RSL Welcomes Long Overdue Investment In Veteran Healthcare But Raises Concerns Over Major Savings Measures
MEDIA RELEASE
The Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL) has welcomed the Federal Government’s long-overdue investment in veteran healthcare in the 2026-27 Budget, while warning that significant savings measures announced alongside the package risk undermining the overall benefit to veterans and their families.
The Budget includes $169.7 million over five years to increase allied health provider fees from 1 July 2027 – the largest investment in veteran allied health fees in more than two decades.
However, the Albanese Government has also confirmed it will achieve almost $780 million in savings across the veterans’ support system over five years, including through the introduction of a new $5,000 Annual Monetary Limit on allied health services for Veteran Card holders.
RSL Australia National President, Peter Tinley AM, said the Budget represented a mixed outcome for the veteran community.
“RSL Australia has strongly advocated for an increase to the DVA fee schedule for GPs, specialists, and allied health providers because veterans have increasingly struggled to access treatment due to outdated fee schedules that no longer reflected market realities,” Mr Tinley said.
“The Government deserves credit for recognising that issue and responding to Recommendation 71 of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
“But veterans and their families will rightly question a Budget that gives with one hand while taking with the other.”
The Government has confirmed the new allied health cap and related reforms will deliver savings of more than $779 million over five years.
While the Budget includes a mechanism for veterans with valid clinical need to seek support above the annual cap, RSL Australia said significant detail remains unclear and implementation will be critical.
“Many veterans live with complex and chronic physical and psychological injuries arising from their service,” Mr Tinley said.
For some veterans, ongoing physiotherapy, psychology, exercise physiology, and other allied health treatments are not discretionary – they are essential to daily functioning, recovery, and quality of life.
Many veterans already struggle to access specialist care, often facing lengthy wait times or significant out-of-pocket costs that can run to hundreds of dollars for a single appointment,” Mr Tinley said.
“While the Government has moved to address allied health provider fees, many veterans will continue to delay seeing a GP or specialist, or face excessive out-of-pocket costs, because longstanding issues with broader medical and specialist fee schedules remain unresolved – and that is incredibly disappointing.
“We welcome assurances from Government and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs that veterans with genuine clinical needs will not face barriers to accessing treatment over and above the new allied health cap.”
RSL Australia welcomed additional investments to strengthen long-term support and accountability across the veteran system, including:
$29.8 million for a National Veterans’ Data Asset
$16.6 million for the previously announced Inquiry into Military Sexual Violence in the Australian Defence Force ($16.6 million) to be undertaken by the independent Defence and Veterans’ Service Commission
$3.4 million to extend the Provisional Access to Medical Treatment program until 31 December 2027, and
$500,000 for the Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Program ($500,000) in 2026/27.
“Better data and stronger independent oversight are essential if governments are serious about delivering lasting reform for veterans and their families,” Mr Tinley said. “The Royal Commission made clear that systemic reform must be evidence-based, transparent and accountable.”
The League also expressed concern over Budget savings measures affecting commemorative grants programs, including $1.4 million in reductions from uncommitted funding under the Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Program, the Overseas Privately-Constructed Memorial Restoration Program, and the Marking (First World War) Private Graves Grants Program.
“Commemoration is not an optional extra,” Mr Tinley said. “Preserving the memory of those who served and sacrificed for Australia is a national obligation.”
RSL Australia, which comprises some 1100 sub-Branches and 150,000 members nationwide, said it would continue working constructively with Government, the Opposition and the broader Defence and veteran community to ensure implementation of the Budget measures delivers real improvements for veterans and their families.