On 10 April 2022, The Prime Minister announced that the 2022 federal election would be held on Saturday 21 May 2022.
On 21 April 2022, nominations for candidacy closed. In this election, there are:
- 1,203 candidates for the House of Representatives
- 421 candidates for the Senate
- 38 registered political parties (not including state branches).
Unlike previous federal election campaigns, particularly the 2016 election, issues and policies affecting veterans and defence personnel and their families are limited. That is not necessarily a surprise – climate change, government corruption, and the rising cost of living seem to be the dominant features of the campaign. The ongoing Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide may also be limiting the desire/need for the major parties to have any serious policies in that space – the issue has essentially been ‘parked’ for the time being.
DFWA has contacted all of the registered political parties, highlighting the key issues we are focused on:
Fixing DVA claims and veteran health care
- Clearing the 60k+ military compensation claims backlog
- Making DVA provide clearer and more transparent reasons for decisions
- Fixing the fees paid to healthcare providers by DVA, so that veterans aren’t relying on charity or goodwill of providers Read more
- Fixing veteran hearing services, so that veteran wellbeing needs are met Read more
Fixing Defence Force Superannuation
- Extending the Defence Force Retirement Benefits Fair Indexation provisions to all Defence Force superannuation scheme pensions Read more
- Fix the financial penalties caused by the application of out-dated life tables in the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefit Scheme Read more
Ensuring families are not disadvantaged by Defence service
- Amend to the Australian Veterans’ Recognition Act to acknowledge Defence members, veterans, or their families should not be disadvantaged relative to any other section of the community Read more
Election 2022 Political Party Scorecard
DFWA asked each political party registered to contest the 2020 Federal Election seven questions, based on the issues listed above.
DFWA received responses from eight parties. The scoreboard below summarises those parties and the Coalition (which did not respond). Scores are based on their responses and published policies.
