Minister for Veterans' Affairs


The Australian Minister for Veterans is The Hon. Darren Chester, since 5 March 2018. Chester also serves as the Minister for Defence Personnel and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC following a rearrangement in the second Turnbull Ministry.
In the Government of Australia, the minister oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowers and dependants; and administers the portfolio through the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Scope

The minister is also responsible for the following agencies:
The portfolio was created by Billy Hughes. It was called Minister for Repatriation from the appointment of the first Minister, Edward Millen on 28 September 1917 to deal with ex-soldiers returning from World War I. Stanley Bruce chose not to include a Minister for Repatriation in his ministry, but his successor James Scullin restored it, and it has continued ever since, under different names. Gough Whitlam changed the portfolio title to Minister for Repatriation and Compensation in 1974; Malcolm Fraser restored it to its original title in 1975, and then changed it to Minister for Veterans' Affairs on 5 October 1976, Peter Durack being the last minister under the old title and the first under the new.
The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Veterans' Affairs, or any of its precedent titles:
Notes

List of Ministers Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC

Ministers in charge of War Service Homes

Between 1932 and 1938 there was also a Minister in charge of War Service Homes. This position was revived with Herbert Collett's appointment as Minister without portfolio administering War Service Homes in 1939, but was subsumed by Bert Lazzarini's appointment as Minister for Works and Housing in 1945.
The following individuals have been appointed as Minister in charge of War Service Homes, or any of its precedent titles: