War crimes investigations must not endlessly pursue former soldiers without evidence, the UK's visiting minister of state for veterans' affairs warns.
A former army captain who served in Afghanistan, Conservative Party politician Johnny Mercer has been outspoken on the treatment of armed services personnel.
He says war crimes allegations which eventually failed to lead to prosecution had forced veterans into "living under the unique burden of vexatious claims and a cycle of seemingly endless reinvestigation".
While he could not comment on ongoing inquiries in Australia or Britain, Mr Mercer said special forces in the UK had "huge levels of oversight".
"Where there's evidence of our people not adhering to the values and standards we expect, then we will hold them to account," he told AAP.
"But we must ensure there is not an endless pursuit of those who served their country bravely."
The UK is currently holding an inquiry into claims British special forces performed extrajudicial killings during the war in Afghanistan, and has previously prosecuted war crimes
In 2006, corporal Donald Payne became the first member of the British armed forces convicted of a war crime, for which he was dismissed from the army and jailed for one year.
Seven years later, a member of the Royal Marines was convicted of murdering an unarmed Taliban insurgent and initially received a life sentence before his conviction was reduced to manslaughter.
Australian authorities, meanwhile, laid their first war crime-related murder charges against defence force member Oliver Schulz in March and are yet to charge anyone else despite the scathing findings of the Brereton report and a defamation trial which found Victoria Cross medallist Ben-Roberts Smith had committed war crimes.
Mr Mercer is meeting with his Australian counterpart Matt Keogh in Perth for bipartisan discussions on how both countries can improve support for veterans.
"The nature of these wars that are very far away from home, that aren't always universally supported - where you will have periods of intense combat and then you can be back in Perth or London, having a McDonald's eight hours later," he said.
"This is a huge mental challenge for a lot of our combat soldiers to deal with ... and we need to make sure our troops are equipped mentally to deal with that."
He also pointed to issues veterans face like elevated risk of homelessness, substance abuse, unemployment and suicide.
While Australia is ahead of the UK in terms its investment in veterans affairs, the suicide rate for former Australian soldiers is higher.
Mr Mercer hopes the two countries can learn from one another and says they have taken positive steps in the area of veteran employment.
"The shift I see going on now is good. It goes from seeing service personnel a charity case, to having veterans in your company being the best business decision you can make," he said.
Mr Keogh and Mr Mercer will visit Mandurah War Memorial in Perth to honour families whose sons were killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Open Arms 1800 011 046
