Overview

• Nine recommendations have been completed, 104 were agreed or agreed in principle, and work continues on about 110 more since the royal commission’s final report last year.
• The legislated Defence and Veterans' Service Commission is slated to be operational by the end of September, with recruitment for a commissioner underway and $44.5 million allocated over four years.
• The government will release a Defence and Veteran Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and launch a redesigned DVA website featuring AI tools to help veterans find support.
• Sexual misconduct policies have been updated, an interim directive enables suspension or involuntary separation for serious alleged misconduct, and a presumption of discharge now applies upon conviction.
• Independent oversight and evidence-building are advancing through a Military Justice Assurance Branch, an inquiry into misuse of administrative processes, and a taskforce researching military sexual trauma alongside work on a standalone inquiry’s terms of reference.