Record numbers attending Dawn Service tell us that treating veterans with respect and care is a commitment tightly held within Australian values.
Posted on April 10 2026, The Hon Matt Keogh MP Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel, used his ministerial platform to promote the $739million funding package dedicated towards improved medical treatment and rehabilitation for veterans.
“We’re funding effective and innovative treatments for veterans, prescribed by registered medical practitioners. This includes options such as medicinal cannabis, for which we have released a new framework, as well as world-leading treatments like MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure safety and clinical oversight”
The funding package is a response to the Royal Commission’s report into defence and veteran suicide where it was found that between 1997 and 2021 there were 20 times more confirmed suicides by serving and ex-serving members, than the number of people that were killed in combat.
Department of Veterans Affairs chief psychiatrist Jon Lane said support for the psychedelic treatment would be an option of last resort for the most resistant forms of PTSD and would be administered under strict safeguards.
Current Psychedelic Assisted Therapy programs involve preparatory sessions and multiple dosings. Dr Lane noted that sessions are followed up by "exposure therapy" where "you have to bring up a whole bunch of really horrid, nasty stuff, and you have to actually sit with the distress that that causes".
"It's really intense and hard work. You can't just go and pop a pill and expect a miracle cure," Dr Lane said.
"All of these offerings in terms of treatment and rehabilitation are around making sure we're connecting veterans to something that is medically proven to be of benefit to them," Mr Keogh said. “One clear theme was the need for better, earlier, and broader support for veterans and families of veterans.”
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-09/veterans-funding-social-rehabilitation-mdma-ptsd/106309994
https://www.dva.gov.au/newsroom/vetaffairs/vetaffairs-vol-42-no1-april-2026/from-the-minister