Veterans department must pull up socks

Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan insists his department needs to lift its game to change perceptions it is adversarial, slow and bureaucratic.

Mr Tehan acknowledged a decline in department satisfaction ratings when he delivered the first annual ministerial statement to Parliament.

In 2015-16 of almost 3000 decisions taken to the veterans review board nearly half had department decisions changed or reversed.

In the same year, 223 out of 307 tribunal rulings went against the department.

The department was trying desperately to cut paper work and red tape, Mr Tehan said.

Remarkably, it took until January last year for the Defence department to gain the capacity to notify the Veterans Affairs department that a soldier had become a veteran.

"The moment a member of the Australian defence force becomes a veteran is crucial so we must do better at the transition process," he said.

"Just as members of the ADF prepare for being posted to a deployment, we should prepare them for posting to civilian life."

He pointed out some former personnel may not have ever written a resume, used a Medicare card or filled out a rental application form.

"The transition period can bring significant change and with that change comes stress," Mr Tehan said.

Mr Tehan trumpeted a new pilot program in this year's budget that speeds up access to rehabilitation services once claims are made rather than waiting for after approval.

He said if it leads to better outcomes the system could be rolled out across the board.

Suicide prevention and better access to mental health services were also top priorities, he said.

Mr Tehan challenged the veterans community and organisations to unite and respond to his statement with one voice.