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30 Dec 2019	Fleet Air Arm’s firefighting support caps off busy 2019 The Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA) has capped off a high tempo year by supporting firefighting efforts on the east coast of Australia, during one of the most dangerous bushfire periods the nation has ever seen. Helicopters from three squadrons based at HMAS Albatross were used: MH-60R Seahawk helicopters from 816 Squadron, MRH-90 helicopters from 808 Squadron and EC135 helicopters from 723 Squadron, with all playing roles to support the firefighters and emergency crews on the ground. More.....
28 Dec 2019	Russia: New weapon can travel 27 times the speed of sound A new intercontinental weapon that can fly 27 times the speed of sound became operational Friday, Russia’s defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin, bolstering the country’s nuclear strike capability. Putin has described the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite. More.....
28 Dec 2019	Christmas Shout outs in the Middle East Region
23 Dec 2019	Click here to download the December edition of "BROADSIDE"..... NOTE from Webmaster: If you are a member and haven't been notified that your monthly copy of 'BROADSIDE' is available to download, the email address you supplied on joining is incorrect or out of date. To correct this, contact the webmaster at: and he will copy and amend your address.
23 Dec 2019	Fleet delivers in 2019 The past twelve months have been significant for Navy’s Fleet. Ships, submarines, aircraft and personnel have deployed around the world to exercise high-end warfighting capabilities, support maritime security, contribute to multinational operations and engage with Australia’s regional partners. More.....
21 Dec 2019	Australians urged to stay safe online this Christmas Australians are being urged to stay safe online in the lead up to Christmas, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial losses being reported to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) every day. A new ACSC report, Cybercrime in Australia: July to September 2019, shows Australians are being targeted by sophisticated cyber operations online. Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC, is urging consumers to proactively protect themselves. More.....
20 Dec 2019	Hydrographic mapping partnership with local defence industry to defend maritime borders Maritime vessels will be able to operate more safely in Australian waters with the Morrison Government partnering with local industry to produce digital maps of Australia’s sea and coastal areas. A panel of six Australian and one New Zealand hydrographic companies have been selected to collect environmental data to survey shipping routes, commercial ports and maritime approaches within the Australian Charting Area. More.....
19 Dec 2019	On The Record: Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan Incorrect media reporting The article published in the Australian today, Thursday 19 December 2019, is misleading and incorrect. Aside from entirely misinformed comments regarding the Future Submarine Program, I am particularly disappointed with the statement that our sailors are reluctant to sail in the Collins class submarine. More.....
19 Dec 2019	A year of small ships doing big things The vessels and teams of Navy’s Mine Warfare, Clearance Diving, Hydrographic, Meteorological, Oceanographic and Patrol Force might be among the smallest in the Fleet, but their achievements in 2019 rival those of the largest major surface ships. Commander of the group colloquially known as MHP Force, Captain Bryan Parker, said these ships, historically used in missions near to Australian waters, had sailed some of the furthest distances of any ships in the Fleet this year. More.....
19 Dec 2019	Overseas deployments the priority in 2019 Navy’s Surface Force has capped off a massive year with most of its combatants deploying overseas. Surface Force is responsible for Navy’s major warships - 14 frigates, destroyers, amphibious ships and support vessels - and oversees their readiness for sea and for combat. More.....
19 Dec 2019	Australia honours our Rwanda peacekeeping veterans AUSTRALIANS will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR), Operation TAMAR, with a National Commemorative Service in February 2020. Minister for Veterans and Defence Personnel Darren Chester said Operation TAMAR was established in July 1994 in response to the humanitarian crisis in Rwanda and in support of the United Nations Assistance Mission. More.....
18 Dec 2019	Chinese Navy takes delivery of second aircraft carrier As if to say “we don’t care if the world is watching”, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has officially welcomed its second, and first locally built, aircraft carrier, CV-17 Shandong, to the fleet as the Indo-Pacific balance of power continues to shift. China’s shipbuilders have been progressing at breakneck speed, with the recent launch of large-deck amphibious warfare ships, new nuclear and conventional submarines and rumours of a steadily larger, more capable aircraft carrier fleet serving as a catalyst for regional competition, while challenging the preconceptions of many Western strategic policy thinkers. More.....
17 Dec 2019	NNS Launches John F. Kennedy (CVN 79)
