KATE RHODES OAM MEMORIAL CONFERENCE

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:29): I would like to speak today about a great event that I had the pleasure of attending on behalf of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the Hon. Jack Snelling MP. The Kate Rhodes OAM Memorial Conference, Widows Helping Widows, was opened by His Excellency the Governor of South Australia and was hosted by the War Widows Guild of Australia, with major support from the ACH group. The conference, focused on supporting war widows and their families, was a fantastic success, with around 70 women attending on each of the two days. Attending with myself were Mrs Audrey Blood, the national president of the War Widows Guild of Australia, Mrs Marjorie Schulze, the deputy chairperson of the ACH group and chairperson of the Foundation of Older Australians committee, and Mrs Kath Harrison, the president of the War Widows Guild of Australia (SA) Incorporated and a member of the Veterans' Advisory Council of our state.

While I am not a veteran or the widow of a veteran, my family does have service community links. My grandfather served in the RAAF during the Second World War and received commendations for his work. He died many years ago, but his contribution and my passion for the veterans community probably stems from that time.

Mrs Pam Judge, who was the inaugural Kate Rhodes OAM scholar and conference convenor, asked me to speak to the conference about the state veterans' affairs portfolio and the commitment shown by this government to our veterans community. In preparing for the conference I gave much thought to what it would be like to be the widow of a veteran. I have truly considered that while I cannot fully understand what it must be like to be married to a person who has served and have that person, my partner, predecease me, what strikes me most about becoming a veteran's widow is that it is a circumstance that is not of their making. They have no choice in the matter.

In many cases it brings extraordinary demands into your life. Moreover, those demands may begin well before the death of your loved one, and in some cases will continue forever. I am told that many veterans who serve overseas return a different person to the one who left, or gradual changes ensue over the years. It is almost always the partner who is caring for this person and protecting not only them but their entire family.

This is an enormous long-term responsibility and I do not think the challenges of the situation are really fully understood by the broader community. It is in these circumstances that the role the war widow plays is so important both to family and the community, and it is why it is so meritorious. To properly care for such people in our community, the Labor government created the state veterans' affairs portfolio in 2008. Despite having the Department of Veterans' Affairs at the federal level, we noticed that at a state level in almost all the cases the very services that veterans rely on are delivered by the state. DVA may pay for those services, but it is the state that physically provides them.

To take hospitals, for example, if you have a DVA entitlement, then you visit the hospital and you present your DVA card. While DVA pays the bill, it is a doctor who is responsible to SA Health who treats you. It is fair to say that since its establishment the state model has created and captured much national attention. I know the minister is pleased that nearly all states around the country have sought our advice about setting up similar portfolios.

It was a great honour to attend this year's Kate Rhodes OAM Memorial Conference and I look forward to continuing my work with the veteran community in the north and throughout South Australia, a community I have so much admiration for.