The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) was introduced to bring together, in one piece of legislation, rehabilitation and compensation provisions for all members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), cadets, cadet instructors and members of the Reserve Forces, regardless of the type of service performed by the member – peacetime, non-warlike or warlike – for injuries/diseases or deaths from service post 1 July 2004. It adopted the rehabilitation focus and many of the benefit structures of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRCA) and included some desirable features of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA). The MRCA is the rehabilitation and compensation scheme that covers ADF members currently serving in Afghanistan and other deployments around the world.
In the lead up to the 2007 Election, we undertook to conduct a review of the MRCA given it had been in place since 2004 and ex-service organisations had raised concerns about some aspects of the Act.
The review was conducted between mid-2009 and February 2011 by a Steering Committee chaired by the Chair of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs (Mr Ian Campbell). The Committee had representatives from the Treasury and the Departments of Defence; Finance and Deregulation; and Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and an independent expert in compensation law. Considerable consultation occurred with the veteran and defence communities, including ex-service organisations.
The review had broad terms of reference to examine not only the legislation but also supporting policies and the performance of the Departments of Veterans' Affairs and Defence in administering the Act. It also examined specific issues raised by stakeholders about transition from the SRCA and VEA to the MRCA, and interaction between the VEA and SRCA.
In the 2010 Election we committed to “taking all appropriate action in response to the Review to ensure services and support for veterans and serving members evolve with their needs”.