Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs, [1984]-

Call Number
Nef 362.86840994 VET
Created/Published
[Canberra] : [Dept. of Veterans' Affairs]
Issue
Vol. 30 No. 2 Winter (June - August 2014)
Images
16
View Catalogue

Contents

VETAFFAIRS 1
70th anniversary of the D-Day landings and Normandy Campaign 1
Strengthening access to mental health support 1
2014-15 DVA Budget 1 , 4
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The few who remain still want a Gold Card 2
The bush lost a large number 2
War babies 2
Building on mental health support 2
Senior leadership changes at DVA 2
News from the Department 2
Increased access to VVCS 3
Your personal information and VVCS 3
A message from the Minister 3
A changing aged care system 4
Vet affairs survey outcomes 5
Veteran advocacy services free for all veterans 5
Accessing DVA services 5
2014 Client Service Survey underway 5
Gold Card eligibility 6
New DVA Health Cards arriving now 6
New look Pensioner Concession Card 6
Indexation of rates 1 July 2014 6
Anzac Centenary – update 7
Anzac Day in France – 2014 7
News from the Western Front 7
Hot spots, pox and shingles 8
Increase to Travel Allowances 8
Managing hearing loss 8
Advertising 8
Self-help following Trauma 9
Updated RAP Schedule of Equipment 9
Security of your My Aceount Information 9
Helping our service providers through technology 9
Medical Alarms and connecting to the NBN 9
Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference 10
Senior International Forum and Ministerial Summit 10
Suicide and the elderly 10
Transition and Wellbeing Research Programme 10
Improvements to the DVA strategic research model 10
Football star continues his work with DVA 11
MEDALS LOST & FOUND 11
A few safety tips as we welcome Winter 11
WIDOWS’ NEWS Timor-Leste veterans and war widows 12
Commemorating Indigenous Veterans 12
Kangaroo March Children's Choir 12
NEWS FROM THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL 13
Coins commemorating the Anzac Centenary 13
Off the shelf 13
Veterans successful at the Wounded Warrior Trials 14
Advertising 14
Reunion notices 15
Advertising 15 , 16

Text

VETAFFAIRS  

Page  

Page 12  

Page 14  

Vol. 30 No.  

Winter 2014  

ISSN 0819-8934  

70 th anniversary of the D-Day landings and  

Normandy Campaign  

At the start of June, seven Austral-  

ian Second World War veterans  

made the emotional journey back  

to France to commemorate the 70th  

anniversary of the D-Day landings  

and the Normandy Campaign.  

To this day, the D-Day landings  

remain the largest amphibious oper-  

ation in the history of warfare. Close  

to 160,000 troops, predominately  

from the United States, Britain and  

Canada, landed on the Normandy  

beaches on D-Day with 875,000  

having landed by the end of June.  

Almost 3000 Australian servicemen  

and women supported the operation  

70 years ago. Tragically, eighteen  

Australians died on D-Day, includ-  

ing those airmen killed on the nights  

of and June, with many others  

wounded. Others never made the  

journey back to Australia.  

Australia’s contribution was  

primarily aerial support, and the  

seven veterans attending the mission  

all served with the Royal Australian  

Air Force, some serving in Royal Air  

Force squadrons. While at times  

overwhelming, the veterans had  

the opportunity to view the French  

villages and countryside that looked  

quite different to what it did back  

in 1944.  

In France, the veterans were joined  

on June by Prime Minister, the  

Hon. Tony Abbott MP, at the Bayeux  

Cathedral for Commonwealth  

Commemorative service, Com-  

monwealth Memorial Service at the  

Bayeux Cemetery, and an Interna-  

tional Service at Sword Beach, where  

Allies landed during the invasion.  

During the trip to France, the group  

also visited memorials and military  

sites across Normandy, including the  

Pegasus Museum and Bridge. This  

was also an occasion for the veterans  

to reconnect with former comrades  

from other Commonwealth nations  

such as the United Kingdom, Can-  

ada and New Zealand.  

The French association “Nor-  

mandie Memoire” has announced  

they are honouring all eligible Aus-  

tralian and New Zealand veterans  

who served in Normandy, recog-  

nising them accordingly. While in  

France, the veterans were awarded  

Awarded the Legion of Honour at ceremony in Caen, France. Veterans (l-r) Bill Purdy, Phillip  

Eiger, Stuart ‘Snow’Davis, (PM Abbott), Bob Cowper, Bill Evans, Ron Houghton and Fred Riley.  

the Legion of Honour, one of France’s high-  

est honours, by French Minister Kader Arif  

at ceremony in Caen, France. Bob Cow-  

per had previously received the Legion of  

Honour in 2004, but was on hand to see  

his mates receive the honour this time. The  

French Embassy in Australia is organising  

presentation ceremonies later this year in  

locations around Australia, to recognise  

those veterans who were not part of the  

D-Day Mission party. The commemorative  

medal is available to all Australian veter-  

ans who served in Normandy. Veterans  

can contact the French Embassy in Aus-  

tralia for more information on +6l (02)  

6216 0161 or email copy of your current  

valid identification and details, and copy  

of your military record relating to ser-  

vice in Normandy, before 31 July 2014 to  

defence@ambafrance-au.org  

Photographs from the visit are available  

at www.flickr.com/dvaaus  

Strengthening access to mental  

health support  

Tackling mental health challenges facing veter-  

ans and their families, especially following the  

drawdown of troops from Afghanistan, is one of  

the pillars of the Government’s plan for veterans’  

affairs.  

