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Veterans' Advisory Board — Looking at overseas Defence Covenants

Veterans' Advisory Board — Looking at overseas Defence Covenants

The Veterans' Advisory Board is an independent statutory board that provides advice directly to the Minister for Veterans.

The Veterans' Advisory Board (VAB) is currently reviewing Defence Covenants in place overseas to help them identify:

  • what steps would be needed to establish a Kawenata (or Covenant) in Aotearoa/New Zealand
  • how a Kawenata could work in practice
  • what framework a Kawenata would need to be successful.

Any possible Kawenata that might be established in New Zealand would need to reflect our unique culture and not be a carbon copy of Defence Covenants in place overseas. However, it is useful to look at Defence Covenants that are in place in other countries to see if there is anything that we could learn from them.

The Minister for Veterans has agreed that the VAB undertake this review and report to her on their findings.


Advice is provided on its own accord or on request of the Minister, including advice on policies to be applied in respect of veterans' entitlements.

Date

25 May 2022