Defence Legislation Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 2) Bill 2026
Mr KEOGH (Burt—Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel) (09:47): I move: That this bill be now read a second time. I'm pleased to present the Defence Legislation Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 2) Bill 2026. This bill reflects the government's ongoing commitment to responding to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
On 9 September 2024, the royal commission delivered its final report, making 122 recommendations. The government agreed to, or agreed-in-principle to, 104 of those recommendations. This bill directly implements 15 of those recommendations and supports a further 20 recommendations focused on strengthening health and wellbeing outcomes, improving suicide prevention and information sharing, supporting defence families, enhancing transition and continuity of care and modernising governance and accountability arrangements.
Broadly, the reforms in the bill support the health, wellbeing and safety of current and former ADF members, and their families, prioritising these matters in both Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA), supporting information sharing for these purposes, establishing more robust frameworks for defence health services, enhancing family supports and ensuring people who have been imprisoned for serious violence and sexual offences can never serve in the Defence Force.
The bill provides clear statutory authority for entrusted persons to collect, use and disclose information for research, data analysis and evaluation relating to health, wellbeing and safety outcomes. These powers are balanced by strong privacy safeguards, including compliance with ministerial guidelines, requirements for deidentification where practicable and alignment with the Privacy Act framework.
Critically, the bill supports a more integrated approach across Defence, DVA and other portfolio agencies, including the new veteran and family wellbeing agency. It enables more efficient and effective information sharing to support continuity of care, proactive outreach and improved transition arrangements, including the earlier transfer of relevant information from Defence to DVA.
This will support timely claims processing, compensation and tailored support for individuals identified as being at increased risk, consistent with royal commission recommendations 78, 80, 87 and 102 regarding moral injury, transition support, a veterans wellbeing agency, and family and domestic violence. Together with other royal commission related reforms, this bill delivers further practical, system-wide change aimed at reducing harm, supporting families and ensuring Defence is better equipped to intervene earlier and more effectively when members, veterans and families are at risk.
Specifically, the bill contains five schedules. Schedule 1 — Information sharing to improve wellbeing, health and safety outcomes Schedule 1 of the bill inserts a new part in the Defence Act 1903 focused on health and wellbeing support for Defence Force members, veterans and their families, and amends the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to enhance the Repatriation Commission's functions to include the provision of wellbeing supports for Defence Force members, veterans and their families, including during transition out of the Defence Force.
It establishes new arrangements to support the lawful, ethical and proportionate collection, use and disclosure of information to enhance health, wellbeing and safety outcomes for Defence members, veterans and their families. The royal commission identified that Defence and veterans systems hold critical information, but systemic deficiencies in information sharing and data integration have led to information siloes, delays or gaps in access.
These issues have been significant barriers to identifying risks and providing proactive support where needed, evaluating what works and strengthening suicide prevention. Schedule 1 addresses these issues by creating clear, transparent and proportionate authority for information sharing in critical areas of focus for the royal commission. Schedule 1 supports the implementation of several royal commission recommendations, including 74, 80, 87, 107, 110, and 116 regarding privacy legislation, transition, wellbeing, a national veterans data asset, Defence data and research, by striking the right balance between protecting privacy and enabling disclosure of information where a member or veteran may be at risk or in distress, supporting wellbeing during transition from service and underpinning the operation of the new Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency and the new National Veterans' Data Asset.
It will also enhance research and data capabilities, improve timeliness of information sharing between Defence and DVA to support claims-processing efficiency, and strengthen the quality, integration and use of data, particularly in relation to preventing suicide and suicidality. Defence and DVA are only able to collect personal information where it is reasonably necessary for the performance of their functions.
Use and disclosure will be limited to legislative purposes and safeguards—primarily health, wellbeing and safety of members, veterans and their families. These reforms will enable Defence and DVA to better understand suicide risk factors and deliver a more responsive and integrated experience for those across the Defence and DVA ecosystem, supporting earlier, proactive interventions for individuals assessed as vulnerable.
Faster access to ADF members' information will mean DVA can process claims from those members as they arise. This will directly address recommendations 94 and 98 of the royal commission regarding data sharing and DVA claim processing times. The new wellbeing and transition support functions will enable the Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency to connect individuals with tailored supports and services appropriate to their individual needs whether or not they have started a claim with DVA.
Schedule 2 — Defence health services Schedule 2 modernises and clarifies the legislative framework for Defence health services in direct response to several royal commission recommendations, including recommendations 67, 68, 76, 78, 113 and 116 regarding clinical governance frameworks, beneficial disclosures, postvention, moral injury, continuous improvement and research.
The Defence health system performs a unique role. It ensures members are fit to serve, supports operational capability, and underpins long-term health and wellbeing. The royal commission found that the legal framework governing this system has not kept pace with contemporary clinical practice, particularly in relation to mental health, data use and clinical governance.
