This week’s Federal Budget once again failed to commit any funding to supporting Australian veteran families, a community that hasn’t seen a substantive policy update since 1986.
While the Government touts a record $53 billion Defence package, the limited funding flowing into the veteran portfolio is being funnelled into the most inefficient part of the ecosystem: government bureaucracy. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide identified that it is this part of the sector that veteran suicide, yet this budget doubles down on it instead of allocating any funding to the community organisations proven to actually make a tangible difference. While funding is needed to build the future state – funding is needed now in the community.
With the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs also being notably absent from the Cabinet table, this Budget – where veterans and their families are barely mentioned – reflects how low down the priority list we are. The Royal Commission acknowledged that supporting families is a direct investment in Defence capability. A high-tech force cannot be built on the backs of families who are quietly breaking.
The Government may point to the establishment of the new Veteran Wellbeing Agency as a solution, but this group likely won’t be ready to start allocating funding for at least another 12-18 months. And with conflict continuing to brew in the Middle East, we cannot afford to wait. Our modest $5.17 million we requested for trauma-informed crisis support, career development for partners, and our vital War Widows Program was ignored.
While we’re devastated by this result, the Families of Veterans Guild will be working even harder to advocate for our communities’ wellbeing. Because without our support, we will see:
- Increased isolation: Vulnerable war widows nationwide will face loneliness without expanded peer-support.
- Economic Strain: Veteran partners will remain three times more likely to be under- and unemployed, with less support to reclaim their careers.
- Ongoing and widening Mental Health Gaps: Families will continue to struggle through trauma and grief without specialist intervention.
You cannot ask families to sacrifice their stability for national security and then offer nothing in return. We will not stop advocating until every veteran family member is thriving.
