Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST)
The Australian Government is inviting applications through a targeted, non-competitive process to apply to deliver services under the Assistance and Other Compensation for Veterans and Dependants Program – Payments to Ex-Service Organisations (ESOs) sub-program – Building Excellence in Support and Training (BEST) Activity.
The BEST program (the program) forms part of the Government’s commitment to support the role of ex-service organisation (ESO) pension and welfare practitioners and advocates, who provide advice and assistance to the veteran and defence communities. It also links closely to the Advocacy Training and Development Program (ATDP), which provides the essential skills for claims, advocacy and welfare work.
BEST is intended to assist the veteran and defence communities by providing support and resources to ESO practitioners for pensions, advocacy and/or welfare work. It assists ESOs by providing a contribution to the work of these practitioners. It does not fully fund an organisation.
The objectives of the program are to assist ESOs to:
improve the quality of claims received by DVA at the primary determining level
reduce the rate of appeals to the Veterans’ Review Board (VRB) and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
promote the provision of welfare services to the veteran and defence community.
The intended outcomes of the program are to ensure:
the veteran and defence communities are able to benefit from having better informed ESO practitioners who can ensure claims lodged with DVA are of a high standard and contain all required information to enable timely and quality decisions
ESO practitioners will assist in improving claims assessment efficiency
the veteran and defence communities will have access to appropriate compensation and welfare advocacy services.
More info on this grant can be found here.
