Open now:
Anzac Day
Schools' Awards
2018
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The 2018 Anzac
Day Schools’
Awards
competition is
now open.
The Anzac Day
Schools’ Awards
are designed to
promote learning
about this
significant
commemorative
day. Since the
Awards' inception,
DVA has received
many inspiring
entries and
encourages
schools to
participate in
this rewarding
activity.
Winners and
runners-up of
the competition
will receive
prize money, a
plaque and
certificates.
There are also
six special
categories that
schools can be
nominated for
that encourage
a specific focus
for entries.
There are many
significant
events that
schools can
choose to
inspire their
commemorative
events. By
theming their
Anzac Day
activities and
the entry,
students can
gain a greater
insight into a
specific aspect
of Australia’s
wartime
history. Judges
are interested
in creative,
innovative
entries where
students
demonstrate an
understanding of
Australia’s
wartime history.
It is highly
recommended that
schools involve
local veterans
in their
activities as
previous entries
have shown that
by doing so,
students can
enhance their
learning, gain
empathy and
demonstrate
higher
engagement with
Anzac Day.
For more
information on
the competition
or to submit an
entry, visit
The Anzac Portal.
Entries close 25
May 2018. |
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It’s a while
away yet, but
this Christmas
Defence Service
Homes turns 100.
On 25 December
1918, six weeks
after the end of
the First World
War, then
Governor-General
Sir Ronald
Crauford Munro
Ferguson gave
royal assent to
the War Service
Homes Act ‘to
make provisions
for Homes for
Australian
Solders and
Dependants of
Australian
Soldiers’.
The Act created
the War Services
Homes
Commission, nine
months after the
inauguration of
the parent
Repatriation
Department. The
Commission was
designed to be
‘of some
assistance in
making the
burden of life
easier to the
returned
soldier’.
The eligible
customer base
for the
organisation at
its inception
consisted of the
270,541
servicemen who
had made it home
after the First
World War, and
widows and
certain widowed
mothers of those
killed in
action.
The first home
was completed on
21 July 1919 in
Canterbury NSW.
The organisation
became Defence
Service Homes in
1972 when the
benefits of the
scheme were
extended to
those who had
been deployed
during more
recent
conflicts.
Today Defence
Service Homes
continues to
offer home
building
insurance to
eligible
veterans,
Australian
Defence Force
members and
their surviving
partners,
providing home
loans to around
5,000 clients
and home
insurance to
55,000.
Find out more on
the Defence
Service Homes
website. |
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Veterans' art
recognised in
Vic Health
Awards
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Leading health
promotion
agency,
VicHealth,
recognised the
Australian
National
Veterans Arts
Museum
(ANVAM) in the
prestigious
annual VicHealth
awards in
December 2017.
ANVAM’s
inaugural
exhibition,
A March to Art:
Identity,
was awarded a
Highly Commended
by VicHealth in
the ‘Building
Health through
Art’ category.
The exhibition
included works
by 18 current
and ex-serving
veterans from
across
Australia,
representing all
three services,
and family
members with a
focus on the
value of arts
for veterans'
wellbeing.
View all
artworks from
the A March
to Art: Identity
exhibition on the
ANVAM website.
ANVAM’s next
exhibition,
March to Art:
Community,
will open on 25
March through to
25 April 2018 at
the Collins
Place Gallery in
Melbourne.
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Vetaffairs
Summer edition
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The Summer
edition of
Vetaffairs
is
online now, featuring:
the
By the Left
campaign,
which aims to
prevent the
questioning of
women veterans
over the
placement of
their medals;
an
update
on DVA's
trial online
claims
application,
MyService;
a feature
on widows
working to raise
awareness of
issues around
service-related
suicide; and
2018 Young
Queenslander of
the Year Phillip
Thompson on the
Prime Minister’s
Veterans’
Employment
Awards.
