VETS Act consultation process

How and why DVA consulted on legislation reform

The vision, purpose and function of the legislation reforms have been shaped through extensive consultation and co-design with veterans, veteran families, ex-service organisations and providers.

A vital part of ensuring we got this change in legislation right, was making sure it met the needs of the veteran community. It was important that we heard from veterans, veteran families, and other key stakeholders, about what they thought about the proposed legislation.

Veterans’ legislation was widely acknowledged as being complex and difficult to navigate. Prior to 1 July 2026, there were 3 different pieces of veterans’ entitlements legislation that could apply to a veteran. There have been longstanding calls for veterans’ legislation to be simplified.  The previous system was found to have created confusion and may have negatively impacted veterans and veteran families by contributing to delays, inconsistent processing and claims backlogs.

Several reports, including the 2019 Productivity Commission’s report A Better Way to Support Veterans and the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide’s Interim Report, highlighted these issues and called for change.

The Australian Government undertook 3 rounds of public consultation for the Veterans’ Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Support) Bill 2024 (VETS Bill) from 2022 to 2024. Submissions helped the Government to respond to the issues that were of most concern to veterans.

These multiple rounds of consultation were critical to ensuring the legislation was fit for purpose, that we could land it exactly where we needed to.