This week on the Podcast, I speak with Minister for Veterans’ Affairs & Minister for Defence Personnel Andrew Gee about his top priorities when it comes to supporting and acknowledging Defence Partners and Families.
Minister Gee and I also have an open and real conversation about:
- His thoughts on partners and families being key contributors to defence capability
- The impact partners and families have on the well-being of the defence member
- The value he sees defence partners and families providing the community & defence
- How current policy and programs fit with the value partners and families provide
- His take on the key issues and challenges defence partners and families currently face
- The opportunities the Minister sees when it comes to solving those issues & challenges
- The invaluable insight he got from the recent National Defence Partner Roundtable
- Why we need a more comprehensive understanding of the partner and family experience
- The steps the Minister is taking to introduce a possible Ministerial Advisory Council to help inform policy
- How to gather the right data on defence partners and families to shape effective policy
- Partnering with the Australian Institute of Family Studies to redesign the ADF Family Survey
- Why it’s time for more innovation in the way that programs are designed & delivered
- Looking at trialling Coworking hubs on defence bases to support and connect defence partners
- The role the Veteran Wellbeing Centres will play for current defence partners and families
- How partner employment contributes to ADF workforce development & why supporting career portability is key
- How the Minister thinks defence partners and families have fared during COVID
- A commitment to seriously push for the introduction of a National Defence Families day
- Whether it might be time to review defence partner and family policy in a major way
Ready to join the MWL community? Click through the link to get connected xx www.militarywifelife.com.au
