New Defence and Veterans' Service Commission Can Seize Items; Up to 2 Years Jail for Blocking Inquiries
Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill 2025
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Topics
criminal penalties defence and veterans defence services government accountability government inquiries government oversight government transparency information disclosure information privacy legal accountability legal evidence military oversight privacy public inquiries public records search warrants veterans affairs veterans services whistleblower protection +14 more
Introduced by: The Hon Matt Keogh MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Matt Keogh ALP
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Introduction The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide delivered its final report in September last year. It contained 122 recommendations. Recommendation 122 was that the government establish a new statutory entity to oversee system reform across the whole defence ecosystem.”
Phillip Thompson LNP
“To all those that continue to wear the uniform, our veterans and your families: the freedoms that we enjoy today are on the back of hard-fought battles, wars and sacrifice that you have made. Through natural disasters, peacekeeping and combat operations, our Defence Force members have served with honour and distinction.”
Ali France ALP
“I consider myself to be very lucky to be representing an electorate that has a large veteran and Defence population. Gallipoli Barracks is right on our doorstep, and we have approximately 3,500 veterans—more than that, I think now—and approximately 2,000 serving members of the Defence Force. They’re spread out across Warner, Albany Creek and the hills district.”
Meryl Swanson ALP
“Today I rise to speak in support of the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025, a bill that goes to the very heart of our responsibility to those who have served our nation and to the families who serve alongside them. Before I turn to the technical provisions of the bill, I want to begin somewhere very human and very local for me.”
“Like the member for Paterson, who has just finished her contribution—a good one at that—I too acknowledge Julie-Ann Finney and her role in supporting not just her son’s legacy but indeed veterans per se.”
Susan Templeman ALP
“When the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide delivered its final report in September the year before last, it contained 122 recommendations. Recommendation 122, the very last recommendation—last but definitely not least—was that the government establish a new statutory entity to oversee system reform across the whole Defence ecosystem.”
Tom Venning LIB
“Our veterans matter. This seems obvious, but it is a fact too often forgotten here as the years progress and the memories of war fade.”
Jo Briskey ALP
“Nestled in the heart of Moonee Ponds stands the Menin barracks, which is home to the 5th/6th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment Delta Company. It remains an active Army Reserve base, but it is also a living monument to my community’s proud military history. It has a lineage that stretches back to the original AIF and the battlefields of Gallipoli.”
Allegra Spender IND
“I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025. I’m privileged to represent a large and deeply engaged Defence Force community in Wentworth. Our electorate is home to veterans from many conflicts and many, many decades of service. They are a community defined by courage, professionalism and sacrifice.”
“I rise to speak in support of the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025. In this House, we have spoken, on many occasions, about the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which delivered a report in September 2024.”
Kate Chaney IND
“I rise today to welcome the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025 and the accompanying Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. These bills implement recommendation 122 of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, a recommendation the commission described as one of its most important.”
Luke Gosling ALP
“I acknowledge the previous speakers and acknowledge the minister in the chamber. I congratulate him on this bill and his work in general, post the royal commission, to really drive the implementation of recommendations. I have the great fortune of having been appointed by the Prime Minister as the Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans’ Affairs and Northern Australia.”
Andrew Hastie LIB
“How a nation cares for its veterans and their families is an insight into the character of that nation. As we reflect on the last 120 years, where Australians have gone to distant shores to defend Australia and its interests, we note that more than 100,000 Australians have given their lives wearing our uniform and serving our country.”
Steve Georganas ALP
“I pay tribute to the two previous speakers, the member for Canning and the member for Solomon, and recognise that they both have had distinguished careers in the Defence Force and are very capable people to talk on this particular subject. We thank them for their service and for putting themselves on the front lines to protect our wonderful nation.”
Darren Chester NAT
“I rise to speak in support of the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025, notwithstanding that the coalition will be moving some amendments in relation to the reporting date of the commissioner in the legislation.”
“I rise today to speak in support of the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025 and the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025, introduced by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. I commend him for doing so, and I note his presence in this chamber today. I’m proud to come from a family who has served our country.”
Ms PRICE
“I rise to speak on the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025. As the shadow minister for defence personnel and shadow minister for defence industry, I’d like to first acknowledge our veterans and those currently serving in our Defence Forces. When the coalition was last in government, it established the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.”
Emma Comer ALP
“The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was one of the most confronting and sobering inquiries this country has ever undertaken.”
Anthony Chisholm ALP
“I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speeches read as follows— DEFENCE AND VETERANS’ SERVICE COMMISSIONER BILL 2025 Introduction The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide delivered its Final Report in September last year. It contained 122 recommendations.”
Susan McDonald LNP
“It’s important at the outset to place on record that the concept of an independent oversight body is not new. Indeed, the coalition brought forward legislation in 2020 to establish a national commissioner for defence and veteran suicide prevention. That proposal sought to create a truly independent statutory authority with many of the same structural features now being implemented.”
David Shoebridge GRN
“I rise on behalf of the Greens to indicate that we’ll be supporting the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025 and to deal briefly with the history of why we’re here. We’re here because the royal commission made a finding that veterans and people serving in the ADF are at significant risk, and at significant risk to their mental health.”
Paul Scarr LIB
“I associate myself, in particular, with the last remark Senator Shoebridge made in relation to our last Senate estimates hearing with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Senator David Pocock participated in that estimates hearing as well.”
Andrew McLachlan LIB
“I rise to speak to the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025 and the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025, and I associate myself with the remarks of my fellow senators. The creation of the commissioner position is a product of the findings of the royal commission.”
Jenny McAllister ALP
“I would like to sincerely thank senators for their contributions to the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner Bill 2025 and the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025.”