MATTERS OF URGENCY

Senator LAMBIE (Tasmania) (16:41): I move: That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency: The Albanese Government must immediately scrap the proposed $5,000 cap on allied health services for veterans which is contrary to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and represents a callous disregard for veterans' health and wellbeing.

Yesterday, 18 August, was Vietnam Veterans' Day. It was our Vietnam veterans who first called for a royal commission into the treatment of Australian veterans by our government. Thanks to years of campaigning from veterans, mothers and families who are advocates, and the many Australians who stood beside us, we got the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

The royal commissioners were clear: one of the biggest triggers for veterans taking their own lives is the lack of timely, accessible and ongoing health care. The minister and the Prime Minister embraced the royal commission's findings. On the day of the report's release, the Prime Minister said, 'Just as our veterans and defence personnel step up for our country, we have an obligation to step up for them.' I have asked: how is putting a $5,000 cap on our allied health providers stepping up for us?

DVA is supporting over 357,000 veterans, with about 3,000 of them receiving allied health services in excess of $15,000 a year. That's less than one per cent of us. The question is: How did DVA measure the effectiveness of those services?

Did they get them back on their feet? Did they get us back on our feet? Did they improve our quality of life?

You're not stepping up for veterans; you are now stepping on us veterans. There is a growing number of organisations, including the national RSL—thank you, Peter Tinley; it's great to see the national RSL active again. I know you've been on those phones for over a month, Tinley.

I've seen you walking the corridors up here, mate. Thanks for your support—all the veterans out there, all the ESOs and, of course, the mothers (it's always the mothers), like Julie-Anne Finney (thank you, Julie-Anne), speaking with one voice, saying, 'Scrap the cap.' DVA's approach to veteran care is going backwards. Doctors and specialists are getting out because their fees are much lower when they treat veterans—and it would help if DVA would actually pay them on time.

I know of at least five doctors over the last month who have stopped treating veterans because they can't afford it, and there are many on the sidelines saying that they can't hold on for much longer. Veterans are waiting months for DVA to approve a claim when their treating doctor has already delivered to DVA a report that proves their claim, or they get shunted off to mlcoa, an independent assessor that we do not trust, to get an additional report.

It's just another slap in our faces. You don't want to pay a little bit extra for our doctors; you want to go the cheap way. That is not going to save lives.

If a doctor tells me that I have to get a procedure, I could be waiting up to 60 days for DVA to approve it, and for some liability claims it's taking well over 12 months just to decide on the initial liability claim. Are you kidding me! I'm lucky I have a good job and some savings that I can draw down on to pay for a procedure upfront.

Most veterans do not. They cannot pay upfront. According to DVA's own data, there are currently over 100,000 claims waiting to be ticked off.

As I told the Senate last night, in some cases DVA has used medical reports that have been provided to them to assess claims and still have not paid for those reports. You are shameful—absolutely shameful! I heard of another case yesterday.

The DVA has asked for the same report three times and received that report three times—three times! This is an incident that is growing and growing. We are going back to the good old days.

I can't believe how far we have come, and now we are going backwards. What is happening in that department? What you need to ask yourself is: how many veterans' lives will this cost?

Is it worth the one per cent of us—seriously, the worst of us? It's not worth it. This proposed cap on allied health services is totally out of step with the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

For the seven per cent of veterans like me that have ongoing chronic issues from our service, this is a hammer blow. Allied health—which includes such things as physiotherapists, psychologists, podiatrists and exercise physiologists, along with other allied health services—is often the difference between a veteran getting back on their feet or not. So I ask Minister Keogh and the Prime Minister to please scrap this cap.

I do believe it will cause suicides. But the shame of it is—I don't understand why you're having this fight with us. There are other savings that could be made in that department without hitting veterans.

It is not worth it. And it is not worth your leadership, PM; it's just not. But, more importantly, it is not worth a veteran's life.

So, once again, I am begging you to scrap the cap.