War widow breaks down as she tells of financial struggle

CANBERRA - Breeana Till has become the unacceptable face of Australia's war in Afghanistan.

Her husband, Brett, was a bomb disposal expert from the Sydney-based Incident Response Regiment serving in Afghanistan, clearing the way for diggers operating in the southern province of Oruzgan.

In March, Sergeant Till, 31, was killed trying to disable a roadside bomb.

His wife, pregnant with their first child and caring for his two children from a previous marriage, mourned the death of a man whose smile "would crack the frowns off a hundred faces".

"On Saturday the fifth of April 2008, Brett and I had the most extraordinary wedding, at the crack of dawn, new beginnings to a promised long life together, for ever and ever," Breeana Till said in a statement after his death.

"To receive the news almost a year afterwards that my gorgeouso has been killed is an experience I still can't quite comprehend."

Seven months later, Till is struggling with another reality.

She appeared before a review of the Australian Government's military compensation arrangements, breaking into tears as she described the relative pittance provided for the families of diggers killed in a foreign war.

"What the Department of Veterans' Affairs are offering the family of a man who died in the service of his country is the same as if I was on the dole as a single mum," Till said in evidence reported by the Australian.

"It's disappointing. The public opinion is that if a guy is killed overseas his family will be looked after."

Instead, her late husband's pay of A$905 ($1060) a week ended two weeks after his death and was replaced by weekly compensation of A$305.

She was also told she and the children would have to move out of their Army house, with a lump-sum payment of A$122,000 and taking either the weekly compensation or a further lump sum of A$507,000.

"It's like having to choose whether to house the family or feed them," said Till. "The lump sum won't pay for a house; the pension won't pay the rent and bills."

Sergeant Till's two children, Jacob, 10, and Taleah, 7, are not eligible for further lump sum payments of A$73,000 and weekly payments of A$81 each because they were born to a previous marriage.

Veterans' Affairs Minister Alan Griffin immediately ensured the family could remain in their Army house for another year, and conceded that existing compensation arrangements needed an overhaul.

"Steps [are being taken] in the right direction, but I just really feel for Mrs Till being in the situation she is in," Griffin told Fairfax Radio. "It would be bloody terrible."

Till's case is just one in a long list of complaints against a system that has been hauled into an unwelcome public spotlight by the increasing toll in Afghanistan.

Till was the 10th digger to die there. Four months later, Private Benjamin Ranaudo, 22, became the 11th, also killed by an improvised explosive device.

Many more have been injured, some seriously and with permanent disabilities. Figures provided reluctantly to the Australian put the number of wounded at 83, including five caught by an exploding bomb during a patrol this month. Most will be caught in a system that is coming under heavy fire.

Commonwealth Ombudsman John McMillan said in a submission to the review that about 200 complaints had been made to his office about military compensation in the past five years, many by people unable to comprehend the complexity of the scheme.

Complaints included considerable delays in deciding claims and entitlements. In one case it took three years for a former soldier to begin receiving assistance.

A former SAS patrol commander said that after his experience he advised other injured diggers to forget the compensation review process, hire a good compensation lawyer and litigate for compensation.

The review is expected to hand its report to the Government next year.