Sustained community pressure wins out as government scraps proposed $5k veteran allied health threshold

The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs said the government had been listening to concerns raised through consultation and was “taking the proposed $5,000 threshold off the table”.

Alongside many other people and organisations in the veteran community, the Families of Veterans Guild (the Guild) has campaigned against the cap since it was first announced on 12 May 2026, warning it would leave the community’s most vulnerable people, including ageing war widows managing chronic conditions and families of veterans with complex health needs like children of deceased service members, worse off.

Since then, the Guild has briefed and met with parliamentarians across the political divide, engaged directly with senators Jacqui Lambie, David Pocock, and David Shoebridge, stood alongside advocates, including Phillip Thompson OAM MP, taken the issue to national media, including Sky News and ABC Radio Sydney, and written to every member of the House of Representatives and the Senate calling for the cap to be scrapped.

“This is what happens when a community refuses to quietly accept bad policy,” said Renee Wilson, CEO of the Families of Veterans Guild.

“Veterans, war widows and families told the government very clearly that a spreadsheet limit on healthcare was no way to decide whether someone could keep seeing their physiotherapist or psychologist, and today the government has listened. That is a win for every person who wrote a letter, made a call, or shared their story over the past four months.”

The Guild recognises that this outcome reflects the effort of the whole veteran community, including the Coalition of Veterans’ Voices, Senator Lambie’s cross-bench bill, and the many veterans, widows and families who added their voices to the campaign.

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Today’s statement leaves open how the government intends to protect system integrity and manage over-servicing without a numerical cap, and how the removal of the 12-session treatment cycle, which is still proceeding, will work in practice.

The Guild will continue to engage with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) through the current consultation, closing 30 October 2026, to ensure whatever replaces the cap is simple, transparent, and does not shift new administrative burden onto unwell veterans, widows, and families. Furthermore, war widows and the children of deceased veterans must not be overlooked in any future design.

“Scrapping the cap is the right call, and the government deserves credit for listening,” Wilson said.

“But our community will keep watching closely as this policy is redesigned, because the same principle applies: veterans, war widows and veteran families should never have to fight this hard for care they have already earned.”

Andrew Hastie said: “I think it’s a huge win for veterans across the country. They (veterans) were very upset with the government’s change by putting a cap on allied health.

“Many men and women across this country who have served in uniform carry the scars of that service. And they do need help, and putting a cap on allied healthcare was ridiculous, given the largesse of the Albanese government spending in other areas.

“Whether it’s the net zero energy targets they’re chasing. Or the bailouts of a lot of our sovereign capability. All caused by Labor in the end.

“And then to neglect our veterans in the way that they did, with just a small amount of support compared to what they’re spending elsewhere.

“I think it’s a huge win for veterans. They should be proud of their advocacy, particularly the ones who came to Canberra and gave voice to thousands of other veterans around the country who didn’t have a voice, and again I want to acknowledge the shadow veterans minister, Michael McCormack, for his work in this space.”

Robert Dougherty

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Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.

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