Understanding the priorities of our Victorian veterans

Grosvenor delivered the Victorian veterans’ sector review to the Victorian Veterans Council (supported by the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet) to provide a current assessment of the Victorian veterans’ sector, and inform the Council’s strategic planning for the future.

The review entailed state-wide consultation with veteran community members and ex-service organisations, as well as analysis of national and international literature to determine the current state of veterans’ affairs within Victoria and develop recommendations to address the identified opportunities.

Specifically the review found that:

• there are barriers associated with each of the four steps a veteran community member needs to take to become aware of and access their required services
• the profile of the veteran community is changing, by simultaneously declining in size and increasing the proportion of younger veterans as they exit military service
• many needs experienced by the veteran community are myriad and complex, in that multiple needs can be experienced at the one time
• there may be scope for improvement in the delivery of domestic violence support services and substance abuse support services to the veteran community
• there has been rapid and recent change in the capacity and capability of ex-service organisations to service the veterans’ sector, as some ‘traditional’ ex-service organisations struggle with declining memberships, funding and volunteer numbers; whilst emerging ex-service organisations which focus on the younger veteran cohort require more support to become fully established.

The Victorian Veterans Council has recently completed its strategy to act on the recommendations contained within our report.

Victorian Government’s response to the Veterans Sector Study Report

The Minister for Veterans the Hon John Eren MP announced the Victorian Government’s response to the Veterans Sector Study Report 2015 in December 2016.

Demonstrating the Victorian Government’s commitment to honoring the service and sacrifice of Victorian veterans and their families, the Victorian Government is working with the Victorian Veteran’s Council and ex-service organisations to implement the recommendations detailed in the report.

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