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Joint Inquiry into the facts surrounding the management of Mr Jesse Bird’s case
Inquiry Report
Introduction
In a public statement made on 19 July 2017 attached at
Annex A, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and
Defence Personnel requested a joint review to be conducted with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
(DVA) and Department of Defence (Defence) into the handling of Jesse Bird’s discharge and case
management. This review is in response to Jesse Bird’s death by suicide on 27 June 2017.
The inquiry team was established, comprised of staff from DVA, Veterans and Veterans Counselling
Service (VVCS) and Defence, to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances and management
of Jesse’s case.
(s 47F)
14 pages exempt in full (s 47F)
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(s 47F)
Conclusion
The review identified 19 recommendations to improve the service and experience of veterans drawing from
the learnings of Jesse’s case. These recommendations include priority actions to current processes and
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practices in DVA, progressing actions that are already being considered as part of DVA’s Veteran Centric
Reform program (VCR) and changes put forward to the Minister for Government consideration.
It is DVA’s commitment to address the failures and shortfalls identified in this report with appropriate
controls, and to put in place urgent changes in the provision of support to our veterans, especially those
who are vulnerable or at risk.
VCR seeks to better know, connect and support veterans who serve or have served Australia, while
continuing to respect that service. To achieve this, a coordinated approach is being implemented to ensure
veterans are identified and proactively engaged, enabling them to access services at the time, and in the
place, where they require support. Veterans will benefit from a new focus on early intervention and
preventive health care, which will provide services to veterans before problems become more acute later in
life.
VCR will change DVA’s culture, operating model, and business processes and systems. DVA will continue
to examine evidence and explore best practice service delivery to identify potential service delivery models
to provide veterans with the best possible services. VCR will also complement other work across
government supporting veterans, including the Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Program.
Of the 19 recommendations, the inquiry team identified nine priority actions:
1. The Secretary to examine the areas of potential non-compliance with current legislation and policy to
provide the Minister advice regarding any redress action/s.
2. Provide delegates with a clear statement of the policy and processes when considering an interim
payment of compensation for permanent impairment to ensure that interim compensation payments are
being provided in all cases where appropriate.
3. Put in place controls to ensure process of registration of claims is consistently followed when needs
assessment is received and not delayed by other information that is not yet provided.
4. Enhance reporting and risk factor escalation between VVCS and DVA through an offering to clients
that includes an ‘opt-out’ model of information sharing, so that all support services are integrated for
clients with diagnosed mental health issues.
5. Put in place controls to ensure that complex case management is initiated for complex or high risk
clients.
6. Revise Service Level Agreement Key Performance Indicators for information sharing with partner
agencies (such as Defence and the CSC), including timeframes for DVA to request information as soon
as possible after claim registration and timeframes for partner agencies to respond.
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7. Review existing Service Coordination processes that provide coordinated, tailored and empathetic
response to families, for relevancy in the case of the death of non-serving clients.
8. Educate staff and monitor implementation of the inquiry recommendations above.
9. Identify indicators for veterans at risk to develop best practice case management models.
Of the 19 recommendations, the inquiry team identified the following seven recommendations for DVA to
continue as part of its VCR program:
10. Continue to pilot an integrated and holistic case management approach, including a whole-of-person
view, a holistic care model for veterans, and an increased focus on transition support and vocational
assistance. Subject the evaluation of this trial this will require further consideration by Government.
11. Implement better systems and processes to identify and alert staff in order to support high risk and
vulnerable veterans.
12. Put in place wellness checks for uncontactable clients with mental health conditions and trigger
additional support mechanisms for clients with mental health conditions who repeatedly submit
incomplete documentation or exceed expected response timeframes.
13. Implement action to ensure letters and emails are accurate, easy to understand and appropriate in tone.
14. Implement action to ensure liability and compensation rejection or claim denial correspondence occurs
only after a DVA staff member phones to discuss the outcome with a client. This discussion should
detail:
a.
the nature of the decision or determination;
b.
opportunities for the member to appeal the decision, should they wish to;
c.
alternative services that DVA can offer;
d.
options to defer the decision and revisit at a later stage (e.g. once conditions have
stabilised), not implications for recording times taken to process; and
e.
DVA point of contact in case further explanation is desired.
15. Expand scope of reviewed circumstances to include services sought through other Government agencies
and community services.
16. Introduce a case-response team with specified resources across public affairs, legal, strategic
communications, executive and divisions to create a DVA response to emerging issues and messaging
that is respectful and supportive in tone.
Of the 19 recommendations, the inquiry team identified three additional recommendations to the Minister
for Government to consider:
