A few weeks ago, like many Members of this Parliament, I attended Anzac Day services across my community.  

I felt deeply honoured to attend these events. 

Each gathering was a moving tribute: from the dawn service in West Pymble and early morning in Turramurra -  

• both hosted by our wonderful local scout groups -  

to the Willoughby family and community service led by 

• Chatswood RSL and the Willoughby Legion, and  

• the Lions Club service in St Ives.  

These ceremonies bring our community together in shared remembrance.  

They are an opportunity to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of our servicemen and women - their stories brought vividly to life by thoughtful speakers who honoured the spirit of mateship and everyday humanism, set against the profound realities of war. 

These community events remind us that Anzac Day is not only about history. It is about the concrete service and sacrifice of people in our communities, and the families that support them.  

When the last census was taken in 2021, there were over 2,000 veterans in my electorate. Many of these servicemen and women were at these ceremonies across the North Shore last month. 

Anzac Day is a reminder that we have a responsibility not just to recognise our veterans at least once a year, but to ensure they are properly recognised in our laws, our institutions, and our society – even long after the Last Post fades. 

Too often, we have failed in that respect.  

The bill before the House today reflects that failure, insofar as it stems from the work of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide – a commission that was initiated because of the hardship faced by veterans across the country.  

But at the same time, the bill represents a step forward, however incremental, towards achieving better outcomes for those veterans.  

For these reasons, I welcome the Defence Force Discipline Amendment Bill 2026. The bill makes progress by putting into legislation a number of recommendations of the Royal Commission. 

The Commission was established in 2021 after years of advocacy by veterans and families, and delivered its final report in 2024. 

It was unprecedented in its scope and devastating in what it revealed about the human cost of systemic failure. 

It rigorously examined systemic issues in Defence, veterans’ services, and military culture, and heard evidence from thousands of serving members, veterans, families and experts. 

This testimony was often given at enormous personal and emotional cost. Reliving trauma and loss because they believed telling the truth would lead to lasting change. 

A few months ago, I met with a veteran from my community who had participated in the Royal Commission process.  

Alongside his mother, he shared his painful story with me, describing how, after his career spiraled after he disclosed his PTSD to his commanding officers. Rather than support him, his Command challenged and disrespected his medical diagnosis, isolated him from his colleagues and friends, and failed to assist him in finding useful employment outside active service. 

Experiences such as these have created a widespread sense of mistrust across the veteran community. My constituents explained how years of poor leadership, opaque processes and inconsistent decision-making have taken their toll on veterans and their families. 

These systemic issues have long-lasting effects on veterans – destabilising careers and damaging mental health well after their return to civilian life – but too often there is little accountability for those in positions of authority. 

Above all, my constituents emphasized that veterans are not seeking special recognition – just dignity, respect and fair treatment.   

Their key message to me was to not let the momentum of the Royal Commission slip away, but to ensure its recommendations progress into practical, transparent, and accountable implementation.  

The Commission demonstrated that suicide and suicidality among Defence members and veterans is not the result of individual weakness, but of systemic failure - and that preventing future harm requires sustained, comprehensive reform. 

To guide that reform, the Commission made 122 recommendations in its final report, of which the Government agreed to 104. 

This bill seeks to implement five of them, focusing primarily on the military justice system. This is necessary reform, with the justice system identified by the Royal Commission as frequently compounding distress and elevating suicide risk rather than alleviating it. 

Among the reforms introduced here are 

• strengthened workplace protections during sexual misconduct investigations,  

• amended sentencing procedures for serious violent or sexual offences and disclosures of service offences, and  

• enhanced options to address mental health conditions within the military discipline system. 

The bill also streamlines tribunal procedures, for instance by requiring reasons for punishments to strengthen sentencing transparency. And it removes outdated and stigmatising language from legislation, aligning terminology more closely with modern usage and understanding.  

All these reforms matter. And taken together, they represent a meaningful step in the right direction. 

But we must be honest with ourselves and with the veteran community. 

This bill responds to five recommendations of the Royal Commission. There remain many more yet to be implemented.  

The Royal Commission was clear: suicide prevention in Defence and veteran communities requires comprehensive, sustained reform.  

Families, including ageing parents and children who have lost a parent – physically or mentally, continue to live with the consequences every day. 

Its recommendations were not abstract policy suggestions. They were a national undertaking — a promise that Australia would do better by those who served our nation and, in some cases, paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. 

That means implementing all the recommendations — not only those that are administratively convenient or legislatively straightforward, but those that require deeper cultural change, genuine independence of oversight, and real accountability for leadership failure. 

The ongoing work of the newly established Defence and Veterans’ Service Commission is critical in this respect.  

Just last week, the Acting Commissioner launched its independent inquiry into the progress of implementing the Royal Commission’s recommendations. It is due to report in February next year.  

But this responsibility stretches beyond the Commission to all of us. We all have a responsibility to ensure that veterans who are already out of active service are given meaningful work inside the defence and veterans community or if leaving the service all together, that they are not forgotten – but can instead live with dignity and fairness.  

This bill is a welcome step forward. I support it, and I urge the Government to continue its important work in this area with dedication and focus. 

But the work will continue until the full intent of the Royal Commission is realised, trust is rebuilt, and veterans and their families can be confident that our institutions serve them with the same loyalty and integrity that they showed in service to Australia.  

If we genuinely honour ANZAC Day, then we must honour that promise too.