Publication:Sea Talk Spring 2006/Defence families of Australia

By Nicole Quinn

ND - Western Australia

On behalf of Defence families in Western Australia and in particular navy families based at Fleet Base West, I attended my first National Defence Families (DFA) Conference.

This conference is held annually and provides an opportunity for all National Delegates from around Australia to meet in Canberra and address the issues affecting Defence families. As a navy spouse of 10 years this provided me with an extraordinary insight into how policy and issues affecting my life as part of the navy family are formed, reviewed and implemented.

Before attending this conference regional meetings are held to gather information and feedback from families on the concerns and issues affecting them in their posting locality. In Western Australia issues raised included:

• Access to childcare and confusion on the ABC agreement with Defence;
• Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) implications on RRLT detrimental to the purpose of the entitlement;
• Requesting the opportunity to salary sacrifice their home mortgages;
• The opportunity for a repatriation flight once a year for families to return to their home base in the East.
• Request for car hire subsidy to cover time while car is being transported to the West.
• At the National DFA Conference these issues are presented to Defence and the associated agencies for comment and feedback.
• In addition, the National Conference provided the opportunities for all areas of Defence to present and discuss issues effecting families. Topics addressed included:
• New housing classification policy (NHCP) - moving us from a system where we classify housing based on amenity only to a system which includes location and amenity.
• Role of chaplains in the modern ADF and their feedback on the high operational tempo. An interesting point raised in this discussion was how the ADF may be developing policy relating to family support based on peacetime models.
• New service agreement with Defence Housing Authority and Defence. Discussion on how capital works programmes can create inconsistencies with housing in localities and results in confusion for families.
• Married with Dependants Separated (MWDS) is before the Personnel Steering Group (PSG) with an option to remove any criteria to apply for MWDS categorisation.
• Opportunity for a repatriation flight (RF) for families to alleviate the stress of high operation tempo, deployments and sea time. DFA to develop this concept into a business plan and present to Defence.
• Role of Defence relocations and housing managers and the need for Defence families to 'put pen to paper' with any issues or concerns in relation to their housing removal process.
• Recruitment and retention of the ADF and the role of families in this.
• NWCC and its important role for families - NWCC in the last 6 months handled 10,500 incoming calls, 21,000 calls outward, sent 9000 family information packs, and 37,000 letters and correspondence.
• Defence Community Organisation (DCO) overview and key areas of responsibilities including Childcare Expansion program, bereaved Family support, DSTA & mentor expansion and reviewing of DCO processes and roles.Detailed minutes of the annual conference are available at the DFA website - www.dfa.org.au

The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Mr Bruce Billson, senior service chiefs and Defence agencies executives all highlighted the importance of DFA being 'a strong voice for families' and committed ongoing support for the organization.

Please contact DFA on 1800 100 509 or visit the website.