Vietnam Vets plan to expand its Ettalong office

The Vietnam Veterans', Peacekeepers' and Peacemakers' Association plans to expand its office space at Ettalong so it can assist more people.

Branch president Dr Steve Karsai said he believed there were up to 3000 veterans living on the Peninsula.

The Vietnam veterans now range in age from 67 to 90 but the Peninsula is also home to an increasing number of younger men and women who have done their service in Afghanistan and Iraq and cannot afford to buy homes in Sydney.

Dr Karsai said homelessness and Veterans' Affairs over-payments resulting in debts were just two of the many issues the Association helped local veterans to deal with.

The association is currently aware of eight homeless veterans in the local community, most suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which makes it difficult for them to hold down a steady job and limits their housing options.

Navigating the complicated legislation that determines veteran entitlements also presents many challenges for ex-armed services personnel.

Three Acts of Parliament cover veterans: the 1988 Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, the 1986 Veterans' Entitlements Act and the 2004 Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

Veterans can end up with debts if they double-dip, Dr Karsai said.

"We have spoken with the Member for Robertson, Ms Lucy Wicks, and presented a petition to Mr Tony Abbott when he was Prime Minister," Dr Karsai said.

The newest of the three pieces of law was supposed to separate civilian and military compensation and rehabilitation to reflect the unique circumstances that are born out of military service.

"The new Act may put veterans behind the eight ball because the old Act focused on getting the veteran better including a pension for life that was a non-taxable income as well as treatment and rehabilitation in the form of a Gold Card," he said.

"Under the 2004 version they can still get the treatment but it is hard for them to get up to the gold card status.

"They get a white card for treatment of a specific condition but the condition keeps having to be reassessed."

According to Dr Karsai, veterans who've accidentally been paid under the 1986 and 2004 Acts have ended up with debts from $1200 up to $190,000.

"I had one veteran with school age children who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan who had to sell his house in Umina and move further north to find a house he could afford after he had paid back the debt."

The Association now has four volunteer team members working on claims under the various acts for veterans, war widows and overseas claims.

"Claims used to take 10 weeks but now they can take up to five years," Dr Karsai said.

All claims must now go through Veterans' Affairs' Melbourne office before being farmed out to other offices.

Claims get lost.

DVA personnel do not necessarily understand the unique circumstances of individuals who have done military service, Dr Karsai said.

"There is no such thing as an automatic entitlement for veterans but even if documents are provided from the individual's military file from the time they incurred their injury, when they were still in the service, they will still be required to go to a doctor and specialists to prove the injury.

"I have seen men with PTSD and in agony from their injuries forced to go through examinations even if there is clear evidence of their claims.

"Then the Department of Veterans' Affairs may decide not to take any notice of the specialist and the veteran will be sent to a doctor who has never seen them before, spends 20 minutes with them, doesn't listen to what they say and then rejects their claim.

"I currently have three local people going through veterans' review boards and administrative claims tribunals to fight their claims decisions."

The number of veterans in need of claims assistance on the Peninsula is growing and getting younger.

"A lot of them are suffering and don't trust the RSL and they are put off by our name but we are there to help with their pensions and their welfare.

"We had two offices that had to be shared by volunteers but now we have four very spacious offices which means our volunteers have space to help clients privately and take more time with them," he said.

Office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 9:30 am to 1:30pm and the Association can be contacted on 4344 4760.

Interview, 1 Mar 2017

Steve Karsai, Vietnam Veterans', Peacekeepers and Peacemakers Association

Reporter: Jackie Pearson