The problems run wider than these. But these are where we start.
Scrap
the cap
The $5,000 annual cap on allied health services for veterans, introduced in the May federal budget, must be scrapped. Allied health, physiotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy and rehabilitation, is not a discretionary benefit for veterans with serious injuries. It is the infrastructure that supports their recovery and their lives. For veterans managing the effects of traumatic brain injury, chronic pain or severe post-traumatic stress, a $5,000 annual ceiling is not a budget efficiency. It is a treatment ceiling.
What we are asking
Scrap or significantly raise the allied health cap to ensure veterans can access the treatment they need, when they need it.
End the
low-balling
The Government must restore veterans' right to choose their own accredited assessment provider rather than being funnelled through MLCOA, which holds a sole-provider contract with the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Veterans are entitled to care from the practitioners who know them. A sole-provider assessment model, where a single government contractor conducts Independent Medical Examinations, denies them that.
What we are asking
Allow veterans to use doctors they trust without slowing or stopping their claims, or otherwise forcing them to use the government's preferred provider.
Fix
the system
The Government must launch an independent inquiry into DVA claims processing times. Veterans and their families are waiting months, often years, for decisions on claims that directly affect their health, their finances and their families. There are no enforceable timelines and no accountability when the Department fails to meet them.
What we are asking
An independent inquiry with a mandate to set transparent, binding performance standards and hold the Department to account.