Schedule 2 addresses this by clearly defining the Defence health system, those who work within it, the services it provides and the information it generates, and by clarifying how that information may be collected, used and disclosed. This clarification will improve access to timely mental health screening and enable the appropriate use of health information for system monitoring, quality assurance and continuous improvement.
The schedule allows Defence to collect, use and disclose health information for population-level monitoring and evaluation while embedding safeguards and strengthening legal protections for health practitioners involved in approved quality assurance and improvement activities. This ensures clinicians can engage openly and candidly in safety and quality assurance processes, mirroring best practice in civilian health systems.
This will, for the first time, provide a clear statutory framework governing how health information may be collected, used and disclosed within the Defence health system. It ensures members receive earlier, better coordinated care, while enabling command to make safe and appropriate fitness-for-duty decisions based on limited, relevant information. Critically, the framework is calibrated to member interests.
Statutory authority is provided for uses that support member health and operational readiness. This principled approach reflects the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide's recognition that ADF members' right to privacy and confidentiality must be respected alongside the health and operational needs of the force. The bill also supports alignment with the National Model Clinical Governance Framework, enabling Defence to actively manage clinical safety, monitor effectiveness and improve service quality in line with national standards.
These arrangements for Defence health services align with civilian settings and are tailored to the unique requirements of the ADF. For example, key decisions about which health conditions to monitor, what quality assurance activities to undertake and how state and territory requirements apply in the Defence health system are decisions made by the Surgeon-General of the ADF as the ADF officer with responsibility for delivery of the Defence health system.
These reforms respond directly to the royal commission's finding that data relevant to suicide, suicidality and health is often fragmented or unavailable when needed. Schedule 3 — Information sharing to support ADF families Schedule 3 of the bill strengthens legislative support for Defence families, recognising their critical role in the health, wellbeing and safety of Defence members.
It gives effect to royal commission recommendations 102 and 103 regarding family and domestic violence and support for Defence families by improving support, communication and services provided to Defence families, including through the Defence Strategy for Preventing and Responding to Family and Domestic Violence. The royal commission identified a clear nexus between family and domestic violence and suicide risk and emphasised the need for Defence to address family violence as part of its broader suicide prevention framework.
Service in the ADF can place significant strain on members and their families. Family and relationship breakdowns, particularly when compounded by the pressures of service life, can increase the risk of harm, including suicidality, for serving and ex-serving members. Schedule 3 responds by ensuring systems are in place to communicate directly with families about available services, payments and supports.
It allows for information sharing so that families are better informed and better supported and ensures that former partners impacted by family and domestic violence are not excluded from assistance during separation. In practice this will enable provision of a payment or benefit to a former partner in relation to family or domestic violence to assist the safe separation of the former partner and the member.
Schedule 4 — Requirements to serve in the Defence Force Schedule 4 introduces clearer and fairer end-of-service provisions to strengthen integrity, accountability and procedural fairness within Defence. It implements royal commission recommendation 22 by establishing more transparent and consistent arrangements for mandatory end of service where members are convicted of certain offences, while preserving appropriate safeguards and review mechanisms.
The royal commission emphasised that Defence decision-making affecting a person's service must be clear, proportionate and consistent with contemporary community expectations. Schedule 4 responds by modernising legislative arrangements governing acceptance into service, continuation of service and termination, ensuring decisions are made on a sound statutory footing and with appropriate procedural protections.
These reforms provide greater clarity for members and decision-makers, reduce the risk of inconsistent and ad hoc outcomes, and ensure that decisions to enter, continue or leave service are made in a way that is transparent, fair and aligned with contemporary standards. Critically, these changes strengthen fitness for service and end-of-service provisions to make clear that anyone who is imprisoned for an act of serious violence or a sexual offence will automatically be separated from service and will not be accepted back into service in the Defence Force.
Schedule 5 — Other amendments Schedule 5 makes a number of minor amendments that support the independence of the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission and its ability to undertake its role consistently with royal commission recommendation 122. These changes improve transparency, strengthen accountability mechanisms and ensure that inquiry powers and reporting processes function as intended.
This bill represents a considered, comprehensive and necessary response to the findings of the royal commission. It supports better health, wellbeing and safety outcomes for members, veterans and families. It strengthens information sharing to support prevention and early intervention, modernises Defence health governance, improves support for families and ensures service entry and exit arrangements are grounded in safety, integrity and accountability.
Above all, it ensures that Defence and DVA systems are fit for purpose, designed to protect the health, wellbeing and safety of those who serve, have served and those who support them, and to give practical, lasting effect to the findings and intent of the royal commission. I'd like to acknowledge, in the complexity of this legislation, the need to get this right, and I thank the opposition and the crossbench, as well as ex-service organisations, for their engagement on this bill and continued engagement.
We will be referring this bill for a Senate inquiry. I commend the bill. Debate adjourned.