Higher GP rebates flagged to better support veteran care

Remuneration that better reflects the work GPs undertake in preparing medical reports for veterans has been flagged by the Federal Government.
 
At a recent National Press Club address in Canberra, Federal Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh highlighted a raft of upcoming changes, including two key initiatives to enhance support for GPs and other doctors providing care to veteran patients.
 
‘We’re updating our fee schedule for report writing, ensuring payments for reports are more consistent with other equivalent jurisdictions and better reflect actual costs to practitioners,’ he said.
 
Minister Keogh also flagged steps to ‘ensure veterans have access to high-quality, comprehensive and coordinated care from their clinical team’. 
 
‘From 1 July 2026 we’ll be rolling out veteran-specific mental health care plan funding to support GPs and psychiatrists providing proactive, continuous and connected care for veterans experiencing mental health conditions,’ he said.
 
‘We are also undertaking a refresh of the eligibility and program requirements for the Coordinated Veterans Care program, to broaden eligibility.’
 
An advisory panel will be set up ‘to make sure we get this right’, he added, with more details expected in the coming months.
 
Along with better support for doctors is a commitment to tighter compliance measures to ensure veterans are not being exploited as the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) continues to work through a backlog of cases.
 
Reflecting on the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide 12 months on, Minister Keogh said one of its ‘most heartbreaking statistics’ was the backlog of some 42,000 veteran claims.
 
This meant thousands of veterans and families were prevented from getting the help they desperately needed, he said.
 
The Minister is now encouraging veterans to work with their usual treating GPs on medical reports for DVA matters, ‘rather than going to a new provider who might not know them very well’.
 
‘An unintended consequence of speeding up claims processing is a rise in concerning behaviour from paid and commission-based advocates, as well as a concerning rise in inappropriate and sometimes illegal profiteering by providers, to the detriment of veterans,’ Minister Keogh said.
 
‘Instances of fraud and inappropriate advocate/practitioner relationships mean we are tightening compliance measures to ensure the system, and indeed veterans themselves, are not exploited.
 
‘These updates to DVA’s compliance rules will not be noticed by the vast majority of practitioners who act with integrity.’
 
RACGP Rural Chair and veteran Associate Professor Michael Clements said the RACGP welcomes the DVA’s focus on supporting veterans and GPs.
 
‘We also applaud the comment that the Minister is encouraging veterans to work with their usual treating GP as this is a core component of the RACGP’s vision for good general practice,’ he told newsGP.
 
But Associate Professor Clements said it remains to be seen whether the increased reimbursement will be ‘of a magnitude sufficient for GPs to re-engage’ in this space.
 
‘One of the barriers to veterans accessing these reports and this type of care from their GP has been insufficient rebates for the complexity of the consultation and the assessments,’ he said.
 
‘Also, the assessments themselves can be quite technical, and the questions and impairment assessments might be challenging for GPs who have not seen the paperwork before.
 
‘Many GPs are put off supporting veterans with diagnosis and impairment processes that the DVA requests due to the complexity and volume of reports, with many questions seemingly being asked several times but in different ways.
 
‘I do note that DVA have recently been working to improve GP understanding of the paperwork process by funding education being delivered by Medcast, and this should also be seen as a positive step for DVA wanting to improve the connection and relationship between a veteran and their usual GP.’

During his address, Minister Keogh also announced $78 million in funding over four years for a new veteran and families wellbeing agency to be established within the DVA.
 
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