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WHY
THE "SYSTEM" DOESN'T WORK AND (THIS ARTICLE SHOULD BE READ BY EVERY MEMBER OF THE ADF) With the demise of Armed Forces Federation of Australia (ArFFA), once again members of the Australian Defence Force have no formal industrial protection. Within their industrial climate this is not necessarily an issue of major concern as the ADF is, in the main, a considerate and thoughtful employer. Nevertheless, as explained below, additional oversight of the welfare and working conditions of the members of the ADF has always been necessary. Traditionally this has been provided by Ex-Service Organisations (ESOs) primarily the Defence Force Welfare Association (DFWA) and the RSL. As the name implies, DFWA’s prime aim is to advocate better conditions of service for both serving and former members of the ADF. Its membership is made up of both serving and former members of the Defence Force who maintain an affinity for the Services and are willing to contribute their time on a voluntary basis. With the disbanding of ArFFA we are now redoubling our efforts to provide an independent voice for serving members. In addition to advocating better conditions for the ADF we also monitor veteran’s policy particularly in regard to their medical entitlements under DVA legislation as well as keep an eye on developments within DVA which affect service delivery. Why is this necessary? The need flows, firstly, from the unpredictability of the personal outcomes of service life in general and, more specifically, combat operations. The legislation covering ADF personnel is drafted carefully, but is rarely foolproof. Unfortunately, when something unpredicted happens all Governments tend to treat incidents as “political issues” (often) created by an earlier administration, and are reluctant to take timely and effective steps. ADF personnel therefore need independent assistance to stimulate the necessary changes, and even publicise the deficiencies to the population at large if necessary. To some this may suggest that the ESOs, the Government and Defence will regularly be at loggerheads. They are, but as they are all motivated by a desire to ensure that Defence Personnel are properly treated, relationships are rarely acrimonious. In fact, follow this link and you will find a statement of support for the DFWA from the current CDF. Examples of the unpredictable leading to the creation of ESOs provide a good illustration of the need for ESOs. Before WW I nobody predicted what would happen to our troops at Gallipoli and subsequently the Somme. The possibility of losing mates in mud filled trenches or inhaling poisonous gas were simply not contemplated. When those Diggers, and many others, returned home they formed the very valid opinion that they were not receiving the assistance from the Government which they deserved and needed. To address their problems they formed the RSL. Nor did anybody contemplate what the loss of so many men meant in both WW I and WW II. After the wars, widows and dependants were not treated with the humanity and dignity they deserved. Naturally, the Government of the day should have corrected this immediately but it was not until ex-servicemen created Legacy that any inroads were made into this substantial and ongoing problem. Again, DFWA was established out of a need for serving and former ADF members to campaign for better conditions of service particularly fairness and equity in superannuation when they were discharged No one had heard of Agent Orange before Vietnam and very little was known about the impact of battle experience on the young men Australia sent to that war. It took a massive effort for the Vietnam Veterans’ associations to get the unpredicted Agent Orange recognised as an ongoing problem; PTSD is still not fully understood and is often rejected as a problem. The children of our Vietnam Veterans’ also have unpredicted problems and, after pressure from ESOs, the Government has finally announced a study into this issue. Paradoxically, the children will be about 40 by the time the study is complete. More recently the unpredictable caused health difficulties in peace time. The deseal/reseal problems with the F111s and more recent, similar, problems with the C130s were constantly pushed onto the backburner despite a growing number of RAAF personnel (and their families) experiencing considerable distress. ESO activity propelled this problem into the foreground. Government reaction to large scale disasters has been consistently poor; the way the survivors of the Voyager disaster have been treated remains a national scandal Turning to examples of inadequate legislation, the DFRDB Act was drafted in close consultation with DFWA and includes a number of matters that relate to life expectancy tables. Unfortunately the tables current some 40 years ago were imbedded in the legislation with no provision for them to be updated. The continued use of out of date tables means that the amount of money deducted from each fortnightly pension to compensate for receiving a lump sum far exceeds the amount that would apply if current and relevant Life Expectancy Tables were used. There are few who would not agree that the tables should be updated. Nevertheless, Governments have constantly refused to change the legislation. The same Act requires that pensions be indexed to the CPI (so does the MSBS Act) but almost everyone involved in this issue (including the politicians) agree that the CPI is no longer a valid method of indexation and that pensions should also be indexed in relation to community wage levels. Most pensions in Australia have been adjusted accordingly but not DFRDB or MSBS – no politician has been able to provide an adequate answer why the legislation should not be changed; and they won’t until we can bring enough leverage to bear. The Department of Veterans' Affairs administers acts which are designed to provide service personnel with appropriate rehabilitation or compensation in the event of injury or illness. These acts are administered in a convoluted method leading to veterans having to seek assistance to complete the paperwork and obtain their entitlements. This assistance is provided voluntarily by most ESOs whilst both the DVA and the Department of Defence acknowledge that it has become an essential component of the DVA processes. Getting to the point of this discussion, the Defence Force Welfare Association - DFWA (previously known as the Regular Defence Force Welfare Association - RDFWA) was established nearly 50 years ago to repel an aggressive attack by the Government of the day on the benefits of the existing service pension, death and disability arrangements. Unlike other ESOs its early members were, predominantly, serving members rather than ex-members of the ADF. At the time its major focus was on the change from an earlier pension scheme to the DFRDB and the impact that the changes would have on both serving members and ex-members. It also differed from other ESOs in that it was not formed because of unit or war time affiliations; it was formed specifically to lobby politicians for better conditions of service. It was very successful in its efforts and the DFRDB when introduced was widely accepted as an innovative scheme and is an early manifestation of the need to compensate ADF personnel for the unique nature of military service within their superannuation package. The passage of time and the development of better superannuation schemes in the general community have revealed a number of problems in DFRDB and it no longer serves the complete needs of our service personnel. The relevant issues can be put in the category of “unpredictable”, as discussed above. Returning to the present, the previous Government initiated the review of Military Superannuation, which was long overdue and welcome. Twenty three ESOs made representations to the Review Team; subsequently the team chose to consult with DFWA and the RSL (which worked together). Over 200 current and ex –service personnel made personal submissions to the review (the split was about 50:50 and ranks ranged from Able Seaman to General), indicating that this is an important issue across the services spectrum. Unfortunately the outcome of the Review was withheld until after the federal election. This is almost exactly what happened 50 years ago and there is now an urgent need for the DFWA to go back to its roots and start recruiting service personnel to their own cause. The report’s major recommendation to start a new vastly different superannuation scheme has the potential, if properly implemented to benefit all current members of the Defence Force and their families. But there are significant gaps in the recommendations that if left unchallenged continue to discriminate against those in the existing schemes and threaten to distort the proposed scheme with a mish-mash of unrelated ideas supported by confusing and inappropriate legislation. We know enough about life to realize that some (but not all) change that benefits us will probably involve additional Government expenditure. Regardless of whether the change is justified or not, those who believe it to be their job to ignore logic and minimize Government expenditure will vigorously oppose better benefits for ADF members; just as they did 50 years ago! The new Government has initiated a 3 month consultative process which will be followed by further negotiations and development of the legislation. The current members of the Defence Force are an interested party and must be represented in these discussions. They are presently only represented by the Department of Defence which, unfortunately, can be can be overly influenced by Government policy and may not be able to take the position that individual members of the Defence Force would like to see it take. Whilst this is unfortunate, it is a fact of Government/Political life. Members of the Defence Force should therefore be represented by the DFWA (and any other ESO so inclined) and the DFWA can only claim to represent current members of the Defence Force if substantial numbers of them are also members of the DFWA. To reinforce our “join us” message you should read the Long Tan address given by Brigadier George Mansford (Retired) in Townsville earlier last year. In it a respected soldier lays it on the line to his diggers. A more detailed impression of our activities can be found in the “News”, “Indexation” and “Recent Submissions” headings on the website. These relate to the battle of the 2007 election on issues such as Simple Super, the tax on (and indexation of) your potential pension and our attempts to get the new superannuation system debated during the election campaign.” Please accept this invitation to join us. Details and an application form are available from the Membership page.
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