Over the course of the last few months, we have been heavily involved in the consultations that have taken place as part of both the generalist and core design group for a national peak body for the veteran support organisation sector. This work is in response to Recommendation 89 of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This work builds on the previous consultations undertaken by the community sector throughout the years of the Royal Commission which was led by RSL Australia and a coalition of other veterans support organisations.

Why a National Peak Body is needed in the veteran support sector

The consultations have been very in depth and have highlighted the significant need for a peak body to exist within our sector. They have demonstrated the need for that peak body to ensure that it builds capacity and capability across the sector while doing its best to bring together a very diverse community sector.

What is a Peak Body and why it matters for our sector

Peak bodies are not new they exist all around our community in other sectors across Australia and internationally. They exist where there are multiple organisations or multiple interests surrounding a particular issue or a group of people. While not new as a concept it is new for our sector.

Key themes from the consultation process

During the consultations we have heard a lot about the importance of equity and equality. The role and responsibilities of the peak body and of course the importance of independence, accountability, transparency and strong governance.

Looking ahead: a collaborative opportunity for sector growth

This is a unique opportunity to start to come together and truly collaborate as a sector. We look forward to receiving the outcomes of this consultation work and hearing about the next steps as soon as they become available.

Our role remains: advocating for war widows and veteran families

Importantly a peak body will not replace this organisation, nor will it replace our advocacy work it is just another vehicle through which we can raise the voices of war widows, defence and veteran families; and work on systemic change across our sector that benefits as many as possible.

The post Peak Body Consultation first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

On 13 February 2025, the Senate referred an inquiry into Compensation and income support for veterans to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Reference Committee. The Committee is set to inquire into the representation of and advice provided by ex-service organisations, commercial entities, not-for-profits and individuals to veterans and families in relation to accessing compensation and income support.

How we gathered feedback from veteran families

We asked veterans and their families to share their views with us so we could prepare our response. We had a small response to our request, but it was enough to validate our thinking. We have just made our submission and in summary here is what it says.

Core issues in the current veteran compensation scheme

The veteran compensation scheme is notoriously difficult to access, often requiring veterans and their families to seek help to navigate their entitlements. Despite recent legislative consolidation, the underlying culture of mistrust and adversarial nature of the system remains unchanged.

Our submission: a call for reform and recognition

Our submission outlines several core principles, including the unique nature of military service linking those to the compensation system that has since evolved and calls for a return to these principles. In particular, we highlight a critical point of failure in the system, where veterans and their families have to rely on third parties to access their entitlements, facing complex processes and lifelong journeys with the Department of Veterans Affairs (‘DVA’).

Voices of veterans and families: lived experiences with DVA

In our submission we highlight the views of veterans, and their families shared with us. They had mixed views on the claims system, highlighting issues such as bureaucracy, inconsistent advocacy quality, and unnecessary delays. The veterans and their families saw a need for enhanced training, accountability and service standards.

Read our full submission to the Senate Inquiry

You can read our full submission here.

The post Our submission to Senate Inquiry into Compensation and Income Support for Veterans first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

Overview of our response

In summary, our response to the strategy highlights the importance of supporting and empowering the families of veterans to achieve a stronger, more sustainable, and resilient defence and veteran community. Our response advocates for improvements in multiple areas. While we welcome the existence of a strategy, it needs to be bolder and more practical in supporting families.

Key areas for improvement

Outdated Model of Care: We highlight that the current model of care is outdated and does not adequately support families. We challenge the core assumptions this strategy is built on.

Recommended actions

We urge the Government to take substantive and practical steps to support families, ensuring they are not invisible for another five years. We emphasise the need for immediate action to support families and highlight the critical role of family support in recruitment, retention, and overall defence capability. Specifically, we encourage the following actions:

• Lifetime mental health treatment for children of deceased veterans
• Extending mental health treatment to partners, parents, and children of veterans
• Providing in-home care support for families with young children
• Removing dependency-based language from policies

Call to action

Want to support our calls for action for defence and veteran families? Let us know by emailing ceo@fov.org.au or write to us with your experiences and what you would like to see or what you expect the support for defence and veteran families to look like in Australia. Let’s build that future together.

The post Improving support for defence and veteran families: our response to the wellbeing strategy 2025-2030 first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

Why your input matters

The Inquiry will review various aspects of the current and former superannuation schemes for ADF members. This includes the legislative framework, the Military Superannuation and Benefits Scheme, the governance of the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, and the rights of account holders. It will also address the mechanisms for reclassifying military discharges and the effectiveness of different superannuation schemes.

Impact on families

Superannuation schemes affect more than just veterans; they impact families, including widows and widowers. Your insights and experiences can help us understand the broader implications and improve these schemes for everyone involved.

How you can help

Please share your experiences and thoughts on the superannuation schemes. Your feedback is invaluable in making informed recommendations to the Committee.

