The proposed $5,000 cap on allied health services has dominated conversation across the veteran community this month. Below, our CEO Renee Wilson reflects on the debate, the advocates who have driven it, and why the Guild continues to call on the government to Scrap the Cap.
This month we saw a lot of debate around the unfair proposed $5,000 allied health cap. I want to, once again, recognise the ongoing, tireless work of the Coalition of Veterans Voices, as well as the support of cross-party advocates including Susan McDonald, Matt Canavan, Dr Anne Webster, Michael McCormack, Phil Thompson, Jacquie Lambie, Colin Boyce and David Shoebridge. Thanks to your work, the media cycle has continued to gather momentum around the cap, and our community’s voices have been heard.
A special thank you to Phil Thompson, Michael McCormack and Dr Anne Webster for recognising that war widows are part of this conversation in your statements and questions to parliament.
What has happened this month is a boiling over of the veteran community’s frustration: we’ve had enough of not being heard by our Minister and our government. In my 16+ years working in this space I have never seen our community come together in the way they have around this issue. We are roaring at the government with one unified message: No to this cap, plain and simple.
Alongside the rest of the community, the Families of Veterans Guild has been speaking up about this issue and persistently calling on the government to Scrap the Cap: for the veterans we love, and our war widows who are already struggling to access the critical healthcare they deserve.
We completely agree with David Shoebridge’s reflection on this policy: it is a savings measure, returning cash to the government to compensate for allied health care providers charging closer to the market rate for their services. This is a trade off no one in the sector agreed to and one that breaks Australia’s promise to look after veterans and families.
Recently, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke of the nation’s gratitude for our Vietnam veterans: he reinforced that the government honours, respects and thanks them for their service.
The clearest way to bring that statement to life is to Scrap the Cap: show our veterans, their families and war widows that you honour, respect and thank them for what they have given to Australia. They have given their health and wellbeing so that the rest of us might prosper. Pay what it takes for their healthcare and Scrap the Cap.
Sign Phillip Thompson’s Scrap the Cap petition here: https://www.philthompson.com.au/scrap-the-cap/
Sign Jacqui Lambie’s Scrap the Cap petition here: https://lambienetwork.com.au/pages/scrap-the-cap