There is comprehensive service system that  

stands ready to meet the mental health needs of  

the veteran and ex-service community, and the  

Government spends around 5166 million year on  

meeting these mental health needs. This includes  

funding for online mental health information and  

support, GP services, psychologist and social work  

services, including the Veterans and Veterans  

Families Counselling Service (VVCS), specialist  

psychiatric services, pharmaceuticals, posttrau-  

matic stress disorder programmes, and in-patient  

and out-patient hospital treatment. The Gov-  

ernment’s funding for this treatment is demand  

driven, and it is not capped.  

number of new mental health initiatives will  

be introduced from July 2014, to strengthen  

access to our service system. These initiatives will  

provide:  

• greater access to the VVCS for current and for-  

mer members and their dependant family who  

have been impacted by war and service-related  

mental health and wellbeing conditions;  

• greater access to existing arrangements whereby  

DVA will pay for mental health treatment for eli-  

gible veterans and peacetime members without  

the need to establish that their mental health  

condition is related to service. From July 2014,  

DVA will also pay for treatment for diagnosed  

alcohol and substance use disorders, and an  

increased number of individuals with peacetime  

service will also become eligible; and  

• new physical and mental health assessment  

for ex-serving personnel from their GP, to be  

funded under Medicare. The assessment will  

help GPs diagnose and identify early any men-  

tal and physical health concerns and to treat or  

refer appropriately to other services.  

DVA has also been talking to clients who have  

experienced mental health conditions in order to  

better understand their experiences. This impor-  

tant work will help improve how the Department  

delivers services to these clients.  

Read more about these mental health initiatives  

within this issue of Vetaffairs.  

PAGE  

CHANGING AGED CARE  

SYSTEM  

PAGE  

IMPROVEMENTS TO  

VETAFFAIRS  

PAGE  

PENSIONER CONCESSION  

CARDS  

2014-15 DVA Budget  

On Tuesday 13 May the 2014-15 Federal Budget was handed down  

by the Treasurer containing $12.3 billion for the Veterans’ Affairs  

portfolio.  

This includes $6.7 billion in income support and compensation,  

and $5.5 billion in health services.  

The funding will support DVA’s clients approximately 310,000  

veterans, dependants and their families; and it will support the work  

of DVA in providing services to the veteran community.  

The main measures for DVA include:  

• Aligning indexation for DVA funded services for dental and  

allied health care providers with arrangements under Medicare;  

• Amendments to the backdating of disability pension claims,  

with payment to be made from date of lodgement of the claim,  

rather than from three months prior to lodgement, for claims  

received from January 2015;  

• Increase the number of Enhanced Compliance Programme  

reviews of income support payments, from 12,000 per financial  

year to 20,000 per financial year from July 2014;  

• Reviews for clients who have been in continuous receipt of inca-  

pacity payments for 12 months or more to assess their level of  

medical incapacity and their ability to work;  

• $6.9 million to develop detailed business case for major inter-  

pretive centre at Villers-Bretonneux in France to ensure the  

service of Australians on the Western Front is appropriately rec-  

ognised as part of the Anzac Centenary; and  

• $0.2 million to undertake scoping study on the future manage-  

ment and operations of the Defence Service Homes Insurance  

Scheme (DSHIS).  

See page of Vetaffairs for further details.  

Vetaffairs has increased to 16 pages. You said  

you like it and we've listened!  

Cite

Citation options:
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http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1168559397

APA citation

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. (). Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs, Retrieved May 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1168559397

MLA citation

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs, [Canberra]: [Dept. of Veterans' Affairs], . Web. 25 May 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1168559397>

Harvard/Australian citation

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. , Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs, [Dept. of Veterans' Affairs], [Canberra] viewed 25 May 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1168559397

Wikipedia citation

{{Citation
  | author1=Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs.
  | title=Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs
  | year=
  | section=v. : ill. ; 35-40 cm.
  | issn=0819-8934
  | issue=Vol. 30 No. 2 Winter (June - August 2014)
  | location=[Canberra]
  | publisher=[Dept. of Veterans' Affairs]
  | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1168559397
  | id=nla.obj-1168559397
  | access-date=25 May 2025
  | via=Trove
}}

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