Improving veterans' lives is just a matter of local knowledge and delegation of responsibility

Regional approaches tailor solutions to local needs, empowering communities and fostering a diversity of ideas, compared to a one-size-fits-all central approach focusing on efficiency over effectiveness. What is the potential for the Veterans and Families Hubs over DVA’s current approach?

There is no shortage of government programs that could support the veteran communities around Australia, but that has not prevented the problems that have brought our nation to a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. The problem is that these programs are generally uncoordinated between governments and departments and have gaps that make addressing the needs of many veterans and families too difficult, especially in so many disparate regions where the density of veterans and support is markedly different.

This is made worse by veterans' lack of experience navigating the bureaucracy to access support, which exacerbates their mental health struggles. These difficulties faced by veterans have proven to manifest in other significant societal problems, such as alcohol and drug abuse, incarceration, homelessness, and suicide.

The effect is wasted lives and wasted government resources.

Supporting the aligning of government programs by regions is essential. This is especially true in the interests of the disparate veteran community in regions around Australia where veterans and families live and work. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), or a reinvigorated Repatriation Commission, must take a leading and proactive role in overseeing the health and wellbeing of veterans. It can do this by establishing regional hubs like most other government departments. These hubs would serve as focal points within defined areas to understand the veteran community needs in those areas and provide regional-specific advice to coordinate efforts of government agencies, non-profit organisations, including ESOs, and community groups to address the unique and specific challenges veterans and their families face. With the Departments of Defence, Veterans Affairs and Health working together in Canberra, DVA’s eyes and ears on the ground would be the hubs. This would counterpart Defence’s 16 ADF Transition Centres and the Department of Health’s 31 Primary Health Networks in regions across Australia. Working together at the national and regional levels would significantly improve the effectiveness of support specific to the veteran community.

The two most crucial roles of the hubs would be:

• to thoroughly understand the veteran and ESO landscape in their defined area to support shaping the programs and opportunities within it with national guidance from DVA and in the interests of the local veteran community; and
• to be part of a network of hubs across Australia coordinated by DVA to support veterans' movement, especially during transition out of the ADF.

The benefits would be manifold; the main three are:

• A reduction of the mental health problems of veterans and families, particularly during transition and settling into post-service life, leading to a reduction in other significant societal problems among veterans and families.
• A reduction in wasted resources, specifically underutilised government programs and services for want of synchronisation with other programs from other governments and departments and focussing on the unique challenges of veterans in the interests of the veteran communities in their areas of responsibility.
• Improved mobility of veterans and families to areas different from their last service posting and separation by central management of a network of hubs utilising standard models, frameworks, policies, and data collection, storage, and transfer tools.

There are 16 Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs emerging now under the supervision of DVA. They would be an excellent place to start.