17 Dec 2019	French frigate: 3.5 tons of hashish seized in Gulf of Oman Courbet (F 712), a second-line multimission stealth frigate of the French Marine Nationale currently operating in the Gulf of Oman in support of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, seized 3,534kg of hashish on December 13, 2019. The drugs were found after a specially trained team boarded the dhow using one of Courbet’s rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) and conducted a thorough search of the vessel. More.....
17 Dec 2019	China’s naval expansion continues as shipyards build at blistering rate As the US heads towards a fleet of 355 ships, its major power contender, the People’s Liberation Army Navy, is keeping up with the US and, in some cases, challenging America’s long held industrial supremacy with an unprecedented program of naval modernisation and expansion. More.....
17 Dec 2019	Does Australia need a massive US naval base? The US Naval War College’s James Holmes, a strategist of serious stature, has suggested that the US Navy should establish a ‘massive’ base in Australia. This isn’t Holmes’s first stab at this. His initial proposal, back in 2011, apparently received the ‘gimlet-eye’ treatment from the would-be hosts. More.....
17 Dec 2019	Last Navy warship returns home in time for Christmas Australia’s newest warship, HMAS Brisbane, arrived home to family and friends in Sydney today following her first overseas deployment. Brisbane’s arrival draws to a close the return of ten Royal Australian Navy warships from deployments across South East Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. More.....
16 Dec 2019	Naval Group teams up with 9 Australian firms on countermeasure solutions French shipbuilder Naval Group has signed nine different memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Australian companies to manufacture its countermeasure solutions for the Royal Australian Navy in Australia. As informed, Naval Group Pacific is proposing a breakthrough in anti-torpedo countermeasures for Australia’s submarine and surface ship programs with CANTO, the latest countermeasure generation based on Dilution/Confusion multi-effects. More.....
16 Dec 2019	Young Endeavour’s 31st year under sail It has been a busy year for the Navy operated Sail Training Ship (STS) Young Endeavour. A whopping 377 young Australians aged 16-23 stepped aboard for one of 15 eleven-day voyages, that saw the brigantine sail from Hobart in Tasmania and as far north as Cairns in Queensland. More.....
15 Dec 2019	Australian Operational Service Medal - Special Operations The Australian Operational Service Medal (AOSM) – Special Operations, recognises the service of Australian Defence Force members on special operations as declared by the Chief of the Defence Force from 1 November 2019. More.....
14 Dec 2019	Naval Historical Society of Australia (Victorian Chapter) President's December Musings are now available to download.....
14 Dec 2019	Divers use WWII-era equipment for USS Arizona interment Army personnel in Hawaii used World War II diving equipment for an underwater interment of the ashes of a USS Arizona crew member. Two divers donned vintage equipment to drop below the surface of Pearl Harbor and inter the ashes of former crew member Fire Control Chief Lauren Bruner inside the Arizona’s submerged wreckage, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Thursday. More.....
14 Dec 2019	People-focused for deployments In an era when Navy is prioritising its people, the officers and sailors of HMA Ships Diamantina and Gascoyne can attest that the tide is turning in the right direction. A number of initiatives were implemented for their recent Maritime East Asia Deployment, in order to improve the quality of ship life. More.....
13 Dec 2019	Joint communiqué – Veterans Ministerial Council At the meeting of the Veterans Ministerial Council on 29 November 2019, State and Territory Ministers provided initial feedback on the draft of the Commonwealth’s new Veteran Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and National Action Plan to improve veteran mental health and wellbeing and reduce suicide. More.....
13 Dec 2019	Fire sweeps Russia’s only aircraft carrier Russia’s only aircraft carrier suffered a massive fire Thursday that killed one crew member, injured another 11 people and significantly damaged the ill-fated ship that has been haunted by incidents throughout its service. The fire on the Admiral Kuznetsov broke out during welding work at a shipyard in the Arctic port of Murmansk and spread quickly through the carrier’s internal compartments. More.....
13 Dec 2019	First Naval victory of WW2 remembered 80 YEARS ago today, the dash, verve, skill of the British sailor – and a little subterfuge – delivered the Royal Navy’s first major victory of World War 2. After a three-month campaign against British shipping, the marauding of Hitler’s pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee came to an end when she was cornered in the South Atlantic. More.....
13 Dec 2019	Navy Minehunters return from record-setting deployment Two Royal Australian Navy Minehunters have returned home just in time for Christmas, following a successful overseas deployment that saw them travel a record distance. HMAS Ships Diamantina and Gascoyne travelled more than thirteen thousand nautical miles in the past four months as they deployed to East Asia for multinational and bilateral exercises in Japan and South Korea. More.....
13 Dec 2019	Christmas Message from Vice Admiral Michael Noonan - Chief of Navy
12 Dec 2019	New DG ‘takes the con’ at Maritime Operations headquarters As a milestone year for the Royal Australian Navy’s evolution towards concurrent task group operations draws to a close, the ‘con’ of Navy’s Maritime Operations organisation has transitioned from Commodore Matt Buckley to Commodore Darren Grogan. More.....
