DVA commissioned La Trobe University to investigate literature on best practice in in-home domestic assistance programs in order to provide a contemporary evidence base to inform any future policy and program development aimed at improving DVA domestic assistance service offerings to veterans and families.

The Defence and Veteran Family Wellbeing Strategy 2025-2030 has been developed to recognise the pivotal role families play in supporting current and former serving Australian Defence Force members. 

The Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs worked closely together to develop the Strategy and First Action Plan. This coordinated approach ensures that the impacts of service and related life events on families are managed, both during and after service, with appropriate fit-for-purpose policies, programs and support – now and in the future.

Over the next 5 years, this Strategy will guide how the Department of Defence (Defence) and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) provide targeted support to Defence and veteran families. 

The Strategy outlines how families will be supported, reaffirms a commitment to understanding their needs, and prioritises stronger engagement and ongoing support to enhance their wellbeing.

The First Action Plan outlines the actions that Defence and DVA will initially take to achieve the Strategy’s objectives. Defence and DVA will update the Action Plan as actions progress, with the most current version available here.

The focus of this review is the comparison of veteran rehabilitation offerings of the Five Eyes countries to understand where Australia's offerings sit in terms of focus, scope of services and eligibility in relation to comparable schemes.

The Tasmanian Feasibility Study, commissioned by the Commonwealth and Tasmanian Governments, engaged with stakeholders, including veterans and their families, Ex-service Organisations and service providers to collect data on the current service delivery environment in Tasmania.

The study shows support for more accessible localised services for veterans and their families in Tasmania. 

This Rapid Evidence Assessment investigates the research literature analysing the risk factors for ex-serving personnel entering corrective services systems in Australia and/or other relevant jurisdictions. The report examines and synthesises recent research evidence regarding risk factors for entry into corrective services systems by ex-serving personnel across the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

The report matches DVA administrative data with community data from the Student Outcomes Survey (SOS) and the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, to better understand potential workforce outcomes for DVA clients. The report provides a predictive analysis of the impact that health conditions, medical discharge status, and service type, have on a veteran’s ability to look for and participate in work assuming community trends apply to veteran groups. The findings are not based on actual veteran employment outcomes. Nevertheless, the study is informative of potential outcomes. DVA’s rehabilitation program is aligned with the study findings.

It is important to note that the findings should be read in context of the report and as they are general in nature, they should not be considered applicable at an individual level. A one page overview of the study is also attached.

Further information:

• Quick Facts Sheet (PDF 125 KB)
• Quick Facts Sheet (DOCX 255 KB)

DVA commissioned this study in 2011 to gain a better understanding of the experiences of reservists. The field-based component of the study consisted of face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 39 ADF reservists, primarily from the Army with a smaller number from the Air Force. The text-based component centred on a review of the academic literature, as well as a review of historical documents and an inventory of support services available to reservists.

The study found that reservists vary in the way they understand their reservist identity. Some identify more with a ‘full-timer’ identity and feel a close connection with ADF membership and military skills, while some identify more as a ‘part-timer’ and place stronger emphasis on their civilian professional skills. The researcher found that the extent to which reservists identify with the ADF can affect outcomes including their health and wellbeing, cohesion with their unit and accessing of support services.

The reservists study has provided DVA with useful information about the experiences and needs of a sample of contemporary reservists. As a qualitative pilot study, the report is exploratory in nature. It does not quantify the extent to which the views expressed by the participants would be shared among reservists and reservist veterans more generally. Nevertheless, the report provides a useful understanding of issues experienced by the reservists interviewed and identified in the academic literature.

The report has informed DVA’s understanding of how reservists identify and the potential implications of this for DVA’s communication and engagement with reservists. It has also informed a focus on reservists in planning future DVA research. On 11 June 2014, the Government announced a joint DVA/Defence Transition and Wellbeing Research Programme which includes a nested study on reservists.

Reservists can access similar DVA support and services to those available to Permanent ADF members. For details on reservists’ entitlements, please see DVA website and/or the Claims for reservists. Reservists who are in doubt about what DVA services or support they could access are encouraged to contact DVA.

The Strategic Research Framework (SRF) sets out the principles, objectives and priorities for DVA to facilitate research and evaluation in areas of special strength or need as identified in priority research areas. Research and analysis help to identify emerging issues facing the veteran and defence communities and their families, and are integral to developing effective departmental policy, shaping service delivery responses, and evaluating programs and pilots.

This study aimed to examine the health and compensation outcomes of Rwanda veterans and investigate whether there were differences in outcomes between the different groups deployed.

The study undertook a data match and analysis process using personnel, compensation, health and mortality data.

Among other things, the study found that the health of the Rwanda cohort is characterised by a high rate of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is expressed in two compensation peaks five and 11 years after the deployment.

There was no evidence of difference in discharge rates between the contingents, between personnel groups or between personnel from formed units and those who joined deployments individually.

The Government’s response (PDF) to a review of the circumstances surrounding the death of Signaller Geffrey Gregg was published on 30 July 2008. The response outlined 15 outcomes to address systemic problems with transition out of the services.

The review of SIG Gregg’s circumstances involved three parts.

Part 1 was an independent inquiry by the Inspector General Australian Defence Force, Geoff Earley AM, which examined SIG Gregg’s Defence Service, including deployment to Afghanistan, and the ADF’s role in transition management at SIG Gregg’s discharge.

Part 2 was undertaken by Mr Chris Doogan AM (former Registrar of the High Court) and examined DVA’s actions in SIG Gregg’s transition management from the ADF, DVA’s handling of his compensation claims and the actions of the Commissioner for Superannuation in administration of SIG Gregg’s claim for military superannuation benefits.

Part 3 of the review was undertaken by Mr Ron McLeod AM (former deputy Ombudsman) to examine the whole-of-government approach to handling the Gregg case.

The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin, and the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, Warren Snowdon, issued a media release about the Government’s response.