7 August 2017

No change

The Australian Government is committed to a stand-alone Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA). This has been an election commitment by the
Coalition over successive elections and remains Government policy.

There are no plans to merge DVA with the Department of Human Services (DHS). There is no meeting planned for this week and there is no
agreement to be signed in the near future to subsume DVA into DHS.

DHS manages DVA’s ICT infrastructure under a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed in 2011. Prior to this agreement DVA’s ICT infrastructure
was outsourced to IBM. 

There has been no change to DVA’s recruitment policy. DVA continues to recruit in-line with Australian Public Service policy, with a priority on
hiring staff who are passionate about supporting veterans.

Media enquiries: 
Minister Tehan’s Office: Byron Vale, 0428 262 894
Department of Veterans’ Affairs Media: 02 6289 6203

Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service (VVCS) can be reached 24 hours a day across Australia for crisis support and free and confidential counselling.
Phone 1800 011 046 (international: +61 8 8241 45 46).  VVCS is a service founded by Vietnam veterans.