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THE 2008 MILITARY SUPERANNUATION DEBATE In early-2007, the Howard Government commissioned a comprehensive review of Military Superannuation. The Terms of Reference can be found on www.defence.gov.au/militarysuperreview. Of particular interest, the TOR lists the unique conditions of military service which the review team was to take into account in developing its proposals. This part of the document should be read by all ADF personnel. The report was completed before the 2007 elections and released by the Rudd Government in late December 2007. It covers 135 pages and can be found on the same website. It has drawn much criticism and in the opinion of the President of the Defence Force Welfare Association (DFWA, pronounced Defwah), “it should not be used as a basis for decision making by the Government”; this should be a concern to all ADF personnel, including Reservists. DFWA was formed by service and ex-service personnel nearly 50 years ago to fight the government and the bureaucracy, on behalf of all service personnel, over the transition from the DFRB Pension Scheme to DFRDB. It successfully protected their interests during protracted discussions and negotiations with The Joint Select Parliamentary DFRB Committee formed to review the DFRB legislation and which oversaw the introduction of the DFRDB. DFWA drew the following comment from the Chairman of that Committee, Mr. John Jess CBE MP, “It is important that every serviceman join and stay with the DFWA and have a strong voice.” As far as we are aware this laudatory statement is unique and things have not changed! We believe that it continues to reflect our status in Defence superannuation issues. DFWA has subsequently monitored all Service pension matters and constantly striven to have existing legislation amended to remove onerous provisions. In view of its history, DFWA is best placed to manage the 2008 Military Superannuation Debate and intends to drive it on three levels. Firstly, and formally, we will place all factual submissions and documents on this site. The first of these documents is intended to provide an overall insight into the need for organisations such as the DFWA, and how we (and others) work to better the conditions of serving personnel. Other documents on this website include an invitation for all readers to:
A joining application form can be found here; as a special offer at this time, serving personnel may join for two years on the basis of one year’s subscription or for five years at the cost of four. Please remember we will need your input into the debate to ensure that it is representative, and we will have to employ consultants, legal advisers and superannuation experts to do our job properly; we need both your moral and financial support! Secondly, we encourage everybody to comment on the new superannuation proposals by email to rdfwanat@ozemail.com.au. We will take your comments and weave them into the debate as appropriate. We cannot emphasise enough how important it is for us to receive comments, suggestions and advice from serving members. Thirdly, a less formal blog will be established which will form the basis of a chat room where individuals can express their opinions, no matter how far out, in an informal and unstructured way. We will monitor the blog, reply as necessary and extract and use ideas which we consider to be original and fruitful. Please take the effort to understand why organisations such as ours have to exist – we are a watchdog (and even an insurance policy) and although we do not have a high profile we do have an essential place in your lives. For more information on the Review of Military Superannuation click here. Major Debate Documents:
Why the "System" Doesn't Work and Why You Should
Join DFWA - Now!
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