Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill 2025, Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025

Summary

Australia is moving the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner out of the Defence Act into its own standalone law. The Commissioner is an independent watchdog role that monitors why veterans are at risk of suicide and pushes for system-wide changes across defence and veteran services — this responds to a Royal Commission recommendation after the 2024 report highlighted suicide as a major issue for current and former Defence Force members. The new law gives the Commissioner power to investigate Commonwealth policies and practices, compel agencies to provide information, report publicly to Parliament, and follow up on whether government agencies actually fix problems they've identified. This matters because it creates a dedicated, independent voice outside the Defence Department to hold the government accountable for how it supports veterans' mental health and wellbeing, with guaranteed oversight through Parliament.

What happens at this stage

The final vote in this chamber on the bill as a whole, after all amendments have been considered. If it passes, the bill moves to the other chamber to go through the same process. If both chambers have already agreed to identical text, the bill proceeds directly to Royal Assent.

Next: The other chamber, which runs the same process from First Reading, or Royal Assent if both chambers have already agreed