About the Australian Veteran Community
The Australian Veteran Community is an independent, veteran-led advocacy organisation working across Australia for veterans, veteran families, and the medical and service providers paid by the Department of Veterans' Affairs. It is funded and run by veterans, is not a government body, and is not aligned to any single ex-service organisation. It is led by Ian Lindgren, a 21-year Australian Army veteran and former member of DVA's Ex-Service Organisation Round Table (ESORT).
What the Australian Veteran Community does
The Australian Veteran Community exists because too many veterans and families are still waiting for a decision, for care, for someone to take responsibility. We bring their experiences together, test them against the evidence, and put them in front of the people with the power to fix them. We also acknowledge the same practices are being played out on civilian medical providers to DVA and we will support them to the same extent.
Who leads the Australian Veteran Community: Ian Lindgren
Ian Lindgren is a 21-year Australian Army veteran, medically discharged in 2002. He is a former Chairperson of the Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans' Organisation, a former Ex-Service Organisation Round Table (ESORT) member, and has worked directly with DVA officials, departmental secretaries, ministers, and senators. He chairs three veteran-owned family businesses.
ESORT is the consultative body through which peak veteran ex-service organisations formally engage with the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) on policy and service delivery matters.
Ian believes the ESORT mechanism for representing veterans to the Commonwealth is not fit for purpose, one that constrains rather than empowers the veteran and veteran family community. No offence intended to any participant because there are many hard working veterans and public servants. Ian believes they are operating within a system that causes the problem.
He maintains no formal ties with DVA or ex-service organisations, preferring instead to engage directly with veterans, veteran family members, and service providers such as Allied Health practitioners and their industry bodies.
How we work
We publish what we find. Every issue raised with us is logged, categorised and tracked. Where we can resolve something quietly and quickly, we will. Where we can't, we say so out loud.
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