UPDATE ON VETERANS INDEPENDENCE PROGRAMME

A media release that went out from the RNZRSA today, following their meeting with the Minister of Veterans yesterday, and a message regarding Veterans Independence Programme services are below.  

If any Association member is aware of any Veteran who is in urgent need of support as a result of the VA suspension they are requested to ensure that the relevant RSA DSM is informed. 

MEDIA RELEASE

RNZRSA disappointed as veterans left without support.

Last week’s announcement that Veterans’ Affairs were suspending entitlements to Veterans

Independence Programme (VIP) services has left elderly veterans scrambling for support.

Immediately following the announcement the RSA wrote to the Minister seeking an urgent review of

the decision. The Minister met with the leadership of the RSA yesterday and made it clear that while

he would not order a review, the RSA was invited to submit options for how they could support

Veterans’ Affairs with service delivery.

The RNZRSA’s General Manager Support Services, Andrew Brown, said the decision not to review the

suspension of VIP services is incredibly disappointing.

“We knew when the announcement was made that we would be inundated with calls from veterans,

some of whom had been waiting for up to two years, for support that has now evaporated.

Over the last couple of years as we watched the wait times increasing, we made a number of offers

to Veterans’ Affairs to assist them with service delivery. It’s frustrating that they are citing workforce

issues as the reason for suspending VIP services, when that is exactly the kind of service we could

already have been assisting them with,” said Andrew.

“There are many options available to Veterans’ Affairs to reduce the wait times for processing

applications that don’t require simply cutting the services available to veterans. For example, the

application process for any veteran seeking support is overly bureaucratic and their case

management model is cumbersome and inefficient – improvements in both these areas will have far

greater impact on wait times, while ensuring our veterans continue to receive the support they are

entitled to,” said Andrew.

The RNZRSA believes that simply reallocating the small workforce that previously dealt with VIP

services to process the significant backlog of other applications is no plan, and it’s time for the

Government to adequately resource Veterans’ Affairs so it can deliver the services the legislation

requires it to.

“More work is needed to resolve the problem, but we welcome the opportunity raised by the

Minister for the RNZRSA to work more closely with Veterans’ Affairs.

We want to be part of the solution that sees New Zealand’s veterans more easily accessing the

support they are entitled to – without having to wait years for their claims to be considered. But it’s

clear that there needs to be significant organizational change within Veterans’ Affairs if there is any

hope of improving the support available to veterans in the long term.”

The RNZRSA is preparing a range of options to submit to the Minister for services they can assist

with under a contracted arrangement. In the meantime, their support network has already moved to

ensure it can navigate veterans through to other agencies to access the support they need.

For more information or an interview, please contact Rachel Riley: media@rsa.org.nz or 027 2973313

MESSAGE ON SUPPORT THROUGH RNZRSA

Urgent Update on the Veterans’ Independence Programme (VIP Services) from the RNZRSA’s General Manager Support Services, Andrew Brown.   From 13 March 2024 Veterans’ Affairs advised the decision to suspend Veterans’ Independence Programme services for new clients for 12 months.  Of the approximately 750 veterans affected by the decision, 150 with service-related conditions will continue to be processed.  The 600 remaining applications in the system have been suspended.  Of these we already know that there have been some administrative errors and/or incorrect or outdated information that has meant some of the applications that should have proceeded have been suspended.     District Support Managers have been asked to engage their networks to ensure that entitled veterans who have had their applications suspended are identified. Entitlement in this case refers to veterans who already have accepted conditions, are over 90 years of age, or have a terminal condition. These entitled veterans must be referred back to Veterans’ Affairs so that their applications can be reinstated.    We know that all applications for independence services matter a great deal and we must now find alternative solutions, especially for those who now have to go through a health system that is already under pressure to get their conditions linked to their Qualifying Service.    To ensure that those veterans who are most in need of independence services are supported, local solutions may need to be found – whether that’s volunteers in the area completing some of the work (mowing lawns, clearing gardens, vacuuming), or local RSA’s funding the services for veterans in their area until their applications have been processed by VA.  District Support Managers have been asked to work with District and local RSA leaders to ensure that Poppy Funds are accessed where possible.  The National Poppy Trust is another source of support.    It is important to recognise that in cases where government-funded services are suspended (even temporarily) the volunteer or not-for-profit sector will not be able to absorb all the demand.  We can, and will, do our utmost to support veterans to live independently because we know that this leads to better life outcomes and honours veterans’ service to Aotearoa New Zealand.   While we work through the implications of this decision, I would ask that RSA’s work with their local support advisors to ensure veterans are appropriately supported. Should you need advice or are unable to connect with a support advisor, I am available on mobile 027 247 0967 to discuss.   Ngā mihi,   Andrew