OPINION – DVA RUMOURS JUST ‘FAKE NEWS’

TWO years ago the ambitious but hapless Stuart Robert was given a dual responsibility as minister for both Veterans’ Affairs and Human Services.
Veterans were rightly concerned Canberra bureaucrats had finally achieved their longheld ambition to subsume veterans entitlements into the wider health and welfare pool.
If that was indeed the plan, Robert’s personal ineptitude scuppered his ministerial career and the two ministries were again separated.
As reported in the Bulletin this week, social media last weekend exploded with rumours DVA would be disbanded and its dependencies shifted to the Department of Human Services.
On Monday Veterans’ Affairs minister Dan Tehan issued a press release insisting the Government was committed to a stand-alone Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
“There are no plans to merge DVA with the Department of Human Services,” Mr Tehan said.
“There is no meeting planned for this week and there is no agreement to be signed in the near future to subsume DVA into DHS.”
It is not strictly true for the minister to claim that the DVA is a stand-alone agency. It has for some time increasingly sourced services from other agencies and contracted providers.

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Comments

  1. Butch Mathew says

    Watch this space , They’ll do it as soon as we blink

  2. M.J. Rollins says

    DVA Annual Report 2015-16
    https://www.dva.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/about%20dva/annual_report/2015-2016/perfstat.pdf

    Benchmarking against other entities
    Deliverable
    Benchmarking against other entities, for example, the Department of Human Services and Department of Social Services.

    DVA is working with the Department of Human Services (DHS) to expand shared services arrangements in accordance with the Department of Finance’s Shared and Common Services Programme.

    DHS is establishing joint project and governance arrangements with DVA, the Department of Social Services and the Department of Health, which will assist in designing the future state for shared
    government services.

    This work is ongoing.
    ………………………………..

  3. Jeffrey Barrett says

    “There are no plans to merge DVA with the Department of Human Services,” Mr Tehan said. This had better be correct and not just another Politicians lie to keep us quiet. They owe us a great DEBT for our services to our Nation under their directions and commitments to many theaters of war and conflict. It is now time for them to take care of our Ex Service Community.

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