The background facts are:

• Between 1965 and 1972, 870,000 Australian men turned 20.
• A mere 1 in 14 of these – 63,375 – were conscripted into the army, under threat of imprisonment, for a period of either 18 or 24 months. The other 806,000 got to move on with their lives, totally unaffected.
• 15,300 “Nashos” served in Vietnam. They automatically received a DVA Gold Health Card when they turned 70.
• 48,075 of us who did not serve in a war zone have received nothing. There are estimated to be less than 30,000 of us still allive.
• All Nashos served in regular army corps. Without the involvement of National Servicemen, Australia would not have had sufficient volunteer troops to provide an army capable of fighting in Vietnam.
• Most of us served with the ever-present and real possibility that we may be sent to Vietnam, even if eventually we were not required to go.
• Settling back into civilian life was, for many of us, the hardest part of all. No-one wanted to know about the Vietnam War or anything or anyone that had anything to do with it. We were certainly not welcomed back. In many cases, friends, girlfriends, careers, and community connections were irrevocably lost and Nashos’ lives were changed forever. Life had moved on without us.
• The youngest Vietnam War Era Nasho is now 71 years old. Obtaining medical and dental benefits would provide us with some security as we enter old age. The cost would not be exorbitant to the community. It would be considerably less than the cost of compensation which is regularly and consistently provided to other groups in the community who are adjudged as having being disadvantaged or otherwise treated unfairly.