Media Room

The Defence Force Welfare Association (DFWA) welcomes the appointment of Major General Natasha Fox AM, CSC to the newly created and critically important position of Chief of Personnel within the Australian Defence Force.

Veterans who are medically discharged from the Australian Defence Force may receive Invalidity Benefits from their super scheme depending on extent of disability. However, Veteran Invalidity Benefits are not all taxed the same way.

Now is not the time to introduce legislation which entrenches different treatment and leaves some disabled veterans paying more tax on their invalidity benefits than others. The draft Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2022: Taxation of Military Superannuation Benefits embeds different tax treatment regimes for veterans depending on when they started receiving payments and the scheme.

Three key ex-service organisations have called for non-liability health care (NLHC) for all Defence Reservists. The Defence Reserves Association (DRA), the Defence Force Welfare Association (DFWA), and the Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL) have written a joint letter to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel, Matt Keogh, seeking his support for the extension of health care to all those serving in the reserve forces.

The Defence Force Welfare Association (DFWA) congratulates the Prime Minister on his decision to establish a Royal Commission into veteran suicide. It welcomed the Government’s recognition of not only the depth of feeling within the veteran community regarding such tragedies but also by all sides of politics within the confines of both Houses of the Parliament.