THE DFWA MONTHLY UPDATE
 

	PO Box 4166, KINGSTON ACT 2604 Telephone:   02 6265 9530    Facsimile:  02 6265 9776 Web page:  http//www.rdfwa.org.au  Patron:  His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC (Retd) Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia	ISSUE 220   JULY 2007
The Update is a monthly E-Letter (except for January) containing items which are of interest to the Service and ex-Service community.  It is distributed to politicians, media outlets, senior Service officers and DFWA branches.  Branches are encouraged to distribute Update further to Association members and other interested people or organisations.  Update is also posted on the DFWA website.

 Commodore Harry Adams AM RAN (Retd)

 The late Commodore Harry Adams AM RAN (Retd), who died on 20 April, left instructions for his funeral to be a simple Anglican graveside service.  The Friends of St John's, of which Harry was the Chair, believe that there are many others who would also welcome a further opportunity to reflect upon the kind of person that Harry was, and his many accomplishments on behalf of the community.

 Accordingly, a Service of Thanksgiving will be held for Harry's life at 11.15 am on Sunday 12 August, at the Anglican Church of St John the Baptist, cnr Constitution Avenue and Anzac Park West, Reid, ACT.  Refreshments will be served on completion.

 CORRECTION TO MEDIA RELEASE

 The Association regrets that in a recent media release - Servicemen Super Suckers - it said simply that that the War Widows Pension (WWP) and the TPI Pension were indexed to CPI / MTAWE, whichever is the greater.  It should have said “partially indexed” to CPI / MTAWE. 

• In fact, WWP is exactly the same amount as the Age Pension paid to the general community (and indexed to CPI / MTAWE), plus $25 (which is not indexed at all) - and this has been the case for many years.  The Clarke Review recently recommended indexing ALL components of the WWP, and the Government agreed with the recommendation, but this has not yet occurred.  An income support supplement is also payable but restricted to those able to pass the income and assets test, and that was "frozen" at $120.10 for many years until the Government finally started indexing it a couple of years ago!

• Furthermore, since September 2004 only approximately 60% of the TPI Special Rate has been fully indexed in a similar manner to the Service Pension and the Old Age Pension, i.e, CPI / MTAWE.  The remaining approximate 40% is still indexed to the CPI alone, and as a result continues to erode.  From 1997 until 2004 none of the Special Rate was indexed to anything other than the CPI.  That is the cause of the major erosion that has occurred since 1997.

 The Association fully supports the endeavours of Legacy and other Ex Service Organisations in correcting these anomalies, and regrets the error in its press release.   

ASSOCIATION MEETS WITH SENATOR MINCHIN

 As part of its ongoing campaign to improve the indexation arrangements for military and public sector pensions, the Association recently had a one hour meeting with Senator Minchin the Minister for Finance, along with representatives of SCOA and ACPSRO.   Although no formal communiqué has been issued, Senator Minchin’s messages were that he still sees indexation change as too expensive by 2020 (and unnecessary if CPI is adequate); but that he might be prepared to support a change to the tax treatment of pensions from untaxed funds, if only to segregate the various income streams on tax returns. 

 The battle for what the Association sees as a matter of simple justice and equality of treatment on indexation continues.

 ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN ON EX-SERVICE PERSONNEL

 The Association welcomes the announcement from Alan Griffin, the Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, that a Labor Government will establish an Interdepartmental Working Group to examine ways to rationalise the administrative burden on Veterans or ex-service personnel who have to deal with multiple agencies. 

 Currently Veterans, ex service personnel and their families have to deal with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Centrelink, the Defence Force's Retirement and Death Benefits Authority, ComSuper and the Department of Defence to obtain their entitlements, compensation or income support package.

 This can cause a lot of confusion and stress among those that are dealing with multiple agencies.  Too often members of the ex-service community and their families have to engage in overly burdensome administrative procedures repeatedly because they are dealing with different agencies.  Improved record sharing, understanding and cooperation between these agencies could significantly cut the time taken to process an individual’s full entitlements and alleviate them of the stress of having to engage in excessive administrative processes.

Access Card Details – Draft Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007

The Association warmly welcomes the release of the exposure draft of the Bill and its Explanatory memorandum indicate that, despite the concerns of the privacy lobby, the following DVA information will be permitted on the front of the card:

(a)   if a special rate of pension under section 24 of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 is payable to the individual because he or she is totally and permanently incapacitated - the acronym “TPI”;

(b)   if a special rate of pension under subsection 24(3) of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 is payable to the individual because he or she has been blinded in both eyes - the word “Blind”;

(c)   if the individual is a former prisoner of war – the acronym “POW”;

(d)   if a pension at the rate specified by subsection 22(4) of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 is payable to the individual because he or she is entitled to extreme disablement adjustment - the acronym “EDA”;

(e)   if the individual is a war widow or war widower – the phrase “war widow” or “war widower” (as the case requires);

(f)    if the individual is a DVA dependant - the phrase “DVA dependant”;

(g)   if the individual holds a DVA Gold Card - the colour gold;

(h)   if the individual holds a DVA White Card - the phrase “DVA White Card holder”; and

(i)    if the individual holds a DVA White Card - the colour white.

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