The Centenary commemorations will remember and recognise the contribution and importance of the service of veterans across the years to the character and ideals that have made Australia and Australians unique among the nations of the world. The dedication, professionalism and prowess of our service men and women is acknowledged and lauded by both our allies and by our former foes. Our diggers have a hard earned and enviable reputation.

As a nation, we have also been renowned through the years for having one of if not the finest systems for caring for our diggers who have returned from the fray broken or burnt out and for providing care and comfort for the families of those who did not return.

From the early days of the First great confrontation it was recognised that we would need an administration to be responsible for disabled veterans and their families. That we would need programs to provide them with treatment, rehabilitation, retraining for peacetime employment, access to housing and compensation for their injuries. The nation’s obligations to our veterans were to be met through an agency specifically established for that purpose.   It was called the Repatriation Department and was set up in April 1917 and continued to be known as the “Repat” until it changed to the Department of Veterans' Affairs in 1986.

The Department has been the avenue for the delivery of services to veterans and their families for nearly one hundred years. Its own centenary will occur during ANZAC commemorations.

Some might argue that veterans and their families do not now receive a level of benefits equivalent to those that their fathers and grandfathers received when returning home from former conflicts. But not many would argue that the Department did not do its utmost to provide the highest quality services programs to enhance and enrich the circumstances of veterans and their families. They like all parts of the government administration are subject to the pressures and constraints of budget bottom lines and the gnomes of Finance and Treasury.

The demographics of the veteran community and stark and simple. The bulk of the Department's beneficiaries are Second World War veterans and the widows of Second World War veterans who have passed on. Those numbers are diminishing at an increasingly rapid rate as those veterans and widows are all at least in their late eighties. The impact of these falling numbers has been recognised by the Department and the ex-service community for some years. The Department has continually reviewed and revised its operation to amalgamate and refine procedures to maintain a presence in each State and to continue to deliver high quality services. This has been in spite of significant and some might say drastic cuts imposed by government.

We need to recognise and acknowledge that there is a critical mass of the number of veterans and widows that must be on the Department's books as entitled beneficiaries for it to continue to function as a standalone agency. In the near future, and one would expect in the next five years, we will drop below that required critical mass.

In the past when the rumours have started that the government intended to roll the Department's operation into Centrelink, or the Health administration, or between a number of agencies, the government, irrespective of its political colour, has guaranteed that the Department will remain. It is doubtful that those assurances can or will continue to be given. When the numbers drop the government will be forced to restructure the delivery of services to veterans and their families.

Now is an appropriate time to consider how we should look after our veterans and their families in the future. There is no better time to recommit the nation to honour its obligations to care for the veterans and their families than when we are remembering the importance and significance of their contribution to the character, values and culture of this country.

Somewhere in the Centenary Commemorations program there must be space and a place to engage the broad community of Australians in a dialogue to determine the best way to ensure that we continue to satisfy the needs of veterans and their families.

We have always considered and treated them as a special group of Australians. We have always provided them with benefits and structures that acknowledged that they are unique and special. It would be to our lasting shame if shortly after a period of commemorating how unique and special they are we remove the structures like the Department and “mainstream” them into same structures as everyone else where they lose their identity and specialness.

As I said at the start, I believe that this is a significant and important issue. It is one that will generate great passion and resistance if not considered and addressed properly. The ex-service community is always suspicious of government when it wants to fiddle with structures or benefits affecting veterans. The resistance and suspicion can only be overcome by open and honest dialogue.

The reflections, recollections and positiveness generated by the Centenary Commemorations make it the perfect time to open that dialogue and to discuss the options for a new “Repat” to care for our veterans and their families for the next hundred years.

I would be pleased to participate in any discussion about furthering these ideas.

Yours sincerely

John (Blue) Ryan OAM