11 Dec 2019	Statement - Independent inquiry report into DFRDB scheme The Government acknowledges the release of the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s independent investigation into the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits (DFRDB) scheme. The Government listened to the concerns of the ex-service community in initiating an independent review of the DFRDB scheme, which focused on the accuracy of information provided about commutation by the Department of Defence (Defence), the Australian Defence Force (ADF) or the scheme administrators, such as the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC). More.....
10 Dec 2019	Acting SECNAV Posthumously Awards Wings of Gold to NAS Pensacola Shooting Victims The Navy posthumously awarded Wings of Gold Dec. 10 to all three Sailors killed during the Dec. 6 shooting at Naval Aviation Schools Command aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Acting Secretary of the Navy the Honorable Thomas B. Modly proclaimed Ensign Joshua K. Watson as a naval aviator, and Airman Mohammed S. Haitham and Airman Apprentice Cameron S. Walters as naval aircrewmen, Dec. 10. More.....
10 Dec 2019	Commissioning day for HMS Prince of Wales HMS Prince of Wales has been commissioned into the Fleet today as the largest warship ever built for the nation. HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, as the ship’s Lady Sponsor, alongside HRH The Prince of Wales, presided over the ceremony at HM Naval Base Portsmouth this morning, to an audience of 2,000 from industry, allies, friends and families. More.....
10 Dec 2019	Navy Week - Defence Seminar Details of the Seminar has been put on-line and it includes video of presentations and the panel discussion. https://www.mhhv.org.au/defending-australia-and-its-interests-continuity-and-change/
10 Dec 2019	Minehunters achieve first raft refuel exercise with JMSDF In a first for the Royal Australian Navy, HMA Ships Diamantina and Gascoyne completed a complex dual refuel and stores replenishment with Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Japanese Ship (JS) Uraga. The evolution involved the two Huon class minehunters ‘rafting’ up to the anchored Mine Sweep Tender and taking on a combined 32,000 litres of fuel and three days-worth of food stores each. More.....
07 Dec 2019	Simpler access to medical treatment for veterans VETERANS who currently have to pay for their medical treatment upfront and wait to be reimbursed will only need to present their Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) health card to pay for their treatment under changes to the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) passed through Parliament yesterday. More.....
06 Dec 2019	Navy Task Group returns from East Asia deployment Three Royal Australian Navy warships have returned to their homeport at Garden Island, Sydney following a three month deployment through East Asia. HMA Ships Hobart, Stuart and Parramatta were the lead element of a Task Group of eleven vessels deployed to the region since September, conducting bilateral and multi-national activities and fostering Australia’s long-standing relationships with its neighbours. More.....
05 Dec 2019	New Gerald R. Ford-class Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy to be Christened Dec. 7 The Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), will be christened on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019, during an 11 a.m. EST ceremony at Newport News, Virginia. John F. Kennedy is the second aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford class, slated to replace USS Nimitz (CVN 68), when that ship is decommissioned. More.....
05 Dec 2019	WWI German battlecruiser wreck discovered off Falkland Islands The wreck of SMS Scharnhorst, a sunken armored battlecruiser of the German Navy, has been located off the Falkland Islands, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust said. The Scharnhorst, the flagship of Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee’s East Asia Squadron, was sunk in December 1914 during the Battle of the Falkland Islands, a crucial naval battle in the early days of the First World War. More.....
04 Dec 2019	The Adams-class guided-missile destroyers and the RAN by David Shackleton From its origins in 1901 until the late 1950s, through its deep association with the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy became unmistakably British in outlook, practices and culture. It was a relationship of great value to Australia. That comfortable symbiosis had reached its zenith by 1957, when Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced to parliament that Australia would be moving towards standardising Australia’s military services with those of the United States. More.....
03 Dec 2019	Royal Australia Navy’s primary mine warfare and clearance training
03 Dec 2019	Concerns as US Navy scales back Poseidon purchase, limiting allied anti-sub capability With half of the world’s combat submarines expected to be operating in the Indo-Pacific in coming decades it would seem anti-submarine capability would be at the forefront of requirements – however, the US Navy’s 2021 budget request seeks no new money for advanced anti-submarine aircraft to meet the rising Chinese and Russian submarine threats. More.....
