Post by RSL NSW

In August 2022, the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide identified the urgent need to simplify Australia’s complex veteran compensation and rehabilitation system — a system that had become difficult to navigate and, in some cases, contributed to further distress for veterans seeking support. From 1 July 2026, the biggest reform to Australia’s veteran support system in more than a century will take effect. The current three-legislation framework will transition to a single ongoing system under an enhanced Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, making support simpler, easier to access and more responsive to the needs of serving personnel, veterans and their families. In a major address to the McKell Institute today, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh reaffirmed that no veteran or family member will lose existing entitlements or experience any interruption to their current payments as a result of these reforms. A simpler system. Earlier support. Better outcomes for those who have served — and the families who support them.