The Department of Veterans Affairs has more than 41,500 active compensation claims on backlog despite an increase of 275 staff in its claims processing area since the start of the financial year.
Andrew Davis, a former serviceman and spokesman for Veteran Advocacy, said it "defied belief" the department could gain such a major increase in resourcing yet struggle to make inroads into the backlog.
"This is a national disgrace," he said.
"Yet all we see from the DVA are puff pieces about how wonderfully well it is treating our defence personnel.
"In the most recent federal Senate estimates hearing, Stuart Smith, who is the deputy secretary of the DVA's Veteran and Family Services Group, advised that the time taken to process initial liability for a rehab and compensation claim was at 413 days on average, while the time take to permanent impairment claim was at 254 days.
"But in order for a claim to be processed, it has to be allocated to a delegate.
"These 41,500 backlog claims aren't even sitting in anyone's inbox yet; no one has even reviewed them.
"So these veterans, servicemen and women who only this week during Anzac Day were praised for their service by the highest-ranking officers in our country, remain in limbo.
"How is it that Mr Smith's department can say that it has had all these extra resources for the past nine months, yet they can't seem to make any inroads into the backlog?"
Mr Smith told Senate estimates the average had "doubled because we have more people that we're dealing with now, and many of them are the long-term people who have been waiting in the queue". He could not predict when the claim numbers would peak.
In the October 25 budget last year, $233.9 million was allocated to the DVA to hire more front-line staff and an extra $97.9 million for totally and permanently incapacitated former defence personnel.
An independent review of the claims processing system was instigated by the previous government in 2019 and the report finally released in June last year.
The claims backlog then was at 37,000.
The reviewers identified "six major pain points ... evident across DVA's claims process", some of which were incomplete applications, veteran difficulty in compiling medical evidence needed to support claims, and "with some veterans reporting resistance from doctors to take on DVA clients".
"Furthermore, veterans report issues with empathy, respect and trust when engaging with the department - some veterans have to re-tell their story repeatedly, to the point that they feel scrutinised," the review found.
The DVA processing website shows during February this year, the total number of outstanding claims had fallen by 707, and in March by a further 653.
"At this rate, it will take years and years just to clear the backlog," Mr Davis said.
Veterans with an injury or disease caused by military service since 2004 can claim compensation and benefits under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.
The DVA says those eligible include permanent members of the defence forces, reservists, cadets, officer cadets, instructors and those in the career transition scheme.
Pre-existing conditions before 2004 which were aggravated during later service also provides the opportunity for compensation.
As the opposition minister for veterans affairs, Matt Keogh rose in Federal Parliament in November 2021 to roundly criticise the Liberal-National coalition for failing to take action on the backlog.
"It's just not good enough," he said.
"Our veterans have given so much for us. They deserve to be treated better than this."
After Labor's election win last May, Mr Keogh was appointed federal Veterans Affairs Minister.
In a statement, the DVA said improving the claims processing system and addressing the claims backlog was "a key priority" and that the recruitment of processing officers was "well under way".
"It should be noted that almost a third of the claims (29 per cent) in the backlog were lodged in the past 90 days," the statement said.
They urged veterans who needed urgent assistance to contact Open Arms on 1800 011 046 or visit openarms.gov.au.
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