming on Minister.

Thank you very much. MINISTER KEOGH : Been great to be with you. : Take care. The Veterans' Affairs Minister Matt Keogh joining us there on 702 ABC Sydney Drive.

It's 28 minutes past 5. I I hope that that's at least helped to clarify some, some issues. It's an issue that a lot of people, Jacqui Lambie being one but many other people are very, very passionate about at the moment.

Consultation underway now so you still can have your say and the changes are set to take effect from July next year. Media Contact Stephanie Mathews (Minister Keogh’s Office): 0407 034 485 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