Veterans would miss out on benefits they deserve because the governing legislation was too onerous and overwhelming, a Canberra advocate has warned.
The Department of Veterans' Affairs has conceded the system, over time, had become "complex and difficult to navigate".
Veterans' Affairs Minister Darren Chester has also flagged the government would make a formal response in the 2021-22 budget to a Productivity Commission report into compensation and rehabilitation of veterans - A Better Way To Support Veterans - which recommended more streamlined laws.
"Our system of support for veterans and their families has evolved over a century and the Productivity Commission's report into the system recognised the complexity of having three separate pieces of legislation, recommending moving to a 'two-scheme' system," Mr Chester said.
"The government provided an interim response to the Productivity Commission in the October budget and will provide its final response in the 2021-22 budget, which will include the government's position on recommendations relating to legislative reform."
Canberra veterans' advocate Richard Stone said the current system was not working and simply engaged veterans in a paperwork war with the department as they were forced to navigate three different acts of legislation.
"We've had so many inquiries, the latest being the Productivity Commission, and nothing gets changed," he said.
"Because there's three acts looked after by different sections of the DVA, they come back to the veteran and the advocate and tell them to put in more paperwork. It's a never-ending paperwork cycle."
Googong mother-of-two and ex-army officer Amanda Boriani served in East Timor and twice in Iraq.
She said she suffered mental and physical damage from her time in the army, including post-traumatic stress disorder and injuries to her knees and back. But she was now at a stalemate with the department as she sought the appropriate level of benefit.
"Amanda, she's covered by three acts and it's an absolute nightmare trying to work out which act she is best to work with, not only from the advocates' point-of-view, but DVA's point-of-view," Mr Stone said.
Mrs Boriani had gone through a dispute resolution - a phone meeting with two officers - in which she and Mr Stone were "treated very badly", he said.
"One of the most important things is that a veteran is able to tell their story. Amanda wasn't given any opportunity to tell her story in either one and they fully cut us off," he said.
Mr Stone said her case went to the Veterans' Review Board "and that's when the problems really started with these three acts".
While one piece of legislation would support her claim, another would cancel it out, he said.
"So that just complicates the whole situation and we're now at a stalemate," Mr Stone said.
Mrs Boriani's claim was launched in September 2019. Some of her injuries happened overseas so they were covered by one piece of legislation; others happened in Australia so were covered by another. She was trying for an intermediate rate, on top of the general rate, because her injuries meant she couldn't work full-time in her current job as an investigator. Mrs Boriani, 40, wanted to be productive but also had to rely on her husband's work to survive.
"I currently earn $25,000 to $30,000 a year. I'm happy to work when I can work, I try my best. But sometimes I am overwhelmed by my anxiety," she said.
"I've studied a criminology degree, I've learnt all these things and I want to put them into action. Unfortunately, I can't do that on a full-time basis because of my mental health issues."
Mr Stone said the department had lost reports relating to her case and also misinterpreted specialists' reports.
He believed she deserved better after her service to her country.
"She was in very dangerous situations in two war zones so in my opinion, she hasn't been treated fairly," Mr Stone said.
A Veterans' Affairs spokesperson said the department did not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.
"The three Acts that underpin veterans' entitlements are largely structured around the nature and timing of an individual's military service. These Acts incorporate all the benefits and services available to veterans and their families over the last 100 years, and over time, the system has become complex and difficult to navigate," the spokesperson said.
The department said while the Productivity Commission recommended legislative reform, "major reforms, particularly of the legislative framework and involving entitlements for veterans and their families, must be carefully assessed and incrementally implemented".
"In the last three years, the government has invested nearly $500 million to improve the experience of veterans and their families engaging with the DVA and improved their long-term wellbeing," the spokesperson said.
