By MICHELLE HERBISON
MANY Geelong region war veterans are suffering disabilities without realising they are eligible for compensation, according to a local veteran’s centre.
Geelong-Surf Coast Regional Veterans Centre’s Brigadier David Gilroy said many veterans suffered lower spine and knee injuries from carrying large weights during training and combat.
Mental health issues including alcoholism and depression due to war trauma often resurfaced in later life, he said.
“We still get people in their early 90s who say, ‘I’ve been deaf for 20 years’. They were exposed to high explosives which were a contributing factor to their deafness,” Brig Gilroy said.
World War II veterans tended to ignore any links between their war service and health problems or were unaware of their entitlement to a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) pension, he said.
“We want to make sure all service people understand they have a capacity to make a claim for any disability they’re convinced was war-related or defence-training related.
“We go into their medical history with the help of their GP and argue a case to the DVA if they’re entitled to a pension. We can help them but they don’t seem to be coming forward.”
Brig Gilroy said Vietnam veterans started the “revolution” of claiming entitlements but older veterans “didn’t want to be seen to have a disability”.
“In many cases they reject it and it takes a lot of counselling to get them to come to the realisation that they do have a problem.”
Brig Gilroy said more information was available by phoning Geelong-Surf Coast Regional Veterans Centre phone 5222 6003 or 5264 7322 or emailing gvwc@geelongvets.org.au.
