Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Veterans' Healthcare Without Caps) Bill 2026

Senator McALLISTER (New South Wales—Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) (09:07): Later today, this chamber will have the opportunity to consider two bills which substantially advance the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. These bills will implement 20 recommendations and support the implementation of an additional 20, and I look forward to that debate because I acknowledge the commitment in this chamber to supporting the veteran community.

I acknowledge, in particular, Senator Lambie, who, in her entire time in the Senate, has chosen to use that time to advocate for the veteran community and, in doing so, has engaged in a very constructive way with our government. That is something that we appreciate very much. Our government has deep respect for our veterans, who have served and who continue to serve our country, and anyone who pulls on the nation's uniform to serve in our name deserves nothing less than respect.

Our 2026 budget featured a proposal to make the biggest increase to allied health fees, paid by the Department of Veterans' Affairs to support veterans, in 20 years. This proposal was coupled with a plan to reduce the administrative burden for 90 per cent of veterans, allied health practitioners and GPs, with the removal of the current treatment cycle in favour of a new system.

The proposed threshold measure set out to reduce the burden on veterans to go back to a GP every 12 allied health visits for a new referral, instead expanding this to a $5,000 threshold before a veteran's care is reviewed. We've been consulting on this measure, and we have heard from veterans that there are concerns about this approach. We've been listening carefully, and today the government is taking the proposed $5,000 threshold off the table.

We will not change our commitment to improving access to allied health care through the fee increase to allied health providers. Fees for allied health providers supporting veterans will increase on 1 July 2027, as planned. We will continue to engage with the veteran and provider community on how we can continue to deliver on the objective of achieving better veteran wellbeing outcomes while ensuring the integrity of the system.

I thank those members of the veterans community who have engaged with us on this question so far. We appreciate very much the constructive nature of that engagement and your feedback. As I said, I wish to thank Senator Lambie for her advocacy and cooperation on this measure in particular.

We cannot support the bill that is being brought forward today by Senator Lambie because of the changes that we've announced today and because the way it is drafted potentially introduces unintended consequences, but we will continue to work with the veterans community and we will continue to work with Senator Lambie as we continue our work to support veterans.