The issues we’re dealing with at home like rising costs and extreme weather are global issues that require global efforts to solve. Australia is back at the table internationally, building the relationships in our region and beyond that are crucial to our security and prosperity.

✅Achieved

Labor is making Australia secure in the region and respected in the world at a time of global uncertainty.

For nearly a decade, Peter Dutton and the Coalition damaged Australia’s standing in our region and the world.

Labor doesn't go around our region picking fights. Our approach is to be credible and mature, dealing calmly with challenges and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead. We have:

• Diversified Australia’s relationships and focused on our region - where our prosperity and security are most on the line.
• Made Australia a partner of choice again for the Pacific family, including by taking real action on climate change and agreeing transformative partnerships with PNG, Tuvalu, Fiji and Nauru.
• Strengthened Australia’s relationships in Southeast Asia, and grown economic opportunities through the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy.
• Continued deep and constructive relationships with traditional allies and partners like the United States, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
• Stabilised Australia’s relationship with China, restoring dialogue and trade without compromising on our national interests.
• Created new and expanded markets for Australian exporters so we are more resilient and less reliant on individual markets.
• Joined the international community in supporting peace and security in the Middle East, calling for a ceasefire, the release of hostages and protection of civilians under international law.
• Rebuilt our development program in a responsible and sustainable way after nearly a decade of cuts and neglect under Peter Dutton and the Coalition.
• Provided steadfast support to Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal and immoral war of aggression.

Defending our nation.

We are working hard to repair and strengthen relationships to position Australia to meet growing global and regional security challenges. 

We remain fully committed to Operation Sovereign Borders.

We are responding to Australia’s challenging strategic environment by investing an extra $57.6 billion over the decade in our defence forces and capabilities, compared with the previous Coalition Government’s plan.

As a result of our historic investments in Defence:

• The Australian Defence Force is growing for the first time in almost four years, after shrinking under Peter Dutton and the Coalition.
• Australia is acquiring a next-generation submarine capability through AUKUS after nearly a decade of Coalition indecision.
• Navy’s surface combatant fleet will more than double compared to the former Coalition Government’s plan after we inherited the oldest surface combatant fleet since the Second World War.
• We are accelerating the acquisition of long-range precision munitions and new amphibious capabilities for the Army.
• Australia will commence the domestic manufacture of highly advanced missiles from 2025.
• We are investing billions of dollars in infrastructure and creating thousands of local jobs as part of our plan for continuous naval shipbuilding in South Australia and Western Australia.
• Defence’s northern bases, logistics networks and training areas are being enhanced and made more resilient.

Supporting our veterans.

Australians owe a debt of gratitude to our veterans. We are committed to delivering a better future for Defence personnel, veterans and families by ensuring they can access the services and support they need and deserve.

Labor called for the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (RCDVS) before we came into Government, and we have taken swift and meaningful action on the recommendations of the Interim and Final reports.

This includes releasing our response to the Final Report of the RCDVS that sets out a plan for real, meaningful and enduring reform for Defence personnel, veterans and families.

This response accepted the overwhelming majority of the 122 RCDVS recommendations: agreeing or agreeing-in-principle to 104 recommendations; noting 17 recommendations for further consideration; and with just one recommendation not supported in part.

Since releasing our response to the RCDVS, the Albanese Labor Government has:

• passed the historic Veterans’ Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025 on 13 February this year, to bring the three current systems governing veterans’ entitlements under a single Act – an enhanced Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004;
• established a new cross-agency Taskforce within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to provide advice by 30 June 2025 on how best to implement the Government response, including recommendations that were referred to the Taskforce for further consideration and advice;
• appointed an Interim Head of the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commission (DVSC), the independent statutory body that will oversee enduring and systemic reform across the whole Defence ecosystem;
• enshrined the DVCS in legislation with effect by 30 September 2025; and
• provided $4.5 million to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) to undertake consultation on transition and wellbeing supports, including the co-design of a new agency focused on wellbeing within the Department, and to continue to consult with ex-service organisations (ESOs) on the development of a national peak body.

It is important to note that this does not mark the end of the work that must be done to address veteran suicide. Rather, it marks the commencement of the most comprehensive reform ever undertaken of the culture, systems and processes across Defence, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and DVA to prevent suicide and improve the mental health and wellbeing of serving ADF personnel, veterans and their families.

The Albanese Government will always fund frontline services that deliver the support veterans and their families need and deserve. Under the former Liberal Government, DVA was under-funded and under-resourced, with many frontline staff being contractors who often did not stay in their positions long enough to acquire the necessary skills to process claims for veterans and their families. This overreliance on labour hire staff in service delivery positions was a major contributor to delays in claims processing, leading to the backlog of over 40,000 veteran compensation claims we inherited when we came into Government.

Thanks to significant investments by the Albanese Labor Government, the backlog of veterans’ compensation claims that we inherited from the Liberals has been cleared and now initial liability claims are allocated for processing within 14 days and determined promptly. A re-elected Albanese Labor Government will continue to work to bring down these timeframes

And we are delivering a long overdue reform to simplify and harmonise the veterans’ compensation system, a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This is complemented by increased support for the work of ex-service organisations and accompanies the establishment of the Institute of Veterans’ Advocates, a national professional association for veteran advocacy services.

We have also increased support to veterans throughout the claims process, improved access to health and mental healthcare, invested in additional Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs and delivered a Veteran Employment Program.