News and Media

Following is a letter from the DVA Secretary, Alison Frame, to the ESORT members regarding the Final Report to Government from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. 

This is the latest ESORT communique.  It summarises the outcomes of the ESORT Meeting held on Tuesday 27th August 2024, which was attended by our DRA representative.

DRA Submission to the Reserve Strategic Review

This paper on the Reserve Review, was published in the June 2024 edition of the RUSI National Journal - United Service edition 75. It provides an overview of the submission provided by the Defence Reserves Association (DRA) to the Defence
team conducting the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) into Australian Defence Force (ADF).

DRA Submission to the Reserve Strategic Review

The Defence Reserves Association has had constructive engagement with the Defence team conducting the Reserve Review and this is ongoing. The DRA Submission available here provides an overview of the DRA perspective and specific recommendations to inform the Review process. The DRA National Conference in Sydney being held on Saturday 24 August 2024 will of course focus on the Review and its outcomes.

This is the latest ESORT communique.  It summarises the outcomes of the ESORT Meeting held on 28th February 2024, which was attended by our DRA representative.

A message to everyone in the Defence and Veteran communities

The DRA considers that it is important for the Royal Commission, in examining the systemic issues affecting the mental health of Reservists, to understand the differences between Reservists and permanent members of the ADF in terms of their obligation to serve and their conditions of service; and the different types of Defence Reservists. There are different service categories across the spectrum of Reserve service that forms the Total Workforce System (TWS) in Defence.

The latest newsletter - Edition 15 - 7 March 2022

From the DRA President 18 August 2021.

Many of you have been watching the distressing scenes in Afghanistan and the similarity of these scenes with those from the downfall of Saigon in South Vietnam in 1975.

We need to be mindful of the frustration and despair that many of our veterans who served in Afghanistan and in Vietnam will feel at this time.

The Defence Reserves Association (DRA), the Defence Force Welfare Association (DFWA), and the Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL), have written a joint letter to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel, Matt Keogh, seeking his support for the extension of health care to all those serving in the reserve forces.

ESORT communique which summarises the outcomes of the 9 May ESORT Meeting, attended by the DRA representative.

The Judge Advocate's decision to dismiss the charges at the first opportunity is not surprising and reflects the fundamentally flawed basis of the prosecution. The prosecution had no sensible explanation as to how a soldier could owe a duty to take reasonable care when in close combat with the enemy. The soldiers were very highly trained reservists who volunteered to serve their country in Afghanistan.