Hi my name is Angus Sim and by now I am sure most of you who come across this fund raiser know that I’m an honest and fair person that represents the APPVA as the National President of the RLS ignored all my emails and phone calls regarding younger Veterans issues and a submission for a Royal Commission can not come from me.  It has to be a National body.  I will be using the most credible fund raising company called GoFundMe .

To make a donation click here

Initialy I started this crowd funding to raise $10,000 as this is the figure that the lawyers need to start the proceedings and prepare documents for a potential Royal Commission into the DVA.  Everyone who has donated so far has done a great job because it has started.

We have received the 10K needed for the lawyer and had a meeting with him on the 15/10/2015 which went really well therefore, we will continue to have meetings and this is going ahead.  The lawyer is taking it on.  This will now involve flying APPVA members to Brisbane from all over Australia and other small direct costs.  We have decided unanimously in the meeting to keep the fund open for extra cash for these incidentals.

Any remaining funds at the end of the proceedings of the submission that aren’t used will be donated back to a charity/group of some description.  Maybe we can have a vote on it.  Just a suggestion.

An article  ‌that was covered recently by Ian McPhedran exposes some shocking information regarding younger Vets not being cared for and this is mainly due to the Act that has now been in place since 2004 (MRCA Act).  The SRCA Act has major flaws also.

As most of you are aware, there are quite a few serious issues that need rectifying within the department and we have been advised that a Royal Commission is the most cost effective way for making positive change.

We are seeing in the papers, on the news far too many reports of veterans not being looked after by the DVA.

The results of a survey ‌that I conducted  totally contradicted the results of the DVA satisfaction survey  and the many veterans that I have come across have serious issues with the department.  This will be a great achievement because a Royal Commission will rectify these issues.  I literally have hundreds of young Veterans statements that are so disturbing it makes me want to stop reading them.  There are too many suicides contributing to the department’s lack of time wasting and bureaucratic processes on decisions pending especially veterans with mental health issues, this also causes severe undue stress on veterans and their families. It is all too common that veterans with accepted conditions (and are unemployable due to the fact) are left without any help or income from the DVA and some of these veterans live on the streets.

The system is clearly failing our veterans and in particular our younger Vets who commonly come under the MRCA Act and SRCA Act that is under performing.  The sad thing is we have military personnel in the Middle East on operations that may come home with injuries or illnesses, adding to the number that the DVA can’t even control now. Changes need to be made now not tomorrow but it’s not too late.

Any donations are welcomed by vets and the public.  A few bucks from everyone will reach our goal.

You can stay anonymous when donating but I would appreciate if people with credibility release their name to give the fund raising peace of mind for other potential donors but it’s totally up to the individual.

Please share far and wide so we can get these donations flowing in.  Every $ counts.

On behalf of the APPVA and the Veteran community, I personally thank each and every one of you.

Kind regards,

Angus Sim