03 Dec 2019	The five-domains update Sea state Australia’s fleet of 12 new submarines will cost about $225 billion to build and maintain, according to the program’s head. Greg Sammut told Senate estimates that it would cost $80 billion to build the vessels plus $145 billion to ‘sustain, update and upgrade’ them until 2080. ASPI’s Marcus Hellyer said the total cost wasn’t surprising, as submarines are ‘currently our most expensive capability to sustain’. More.....
03 Dec 2019	Supporting the ADF's helicopter capabilities at sea DST scientists are helping to support the effectiveness of the Australian Defence Force’s helicopter capabilities on deployment, particularly when deployed with the Royal Australian Navy’s ships. Defence Science and Techology (DST) scientist Dr Hurmat Ain said the critical work relies heavily on several core domains. One is flight modelling, used to represent helicopters in multiple situations such as slung load analysis, accident investigations or defining ship-helicopter operating envelopes. More.....
03 Dec 2019	Opinion Piece - Defence jobs more than work on subs Published in The West Australian, Tuesday 3 December 2019 Rarely does a week go by without a story in the West Australian or Adelaide Advertiser about the competition for the Collins-class submarine full cycle docking work. But seldom do we hear about defence industries in both states that are unrelated to submarine maintenance. The fact is, both states are in the box seat to benefit greatly from our Government’s unprecedented investment in defence industry. More.....
02 Dec 2019	Please explain: SEA 1000 costs and delivery time balloon again The latest round of Senate estimates hearings has revealed a startling cost explosion for Australia’s Attack Class future submarines, raising questions about affordability and a potential capability gap leaving the nation exposed at a time when half of the world’s combat submarines are expected to be operating in the Indo-Pacific. More.....
02 Dec 2019	NUSHIP sailors honour forebears gone but not forgotten A new generation of Royal Australian Navy officers and sailors have commemorated their forebears who died when HMAS Sydney (II) was sunk 78 years ago. The ship’s company of NUSHIP Sydney - the fifth ship of the Australian Navy to carry the name - attended a commemorative service at the Martin Place Cenotaph on 19 November, remembering the 645 men of HMAS Sydney (II) who lost their lives in battle with the German raider Kormoran in 1941. More.....
02 Dec 2019	DVA services during the holiday season DVA will continue providing support to veterans and their families during the holiday season. However, please be aware that some services will be impacted from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day inclusive. More.....
02 Dec 2019	Navy League of Australia(Western Australia Division) November newsletter is now available to download.....
01 Dec 2019	Marine Technician Challenge 2019
01 Dec 2019	FlyBy A periodical of the Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia. December issue.....
01 Dec 2019	Open Arms community and peer program expands nationally SUPPORT for veterans and their families who may be struggling with mental health conditions or at risk of suicide, will be enhanced through the Community and Peer Program which is currently being rolled out across Australia. The program, run by Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling (Open Arms), connects veterans and family members who may be struggling with their mental health, with peers who bring a lived experience of mental health issues and, importantly, of recovery. More.....
01 Dec 2019	Navy tanker back home for Christmas Following a busy 12 months for HMAS Sirius, the Royal Australian Navy’s West Coast based replenishment ship returned to her home port of Fleet Base West, Rockingham to the smiling faces of family and friends. Sirius has spent just 10 weeks of the past 12 months at Fleet Base West after three overseas deployments in 2019. More.....

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Current Repatriation Benefits for Gold Card Veterans -
As of 01 January 2018
This is a list of products that are available on a Doctor's prescription for Gold Card Repatriation Patients. Download the list.....

DVA Mobile Apps

The new Operation Life mobile application is designed to help those at risk deal with suicidal thoughts and is recommended to be used with the support of a clinician.

The High Res (High Resilience) app helps you manage stress, build resilience and optimise performance on the go.

The PTSD Coach Australia app can help you learn about and manage symptoms that commonly occur after trauma.

ON TRACK with the Right Mix mobile app from the Department of Veterans Affairs helps you to keep track of the number and types of drinks you consume; the amount of money it's costing you and lets you know about the impact the alcohol has on your wellbeing and fitness levels.

Guide to the assessment of rates of veterans’ pensions
Guide to the assessment of rates of veterans’ pensions (GARP) is used to assess the extent of incapacity from war caused or defence caused injury or disease for the purposes of determining the rate of pension. Download.....

Planning ahead kit
Overview: Planning Ahead is a publication designed to help veterans and their families prepare for bereavement. There is also a checklist that can be used to record the contact details of important people, businesses and organisations that may need to be notified in case of your death. Download.....

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Factsheet CON01 - Concessions in NSW
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