A Four Corners investigation has found that Veteran Benefits Australia (VBA), a Brisbane-based network of companies, made millions by turning veterans into sales leads on an industrial scale, with staff allegedly told to have veterans sign over their taxpayer-funded care plans to access other services.
The investigation, which spoke to more than 50 current and former staff and clients and reviewed hundreds of pages of internal emails, company documents and corporate filings, found that VBA operated as a marketing funnel for what it called the "Veteran Benefits Australia Ecosystem", a network of more than 70 companies providing services to veterans.
VBA was founded by exercise physiologist Nick Flanigan and pharmacist Tom Bailey. From its headquarters in an industrial estate in Brisbane's south, an office featuring gold accents in the bathroom and chandeliers in the kitchen, the organisation appeared to simply connect veterans to the taxpayer-funded care they needed.
But veterans were lured by freebies and competitions on social media and ended up on VBA's books, passed from one entity to another, each billing the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) for their services. An internal email showed staff were told veterans should sign over their DVA-funded GP care plans, worth thousands of dollars to VBA, to access other forms of care such as medicinal cannabis or "free" medication packs. In other cases, veterans' DVA details were used for billing by multiple allied health practitioners they had never spoken to.
The investigation comes after the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide found veterans were struggling to get the compensation and care they needed. The government responded by pumping more than half a billion dollars into the system, creating opportunities for for-profit companies.
While dozens of individual practitioners have been accused by DVA of overservicing and incorrect billing, the companies and the individuals running them have escaped scrutiny.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The investigation raises questions about how taxpayer funds intended for veteran care are spent, and whether for-profit companies are exploiting a system designed to help those who served.
- Veterans are the ones who lose out, with some reportedly billed for services they never received or pressured into signing over their care plans.
- The findings highlight a potential oversight gap: individual practitioners have faced accusations, but the companies profiting from the system have so far escaped scrutiny.
Background
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide found veterans were struggling to get the compensation and care they needed. In response, the government committed more than half a billion dollars to clear a backlog of claims and improve services. That influx of money created an opportunity for for-profit companies to enter the system. VBA began as a "blog" that said it connected veterans to "independent" services, but became a funnel feeding the "Veteran Benefits Australia Ecosystem", a network of more than 70 companies, dozens providing services to veterans.
Key Perspectives
VBA and its founders: The organisation presented itself as connecting veterans to the care they needed, with its website describing the services as "independent". The founders have not been the subject of DVA's accusations, which have targeted individual practitioners.
The Department of Veterans' Affairs: DVA has accused dozens of individual practitioners of overservicing and incorrect billing. Internal documents reviewed by Four Corners show how companies in the ecosystem billed DVA for different services while other companies serviced the entities themselves.
Veterans and former staff: More than 50 current and former staff and clients described a system in which veterans were treated as valuable sales leads, passed between entities, with an internal diagram showing how the "ecosystem" worked together to bill DVA.
What to Watch
- Whether DVA or regulators now investigate the companies behind the VBA network, not just individual practitioners.
- Any public response from VBA founders Nick Flanigan and Tom Bailey to the Four Corners findings.
- Whether the government tightens oversight of for-profit companies operating in the veteran care system.