Following the federal budget announcement that the Australian government has committed $9 million over the next three years to supporting Invictus Australia’s work with the Invictus Team and the entire veteran community, Michael Hartung OAM, CEO of Invictus Australia, joins Defence Connect journalist Nastasha Tupas to discuss the important role Invictus Australia plays in supporting the defence and veteran community. Hartung, who received the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to sport for people with a disability, discusses how Veteran Sport Australia became an extension of the international Invictus Foundation, after signing a world-first agreement to continue to use the Invictus brand in Australia; with the aim of extending support and the power of the Invictus movement beyond the 2018 games held in Sydney. He speaks on the impact of coronavirus, which delayed the games for over two years; postponing it from 2020 to 2021, and then again to 2022. Hartung remains confident that the resilience of the 2020 Invictus Australia team will see them through at the fifth Games that will be hosted in the Hague, the Netherlands, which is kicking off on 16 April and wraps up on 22 April this year.

Finally, Hartung touches on how Invictus Australia continues to uplift the defence and veteran community through the grassroots work Invictus Australia has been doing. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Team