Contact Us:

• Email: ceo@fov.org.au 
• Mail: PO Box 146, Chatswood NSW 2057

Share your story today

Your story can make a difference. Help us contribute to this important inquiry by sharing your experiences with ADF superannuation schemes. Reach out to us via email or mail and let your voice be heard.

The post Have your say on ADF Superannuation Schemes – Share your experiences first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

The Families of Veterans Guild has today opened applications for The Rise Together Initiative in a bid to counter the significant career barriers experienced by hundreds of thousands of Australian veteran spouses.

Veteran spouses represent a highly skilled and often under utilised talent pool. However, their careers are frequently disrupted by the demands of their partner’s military life, leading to “patchy” resumes, unemployment, and underemployment. Indeed, three in four (76%) veteran partners report making employment sacrifices because of challenges unique to this group. This is resulting in a national crisis amidst an already stark skills shortage: the Australian Defence Force partner unemployment rate is twice the national average, with 92% of these affected veteran partners being women.

As part of its overall mission to support the unmet needs of veteran families, and to counter this issue, the Guild has created The Rise Together Initiative, exclusively for defence and veteran partners, including war widows. This initiative is being predominately funded by a grant formally announced by the Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, at Parliament House earlier today.

The project started with one widow wanting to support other women whose loved one has or did serve in the ADF, to mitigate the impacts of that service on their careers. This widow has privately funded 4 Defence and veteran spouses to complete this program and in 2025 will fund another two, together with government funding which means 12 spouses will now have access to this program.

The initiative has been designed to build career confidence for defence and veteran spouses. In 2025 it will improve leadership skills, and career confidence for 12 defence and veteran partners nationwide. Its focus is to empower participants to recognise their value beyond being a veteran spouse, equipping them to excel in the workforce and into positions of leadership.

We are so proud today to demonstrate what we are about as an organisation. The evolution of our work in this area has only been possible through the generous support and wishes of a war widow to ensure defence and veteran spouses have opportunities she didn’t.

Fundamentally this initiative is about women, helping women. It is a powerful story and legacy and serves as an example of what the Guild stands for.

Renee Wilson, CEO of the Families of Veterans Guild, said: “Veteran spouses face unique career challenges due the nature of a life tied to defence. They have sacrificed much for their partner’s career and Australia but often go unrecognised and unsupported. The Rise Together Initiative is designed to empower these individuals, providing them with the skills and confidence to pursue leadership roles and make meaningful contributions to a workforce in dire need of diverse skills, perspectives, resilience and determination.”

She continued: “As a veteran partner who has been through the program, I highly encourage members of the community to apply via the Family of Veterans Guild website—it is truly transformative.”

If you are interested in signing up or finding out more information, please visit our website here.

The post Media release – Announcement of the Rise Together Initiative first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

We commend the Government and Minister for Veterans, the Hon Matt Keogh for driving the Veterans’ Entitlements, Treatment and Support (VETS) Bill 2024 forward and bringing about long-needed reform that will simplify the legislative framework for 581,000 Australian veterans.

The Families of Veterans Guild views the harmonisation of the different pieces of legislation that govern veteran entitlements as a positive first step. However, it is important to note that this legislation does not change the model of care offered to veteran families, it still uses the 100-year-old model which presumes families do not need help and support until a veteran passes away. The evolving needs of veterans and their families, exacerbated by ongoing conflicts, highlight the inadequacy of waiting for crises before offering support. Veterans are living longer and more complex lives, they are now surviving their service and injuries that in the early- mid 1900’s they wouldn’t have, necessitating earlier intervention and support for families. The challenges related to caring for and supporting a veteran during, post and beyond their service are now very visible.

We now need to take the next steps and start including families in the legislative framework that governs support and entitlements. Legislative language needs to be modernised. Archaic terms like ‘wholly dependent partner’, ‘dependents’ and ‘attendants’ undermines the role of veteran families, perpetuates power dynamics and isn’t consistent with contemporary standards.

We need to revisit statutory time limits on entitlements that disadvantage war widows and veterans, and ensuring veteran families are fully integrated into the scope of the veteran support system.

It is vital that the veteran sector, veterans and their families need to remain appropriately engaged and consulted in the redesign of their system of care.

On the 8th of February 2025, our CEO Renee Wilson put out a statement in response to an amendment to the Bill which sought to make significant structural changes to the sector and its governance without being consulted. The rushed establishment of Defence and Veterans’ Services Commission (‘the Commission’) under the Defence Act 1903 troubled us for many reasons, including a lack of clarity in what was being proposed and its impact.

We raised our concerns, and we here heard: an amendment to the addition of Schedule 9 to the Bill, establishing the commission ensures that this amendment is to be fully consulted before being implemented.

Ultimately, we welcome this historical change to the veteran system but remind Australia, this is the first step in what is a very large body of reform work that needs to take place in our sector. We look forward to continuing to work with Governments, veterans and their families to build a system that genuinely provides the support to veterans and their families .

The post Media release in response to the passing of the Veterans’ Entitlements, Treatment and Support Bill 2024 first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.