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🇦🇺 Australia /Health & Science

'Kick in the guts': NT veterans join calls for health funding cap removal

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Northern Territory veterans are protesting a federal government plan to cap allied health services at $5,000 annually, starting July 2027.
  • Veterans fear the cap will limit access to essential treatments like psychology and physiotherapy, potentially worsening their health outcomes.
  • Critics argue the cap is a "kick in the guts" and contradicts recommendations from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

Veterans in the Northern Territory are voicing strong opposition to a federal government proposal that would cap the cost of allied health services at $5,000 per year, beginning July 1, 2027. This limit applies to services such as psychology, occupational therapy, and exercise physiology, unless veterans secure approval for additional funding through a yet-to-be-detailed process.

I am already asking myself whether I am going to have to go without physio for a couple of months, or not see the counsellor for a couple of months. You start to weigh up what part of you, health-wise, is the most important, so that's driving up anxiety among everyone at the moment.

— Shane Pascoe-BellA Palmerston veteran describing the anxiety and difficult choices he faces due to the proposed health funding cap.

The proposed change, part of a broader government effort to streamline healthcare support approvals for veterans, has drawn widespread criticism from veterans and advocacy groups nationwide. Palmerston veteran Shane Pascoe-Bell, who suffers from multiple physical and mental injuries sustained during his service in East Timor, expressed deep concern. He highlighted the high cost of his necessary treatments, estimated at $15,000 annually, and the anxiety the cap creates.

"I am already asking myself whether I am going to have to go without physio for a couple of months, or not see the counsellor for a couple of months," Pascoe-Bell stated. "You start to weigh up what part of you, health-wise, is the most important, so that's driving up anxiety among everyone at the moment."

This is just another kick in the guts where veterans will potentially be in a worse-off situation than they would have been before the Royal Commission into [Defence and] Veteran Suicide.

— Adam GiulianiFormer president of the Council of Australian Veterans' Darwin branch criticizing the federal government's health funding cap proposal.

Adam Giuliani, former president of the Council of Australian Veterans' Darwin branch, echoed these concerns, calling the budget announcement a "kick in the guts." He argued that the cap could leave veterans in a worse position than before the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Giuliani emphasized that veterans who are unable to work rely on these services and could face significant hardship if their treatment is cut off, potentially leading them to "fall through the cracks."

And as we know, if veterans don't get the treatment they require, they fall through the cracks.

— Adam GiulianiAdam Giuliani explaining the potential consequences of the health funding cap for veterans' well-being.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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