Page 838 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 20 April 2021
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MS DAVIDSON: The Ministerial Advisory Council for Veterans and Their Families represents 12 community members with an interest in issues affecting veterans and their families in the ACT, formed from a number of different community groups, as you know.
Mr Hanson: Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the question is specifically: other than the veterans advisory council, what consultations have occurred? On a point of relevance.
MADAM SPEAKER: I cannot direct the minister how to answer the question. She is in order. She is talking about the groups that she has consulted. Minister.
MS DAVIDSON: Thank you. As to the question about what they would like to do this year, there will of course be the community event in Woden, as there has been previously, and we will be doing the Light up the Dawn service. The feedback from people in the community and from organisations involved is that people found it a very moving way to commemorate that day and a very personal way to connect with their families. (Time expired.)
MR HANSON: Minister, beyond the veterans advisory council, what consultations have you had with the veteran community, with which groups, and what specific initiatives has the ACT government got for ACT veterans in the budget?
MS DAVIDSON: As I have just spoken about the consultations around Anzac Day events, I might go to your question about what initiatives there are for veterans in the ACT. The ACT public service sector employment strategy is a key way of making sure that we continue to support veterans in transition and outlines the ACT government’s priorities for ensuring veterans and their families can choose to remain in or move to Canberra as they transition to civilian life.
The ACT Public Service was named the nation’s Public Sector Veterans Employer of the Year in 2020 in the Prime Minister’s Veterans Employment Awards. We also run the ACT Public Service Veterans Mentoring Program, which was launched in November 2019. The mentoring program is open to veterans and family members of veterans and provides a development opportunity for participants to build on career skills, connect with professional individuals and networks from across the public service and consider further opportunities in the public service.
We have a number of mental health services that we also provide to veterans, which I have talked about previously, and we also support the ACT veteran community through the annual Veterans Grants Program, which provides a total of $80,000 each financial year to local projects supporting the veteran community. One of the things I particularly love about the Veterans Grants Program is the diversity of different veteran community groups that are able to provide support and connection to people in their community, with the support of the ACT government.
ACT Policing—resources
MR HANSON: My question is to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. The latest Productivity Commission’s report on government services shows that the
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