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Veteran
Centric Reform
Bill helps
veterans and
families
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On 15 February
2018, the
Minister for
Veterans’
Affairs, the Hon
Michael
McCormack MP,
introduced the
Veterans’
Affairs
Legislation
Amendment
(Veteran-centric
Reforms No. 1)
Bill 2018 (VCR
Bill) into the
Parliament. The
VCR Bill would
implement
several new
initiatives to
deliver
additional
services to the
veteran
community and
their families.
The Bill would
provide
additional
support services
for veterans and
their families
through
increased access
to childcare,
home care and
counselling, and
create a new
veteran payment
to help address
concerns raised
by the final
report of the
Senate Inquiry
into Suicide by
Veterans and
Ex-Service
Personnel.
The Veteran
Payment will be
a new income
support payment
to provide
interim
financial
support while a
veteran’s mental
health claim is
decided. Partners
of veterans may
be eligible for
the Veteran
Payment.
Other measures
in the VCR Bill
include a new
pilot program to
provide improved
mental health
support to
veterans in
remote and
regional areas
of Australia and
the automation
of a qualifying
service
determination to
make it easier
for veterans to
make an
application for
a service
pension.
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Applications
open for Veteran
and Community
Grants
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Applications for
DVA's
Veteran and
Community Grants are
now available on
the Australian
Government’s
Community Grants
Hub. This is the
first of DVA’s
grants programs
to be made
available on the
Hub.
The
establishment of
the Hub ensures
grants are
accessible to
all Australians
including
veteran
organisations.
Ex-service
organisations,
veteran
representative
groups,
community-based
and private
organisations
are encouraged
to apply online
via the Hub to
receive funding
for projects or
activities which
improve the
independence and
quality of life
for members of
the veteran
community.
If you need help
using the Hub,
assistance can
be provided
through the Hub
itself, via
email (support@communitygrants.gov.au)
or by phoning
1800 020 283.
If you think you
will need any
help, please ask
early. This will
ensure that any
issues can be
worked through
in time for your
application to
be considered
for funding.
Progressively,
other DVA grant
programs will
continue to open
on the Hub over
coming
months. In early
March, the
Building in
Support and
Excellence
and Grants
in Aid
programs will
open, followed
by the
Saluting Their
Service
Commemorations
Community Grants
program in
late March.
To subscribe to
receive alerts
about opening
grants programs
on the Hub,
please register
for alerts at
www.communitygrants.gov.au.
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Republic of
Korea War
Service Medal
approved for
Korean War
veterans
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Veterans of the
Korean War have
been approved to
wear the
Republic of
Korea War
Service Medal by
the
Governor-General,
His Excellency
General the
Honourable Sir
Peter Cosgrove
AK MC (Retd).
Minister for
Veterans’
Affairs and
Defence
Personnel
Michael
McCormack said
the approval to
wear this medal
after it was
initially
refused by the
British
Government in
1951 shows the
Australian
Honours and
Awards system
has evolved to
become its own
unique system of
recognising our
service men and
women.
'The Australian
Council of Korea
Veterans
Associations has
campaigned to
have the
decision
reconsidered
from an
Australian
perspective,' Mr
McCormack said.
'The approval to
wear the
Republic of
Korea War
Service Medal
demonstrates
the Australian
Defence Force’s
willingness to
consider and
accept change.
'During the
Korean War, in
which more than
15,000
Australians
served,
Australia used
the Imperial
Honours and
Awards system
and was
therefore
subject to the
award policies
set by the
United Kingdom.'
Mr McCormack
said the
Republic of
Korea War
Service Medal
was introduced
by South Korea
in 1951 to
recognise the
assistance
provided by
members of the
United Nations
forces in
combatting
communist
aggression in
Korea.
'It has been
policy to accept
only one foreign
award for a
particular
service or
campaign,' Mr
McCormack said.
'In this case
the United
Nations Medal
Korea had been
accepted and
therefore the
offer of the
Republic of
Korea War
Service Medal
from the South
Korean
Government was
refused.'
As a foreign
award, the
Republic of
Korea War
Service Medal is
not administered
by Defence.
Eligible
veterans may
purchase the
replica medal
from any
reputable medal
dealer. Find out
more on
Defence's
website. |
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