Why I built Veteran Life

For years I helped mates with their DVA claims on the side. The system is slow, the processes are complex, and the people who need it most are usually the least equipped to fight through it.

What pushed me to do something formal about it wasn’t paperwork. It was losing mates to mental health. That’s the point where helping a few people on weekends wasn’t enough.

I founded the Veteran Life Group in mid-2024 to do this properly — at scale, for everyone who served. Veteran Life Pty Ltd is the paid advocacy. Veteran Life Services Ltd is the registered charity. Same mission, two structures.

My background

I joined federal government straight out of school in 2002. Spent six years in operational roles, mostly overseas, working in counter-terrorism and operational planning across complex environments.

In 2008 I came back to Australia and rejoined the ADF — Army first, then concurrent roles across NSW Corrective Services, NSW Police Riot Squad, and the Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command as a tactical operative. I maintained that pattern for over a decade — operational variety, weapons and tactics work, training delivery — across multiple ADF and government roles at the same time.

Since 2020, my work has been with the RAAF, where I designed and embedded the Combat Readiness Initiative for combat units — a modernised close-quarters weapons and combat shooting continuum that became the new training standard for RAAF airborne security and combat training.

I continue to serve in the ADF Reserve.

My approach

I’m educated and I keep studying. That matters less than what I’ve actually done. My background is operational, not administrative. I’ve spent two decades in environments where outcomes matter and people depend on you to get it right.

That’s the standard I bring to Veteran Life. Our clients know we understand what they’ve been through — not because we read about it, but because we lived it.

Everything we do is built around genuine care, considered thinking, and a long-term commitment to the people we serve.

For what they have done — this we will do.