4 Field Regiment (SVN) 'Old Boys' Newsletter - April 2019 Edition

An independent study is underway into how Australian veterans and their families are currently assisted to access entitlements and services and how advocacy services could be improved. This discussion paper has been issued to invite veterans, their families, exservice organisations, and other interested parties to submit feedback to this study. It explains the terms of reference of the study and discusses some of the specific issues that will be considered, including advocacy organisations, younger veterans, female veterans, barriers to accessing entitlements, appeals from delegates' decisions, professionalisation, and other comparable advocacy schemes from Australia and overseas. Ed: There is some evidence these days to confirm that younger veterans prefer to access DVA support differently to veterans from previous conflicts. On line services are regularly used as opposed to using advocates from ESO’s. It amazes me to see so many questions by individuals on a particular Face Book page where simple contact with a reliable advocate would have solved most issues. There are also suggestions that this is a major reason why younger veterans are not becoming involved with organisations like RSL, Legacy and the Vietnam Veterans Associations. Someone must have said something funny! From David Anderson on 15 March.