“However, it needs more funding for operating costs and these cannot be covered through grant funding. “Since 2017 Veterans Centre Australia has received more than $825,000 in grant funding for programs from department of veterans’ affairs to support the work it does supporting veterans’ and families’,” Keogh said. Matt Keogh, the minister for veterans’ affairs, said while it is “very disappointing” the centre is closing its doors, costs could not be covered through the department alone. “Lives are at stake and any failure to act would be unacceptable,” he said. He has called on the minister “to urgently intervene and provide whatever funding or other resources are necessary for Veterans Centre Australia to continue its operations”. “It has literally saved the lives of many veterans who have fallen through the cracks and might otherwise have succumbed to suicide, homelessness, destitution or incarceration.” “Veterans Centre Australia has set the highest standard of care for vulnerable, injured or disabled veterans and their families in urgent need of complex medical, psychological and social support,” he wrote. RSL NSW and RSL LifeCare Veteran Services saw an 86% increase in demand for services from veterans and their families in the last 12 months compared with the previous year.īut the retired army major Stuart McCarthy, now an advocate for veterans affairs, said in a statement written to the minister that these other support services cannot fill the gap. The partner charity of RSL NSW, RSL LifeCare Veteran Services, has offered to take on clients of Veterans Centre Australia, including 25 high-need clients. The staff have been working with the department of veterans affairs and the RSL to transition clients to other support services. “It was a privilege for myself and the team to be able to do that.” skip past newsletter promotion “But it takes meeting with these folks to understand their situations and needs,” he said. Veterans Centre Australia director, Rob Conway, said: “You’ve only got to look at the self-harm and suicide rates to understand how important it is to provide this service.” The branch has been contacted but declined to comment. The major funder of Veterans Centre Australia was the Dee Why RSL located on Sydney’s northern beaches, but the RSL disinvested from the centre in 2022. Because how can you just close when you have 500 clients? And all while there’s a royal commission going on highlighting the challenges veterans face accessing services and their suicide risk. We are now doing all we possibly can to make sure that our clients have been well supported transitioning to other services. “We’ve done everything humanly possible to keep the doors open, but it’s been a hard fight. Because how can you just close when you have 500 clients?’ Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |