ISSN: 1836-1838
Date presented to Minister: 27 September 2023
To:
Hon Geoff Brock MP
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
This annual report will be presented to Parliament to meet the statutory reporting requirements of relevant acts and regulations and the requirements of Premier and Cabinet Circular PC013 Annual Reporting.
This report is verified to be accurate for the purposes of annual reporting to the Parliament of South Australia.
Submitted on behalf of Veterans SA by:
Chantelle Bohan
Director
Date: 27 September 2023
From the Director
This year the agency has delivered on its commitment to empower community, promote inclusion, and honour service, through the development and implementation of several innovative initiatives focused on meeting the unique needs of the South Australian veteran community.
The South Australian Government has committed $2.1 million over the forward estimates to deliver projects and programs that will support current and former-serving ADF members and their families. This funding will enable the delivery of the Veteran Community Security Framework, consisting of a Comprehensive Outreach Program and Veterans and Family Growth Support Program. The programs will be designed to ensure that the current and future veteran community are consulted, acknowledged, listened to, supported, and given the opportunity to provide feedback and input into the design of programs that affect them.
The agency has achieved some significant outcomes in the last 12 months in the pursuit of providing support to those who have served and the families that support them. On the back of the successful 2021 Mentoring Program, Veterans SA secured funding for and launched a second program, focusing on Career and Entrepreneurship. For the first time, the opportunity to participate in the program was extended to current and former serving people as well as spouses and partners. These adjustments to the program were made based on direct feedback from the community, demonstrating that the agency is listening and responding to the needs and wants of the community.
A six-week Adelaide Cowork Coplay pilot program was also completed. The program combined the innovative concept of co-working with easy access to quality childminding. Cowork Coplay assisted in addressing barriers faced by Australian Defence Force partners with young children including lack of time to pursue meaningful work and career development. Resultant of the program, three participants secured employment and all participants had a reduction of the social isolation felt by developing support networks.
With an ever-evolving community, there is always so much to do to ensure significant progress is made for the wellbeing of veterans and their families. New funding for the Veteran Community Security Framework will ensure that our vision for a strong, vibrant, and well supported and represented veteran community is achieved.
Chantelle Bohan
Director
Veterans SA
Contents
Our organisational structure. 6
Legislation administered by the agency. 6
Agency contribution to whole of Government objectives. 7
Agency specific objectives and performance. 8
Corporate performance summary. 11
Employment opportunity programs. 12
Agency performance management and development systems. 13
Work health, safety and return to work programs. 13
Executive employment in the agency. 15
Financial performance at a glance. 16
Other financial information. 17
Fraud detected in the agency. 19
Strategies implemented to control and prevent fraud. 19
Public interest disclosure. 19
Reporting required under any other act or regulation. 20
Reporting required under the Carers’ Recognition Act 2005. 20
Number of public complaints reported. 21
Appendix: Audited financial statements 2021-22. 24
Overview: about the agency
Our strategic focus
| Our Purpose | Veterans SA works with state, national and community partners to support those currently serving and previously serving members of the Australian Defence Force and their families, including reservists, to live meaningful, fulfilling lives in South Australia. The agency also plays a role in sharing information on services and programs across South Australia that are available to those who have served and their families. |
| Our Vision | A strong, vibrant, and well supported and represented veteran community, inclusive of all generations, that is understood and appropriately acknowledged by all South Australians. |
| Our Values | To uphold the provisions contained in South Australia’s Charter for Veterans by ensuring that the needs of veterans, government and the wider South Australian community are served through the provision of advice and expertise on veterans’ affairs and by influencing government decision making to ensure that the veteran community is well represented in South Australia. |
| Our functions, objectives, and deliverables | · To influence government decision-making at both the state and federal level for future policy development with respect to the relevance and delivery of services to the veteran community.
· To be first with advice and expertise on veterans’ affairs to government and to position government to provide relevant high-level services. · To support the sustainability of the veteran community. · To support the veteran community in delivering commemorative events that continue to reflect the significant impact of the service and sacrifice of veterans and their families to the nation, and to ensure that military historical significance is remembered and preserved. |
Our organisational structure
The Hon Geoff Brock MP is the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. The Minister is responsible for the Local Government, Regional Roads and Veterans’ Affairs portfolios.
Minister Brock has strong family connections to the military, including his own service in the Army Reserves. This connection enhances his passion and commitment to the portfolio.
Our Executive
Chantelle Bohan, Director
Chantelle Bohan is responsible for ensuring that the interests and needs of the community of current and former serving members of the Australian Defence Force and their families are represented across the South Australian Government.
Legislation administered by the agency.
Veterans SA administers the ANZAC Day Commemoration Act 2005
The agency’s performance
Performance at a glance.
- Supported the professional development of South Australian veterans and partners through the successful launch of the Veterans SA Career and Business Mentoring Program.
- Delivered the Adelaide Cowork Coplay pilot program for partners of current serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) members, to support their pursuit of career projects and community connection with on-site provision of childcare.
- Delivered a regional outreach program across the Riverland, South-East, and Barossa regions to better connect veterans and their families with support services.
- Included an identifier for children of current and former serving ADF personnel within the Department for Education public school enrolment system, to better capture and meet the educational needs of these children.
- Delivered 17 grants totalling $100,000 to the South Australian community from the Anzac Day Commemoration Fund.
- Continued administrative and secretariat support for the Veterans Advisory Council.
Agency contribution to whole of Government objectives
Veterans SA collaborates across the South Australian Government to ensure policy and program departments consider the implications for veterans and their families and incorporate beneficial approaches for veterans and their families to live their most fulfilled lives.
The South Australian Government recognises the vital role that veterans and their families play in the South Australian community, and Veterans SA supports community leaders to collaborate and enable opportunities and/or support to suit the needs of an ever-evolving veteran community.
Veterans SA continues, with cross agency collaboration and education, to ensure state government agencies are provided with information on the unique needs and requirements of the veteran community. For example, Veterans SA provided advice and consultation to SA Health in the development of their Veteran Wellbeing Action Plan 2023-26 and also collaborated with TAFE SA in the development of their Skills Transition Education Program (STEP) for transitioning ADF members and their families.
| Agency’s contribution |
| Veterans SA advocates across the South Australian Government on matters relating to veterans and their families.
Veterans SA continues to work with ex-service organisations and civic groups that provide support to members of the veteran community when and where it is needed most. Veterans SA continues to share information about services, programs and opportunities across South Australia that are available to those who have served in the Australian Defence Force and their families. Veterans SA continues to provide secretariat support for the Minister’s Veterans’ Advisory Council. Veterans SA continues to work with the veteran community to ensure commemorative activities are supported and that occasions of military and historical significance are remembered and preserved for all South Australians. |
Agency specific objectives and performance
| Agency objectives | Indicators | Performance |
| To influence government decision-making at both state and federal level for future policy with respect to the relevance and delivery of services to the veteran community. | Explore opportunities and support the Department for Education to better identify and meet the needs of ADF and veteran children within the education system | Informed the development of initiatives designed to address the educational needs of ADF and veteran children within the education system. |
| Participation in cross-jurisdiction working groups and committees to ensure the impact on, and experience of veterans and their families is considered in a whole-of-South Australia context. | Veterans SA has representation on state and national working groups supporting their efforts to address issues impacting on the veteran community, including the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. | |
| To be first with advice and expertise on veterans’ affairs to government and to position government to provide relevant high-level services. | Establishment of community forums and dialogue opportunities to collect views and feedback from veterans and their families to inform government decision-making. | Veterans SA facilitated a Defence and Veteran Partner Carer Round Table to better understand the needs of this cohort and establish key community connections to improve support.
Veterans SA continued communication with the veteran and wider community through several methods including social media, e-newsletters, media and community publications. |
| Improve data collection and analysis to better understand the South Australian veteran community. | Veterans SA partnered with Defence Families Australia, to develop a survey that will identify barriers faced by Defence partners relating to transfer of professional registrations from state-to-state and will inform necessary actions to address these issues.
Veterans SA collaborated with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment to support veteran identification and employment experiences within the Your Voice survey |
|
| To support the sustainability of the veteran community.
|
Establishment of grant funds to support organisations to continue to provide services to the veteran community across South Australia | Delivered two grant funding opportunities:
· Veterans SA Capacity Building Grant Fund · Commemorative Services Grant Fund |
| Veterans and their families are able to access the right information and support for their needs when they need it. | Attended Defence Transition Seminars and Welcome events to provide current, up-to-date information on South Australia and speak directly to veterans and their families.
Provided funding to enable ex-service organisations to attend regional field days with Veterans SA, enabling regional veterans to access important services and support. Launched Home Base SA as a reliable online resource for current and former serving members and their families |
|
| To support the veteran community in delivering commemorative events which continue to reflect the significant impact of the service and sacrifice of veterans to the nation and to ensure that military historical significance is remembered and preserved. | Support ex-service organisations and community-led commemorative activities. | Provided $100,000 of grant funding through the Anzac Day Commemorative Fund for commemorative activities across South Australia.
Provided funding to the RSL-SA to support the annual commemoration of Remembrance Day and Anzac Day. Provided funding to Reconciliation SA for the conduct of the annual Aboriginal Veterans of SA Commemorative Service. |
Corporate performance summary
Veterans SA is a government agency of the state of South Australia, established in 2008. The activities of Veterans SA are entirely funded from appropriation or other internal South Australian Government contributions.
Employment opportunity programs
| Program name | Performance |
| Nil | N/A |
Agency performance management and development systems
| Performance management and development system | Performance |
| Staff Performance Management and Development System | All non-executive staff participate in an annual performance review process linked to training and development. This involves, a half-yearly review and an annual review. By 31 June 2023, 100% of non-executive staff had completed a half-yearly and an annual review. |
| Director Performance Agreement | The Chief Executive undertook a review of the goals and objectives component of Director Veterans SA annual performance agreement on 11 June 2023. |
Work health, safety and return to work programs
| Program name | Performance |
| First Aid | Veterans SA is co-located with Defence SA which has four qualified First Aid Officers who have completed accredited training. |
| Mental Health First Aid | Veterans SA is co-located with Defence SA which has Mental Health First Aid Officers who have completed accredited training. Three Veterans SA staff have completed Mental Health First Aid training. This complements the existing Employee Assistance Program. In addition, some senior management have also received training on mental health first aid. |
| Workplace injury claims | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | % Change (+ / -) |
| Total new workplace injury claims | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Fatalities | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Seriously injured workers* | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Significant injuries (where lost time exceeds a working week, expressed as frequency rate per 1000 FTE) | 0 | 0 | 0% |
*number of claimants assessed during the reporting period as having a whole person impairment of 30% or more under the Return to Work Act 2014 (Part 2 Division 5)
| Work health and safety regulations | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | % Change (+ / -) |
| Number of notifiable incidents (Work Health and Safety Act 2012, Part 3) | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Number of provisional improvement, improvement and prohibition notices (Work Health and Safety Act 2012 Sections 90, 191 and 195) | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Return to work costs** | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | % Change (+ / -) |
| Total gross workers compensation expenditure ($) | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Income support payments – gross ($) | 0 | 0 | 0% |
**before third party recovery
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/whs-return-to-work-performance-2021-22-defencesa
Executive employment in the agency
There are no executives employed within Veterans SA.
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/executive-employment-2021-22-defencesa
The Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment has a workforce information page that provides further information on the breakdown of executive gender, salary and tenure by agency.
Financial performance
Financial performance at a glance
The following is a brief summary of the overall financial position of Veterans SA extracted from Defence SA’s financial statements for 2022-23. The information is unaudited. Note that Veterans SA sits within Defence SA so reference can be made to the Defence SA Annual Report for 2022-23 for full data sets and data from previous years.
| Statement of Comprehensive Income | 2022-23
Budget $000s |
2022-23
Actual $000s |
Variation
$000s
|
2021-22
Actual $000s |
| Total Income | $ 25 | $ 34 | $ 9 | $ 215 |
| Total Expenses | $ 1,876 | $ 1,427 | $ 449 | $ 1,860 |
| Net Result | $(1,851) | $(1,393) | $ 458 | $(1,645) |
| Total Comprehensive Result | $(1,851) | $(1,393) | $ 458 | $(1,645) |
| Statement of Financial Position | 2022-23
Actual $000s |
2021-22
Actual $000s |
| Current assets | $ 22 | $ 14 |
| Total assets | $ 22 | $ 14 |
| Current liabilities | $ 107 | $ 236 |
| Non-current liabilities | $ 35 | $ 37 |
| Total liabilities | $ 142 | $ 273 |
| Net assets | $ (120) | $ (259) |
Consultants disclosure
The following is a summary of external consultants that have been engaged by the agency, the nature of work undertaken, and the actual payments made for the work undertaken during the financial year.
Consultancies with a contract value below $10,000 each
| Consultancies | Purpose | $ Actual payment |
| Nil | N/A | $ Nil |
Consultancies with a contract value above $10,000 each
| Consultancies | Purpose | $ Actual payment |
| Nil | N/A | $ Nil |
| Total | $ Nil |
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/consultants-2021-22
See also the Consolidated Financial Report of the Department of Treasury and Finance for total value of consultancy contracts across the South Australian Public Sector.
Contractors disclosure
The following is a summary of external contractors that have been engaged by the agency, the nature of work undertaken, and the actual payments made for work undertaken during the financial year.
Contractors with a contract value below $10,000
| Contractors | Purpose | $ Actual payment |
| n/a | n/a | $ Nil |
Contractors with a contract value above $10,000 each
| Contractors | Purpose | $ Actual payment |
| Innovate Communicate & Cowork Coplay | Delivery of Veterans Cowork Coplay program | $ 16,000 |
| Be Sustained | Delivery of veterans mentoring program | $ 37,000 |
| Total | $ 53,000 |
The details of South Australian Government-awarded contracts for goods, services, and works are displayed on the SA Tenders and Contracts website. View the agency list of contracts.
The website also provides details of across government contracts.
Other financial information
The Anzac Day Commemoration Fund was administered by Veterans SA. The fund was established under the Anzac Day Commemoration Act 2005.
| Statement of Comprehensive Income | 2022-23 Budget
$000s |
2022-23 Actual
$000s |
Variation
$000s |
2021-22
Actual $000s |
| Total Income | $100 | $100 | $- | $100 |
| Total Expenses | $100 | $100 | $- | $82 |
| Net Result | $- | $- | $- | $18 |
| Total Comprehensive Result | $- | $- | $- | $18 |
| Statement of Financial Position | 2022-23 Budget
$000s |
2022-23 Actual
$000s |
Variation
$000s |
2021-22
Actual $000s |
| Current assets | $77 | $97 | 20 | $95 |
| Total assets | $77 | $97 | 20 | $95 |
| Current liabilities | $- | $2 | $(2) | $- |
| Total liabilities | $- | $2 | $(2) | $- |
| Net assets | $77 | $95 | $18 | $95 |
| Equity | $77 | $95 | $18 | $95 |
Risk management
Fraud detected in the agency
| Category/nature of fraud | Number of instances |
| N/A | Nil |
NB: Fraud reported includes actual and reasonably suspected incidents of fraud.
Strategies implemented to control and prevent fraud
During the 2022-23 FY all staff completed the SA Public Sector Code of Ethics refresher training, Cyber Security Awareness training and Fraud and Corruption Awareness training.
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/fraud-detection-2021-22-defencesa
Public interest disclosure
Number of occasions on which public interest information has been disclosed to a responsible officer of the agency under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018:
Nil
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/whistle-blower-disclosure-2021-22
Note: Disclosure of public interest information was previously reported under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993 and repealed by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018 on 1/7/2019.
Reporting required under any other act or regulation
Reporting required under the Carers’ Recognition Act 2005
Veterans SA is not required to report under the Carers Recognition Act 2005.
Public complaints
Number of public complaints reported
| Complaint categories | Sub-categories | Example | Number of Complaints
2022-23 |
| Professional behaviour | Staff attitude | Failure to demonstrate values such as empathy, respect, fairness, courtesy, extra mile; cultural competency | Nil |
| Professional behaviour | Staff competency | Failure to action service request; poorly informed decisions; incorrect or incomplete service provided | Nil |
| Professional behaviour | Staff knowledge | Lack of service specific knowledge; incomplete or out-of-date knowledge | Nil |
| Communication | Communication quality | Inadequate, delayed or absent communication with customer | Nil |
| Communication | Confidentiality | Customer’s confidentiality or privacy not respected; information shared incorrectly | Nil |
| Service delivery | Systems/technology | System offline; inaccessible to customer; incorrect result/information provided; poor system design | Nil |
| Service delivery | Access to services | Service difficult to find; location poor; facilities/ environment poor standard; not accessible to customers with disabilities | Nil |
| Service delivery | Process | Processing error; incorrect process used; delay in processing application; process not customer responsive | Nil |
| Policy | Policy application | Incorrect policy interpretation; incorrect policy applied; conflicting policy advice given | Nil |
| Policy | Policy content | Policy content difficult to understand; policy unreasonable or disadvantages customer | Nil |
| Service quality | Information | Incorrect, incomplete, out dated or inadequate information; not fit for purpose | Nil |
| Service quality | Access to information | Information difficult to understand, hard to find or difficult to use; not plain English | Nil |
| Service quality | Timeliness | Lack of staff punctuality; excessive waiting times (outside of service standard); timelines not met | Nil |
| Service quality | Safety | Maintenance; personal or family safety; duty of care not shown; poor security service/ premises; poor cleanliness | Nil |
| Service quality | Service responsiveness | Service design doesn’t meet customer needs; poor service fit with customer expectations | Nil |
| No case to answer | No case to answer | Third party; customer misunderstanding; redirected to another agency; insufficient information to investigate | Nil |
| Total | 0 |
Additional Metrics |
Total |
| Number of positive feedback comments | 0 |
| Number of negative feedback comments | 0 |
| Total number of feedback comments | 0 |
| % complaints resolved within policy timeframes | N/A |
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/public-complaints-2021-22-defencesa
Service Improvements
| N/A |
Compliance Statement
| Veterans SA is compliant with Premier and Cabinet Circular 039 – complaint management in the South Australian public sector | Y |
| Veterans SA has communicated the content of PC 039 and the agency’s related complaints policies and procedures to employees. | Y |
