Statute Update Bill 2026

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT (15:29): Pursuant to order agreed this morning, the time allotted for the remaining stages of this bill has expired. I will now put the question before the chair, then put the questions on the remaining stages of the bill. I will begin with the second reading amendment circulated by the opposition.

The question is that the amendment on sheet 4093 be agreed to. Opposition's circulated amendment— At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate: (a) notes that: (i) the 2026-27 Budget announced a $5,000 Annual Monetary Limit for Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) funded allied health services from 1 July 2027, and (ii) notwithstanding the Government's subsequent description of the measure as a review threshold, continuation of care above $5,000 would be subject to further justification and DVA approval once a veteran approaches the threshold; and (b) considers that access to allied health treatment should be determined by a veteran's individual clinical needs, not by expenditure approaching, reaching or being expected to exceed an arbitrary monetary threshold; and (c) calls on the Government to: (i) abandon the proposed $5,000 Annual Monetary Limit in its entirety, including its practical operation as an expenditure-triggered review or approval threshold, and (ii) support amendments to this bill to amend the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to protect veterans from monetary caps and expenditure-based restrictions on clinically necessary allied health treatment".