VETAFFAIRS DVA’S FREE NEWSPAPER FOR AUSTRALIA'S VETERAN COMMUNITY
ISSN 0819-8934
Vol. 38 No. 1 APRIL 2022
Serving and ex-serving personnel help with flood relief
DVA’S Chief Health Officer on your long-term health
Help with post-transition employment
7
14–15
40 years of Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling
17
80 years since Fall of Singapore and Bombing of Darwin
20–21
Clockwise from top left: Sappers from 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment assist Gympie Roads & Infrastructure rebuild a culvert and open up roads; an Army aircrewman and a young child are winched aboard an MRH-90 Taipan helicopter near Lismore, NSW; an MRH-90 Taipan flies over Lismore; a rifleman assists the local community to move flooddamaged belongings in St Lucia, Brisbane
Members of the veteran community – both serving and ex-serving – played a huge role in supporting communities in New South Wales and Queensland during the recent floods. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) deployed thousands of personnel during the floods and for the clean-up afterwards as part of Operation Flood Assist
2022. Among other things, they conducted evacuations, search and rescue work, clean-up and recovery tasks, aerial reconnaissance, food, water and supply drops and distribution, and helped to restore communications and repair infrastructure. Ex-service organisations such as Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) also pitched in. DRA (see page 13)
worked alongside locals, removing rubbish and debris, treating mould, clearing key access points and generally cleaning up. And of course individual members of the veteran community did what so many Australians did: offered a helping hand to their neighbours and their communities during this challenging time.
Federal Budget and the veteran community In Budget 2022–23, $369 million in funding has been allocated on top of the more than $11.5 billion provided to support around 340,000 veterans and families every year. DVA’s claims processing system is
receiving additional funding to help reduce the claims backlog. The Psychiatric Assistance Dog Program has received ongoing funding to help more eligible veterans. The funding will also provide financial support to veterans living
with post-traumatic stress disorder who have privately sourced a suitably trained psychiatric assistance dog prior to or shortly after the start of the Program in September 2019. Continued on page 5.
CONTENTS NEWS............................................... 2–6 HEALTH & WELLBEING...................... 7–8 WIDOWS’ NEWS................................... 9 ESO NEWS.................................... 10–13 TRANSITIONING WELL.................. 14–15 FAMILIES............................................ 16 FEATURES.................................... 17–18 COMMEMORATIONS......................19–21 AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL............ 22 NOTICEBOARD.............................. 23–24