Feature—Facing the ADF Retention Challenge
People remain Defence's most important asset in terms of delivering military capability. Much has been done to make sure that the ADF offers the right employment packages and has appropriate family-friendly programs so as to encourage its highly valued workforce to continue serving. These packages and programs also seek to attract new recruits.
One of the greatest challenges facing Defence when developing employment and conditions of service packages is the fact that the ADF is made up of a broad cross-section of people in terms of age, family needs and responsibilities, career aspirations and education and training requirements.
Research shows the 'needs and wants' of ADF personnel change over time in response to personal, family and career circumstances. As a result, there is no 'one size fits all' financial or non-financial solution to meet the requirements of the 51,000 people who make up the regular ADF. We therefore strive to develop flexible ADF employment packages that give ADF members as much choice as possible, all with a view to enhancing retention.
Some of the significant initiatives introduced in 2005–06 are highlighted below.
Special employment package for serving in northern Australia
A $35m allowance and travel entitlement package was introduced to benefit more than 11,000 ADF members serving in remote areas of northern Australia. The new package brings the total value supporting ADF members and their families in northern locations to over $80m.
The package was based on new locality gradings that take into account climate, geographic isolation and cost of living indexes, and was designed to lessen the impact of those factors on ADF members and their families.
Key features of the package are:
- ADF District Allowance paid in recognition of the higher than normal cost of living and adverse climatic conditions in remote areas, including the need to use air-conditioners more than in other locations.
- Leave Travel for ADF members, both single and with dependants, to provide access to facilities unavailable in the remote areas. In the more remote areas, members and their families are entitled to two trips per year; one to the closest state capital, the other to any selected state or territory capital city.
- Additional Recreational Leave of between two and five days per year depending on the location.
The package will particularly benefit those ADF members likely to undertake more than one posting or serve for extended periods in northern Australia.
Family-friendly leave and emergency support provisions
Carer's leave was introduced and maternity and parental leave provisions enhanced to help ADF members balance their family's needs.
ADF members may now access up to five days of dedicated paid carer's leave each year to look after the health needs of their dependants. This new provision is in addition to the existing entitlement of up to seven days paid compassionate leave each year.
Carer's leave is particularly important for military personnel as they often serve far away from extended family support networks that might otherwise be able to provide some assistance in times of need. This military leave enhancement also recognises the fact that many spouses and partners of ADF members are themselves in the workforce and that caring for dependants is a shared responsibility.
Women in the ADF may also now access an additional two weeks of paid maternity leave, boosting the entitlement from 12 to 14 weeks. The enhanced maternity leave entitlement provides greater flexibility in meeting personal and family circumstances. Maternity leave can be taken at full pay for 14 weeks or converted to half pay, extending the leave to 28 weeks.
Parental leave was also increased to a two-week paid entitlement for ADF members who become the parents of, or take full parental responsibility for, a newborn or adopted child and where there is no entitlement to maternity leave.
A new Emergency Support for Families Scheme was introduced to deliver practical support to families on occasions of need during times when the ADF member, as a spouse or partner, is absent from their home location on deployment, exercise or training in Australia or overseas. The scheme aims to deliver immediate professional support to stabilise family circumstances. Support might include services such as home help and child or respite care, for up to five days.
Retention packages for specialist employment groups
A number of financial and professional development packages were introduced to encourage the retention of highly-skilled personnel within specialist ADF employment groups experiencing increased levels of separation.
The retention packages are a mix of short, medium and long-term initiatives, with a focus on financial retention incentives. Other retention elements are based on professional and trade development, postgraduate educational opportunities and enhanced career management. In 2005–06, $17.4m was budgeted for financial incentives to enhance retention.
Pay structure reform for officers and warrant officers
Most officers and warrant officers class one are remunerated on a common salary scale, with additional allowances paid to recognise other skills and qualifications. This common core pay approach did not pay sufficient attention to the need to remunerate on the basis of the work value of different employment groups.
A graded pay structure was introduced to embed work value in core pay. This structural reform now gives the ADF a flexible pay system for officers and warrant officers that also serves to enhance retention in selected professional and employment groups.
The independent Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal will continue to consider cases to place employment groups in higher pay grades. The ADF Workplace Remuneration Arrangement remains the mechanism for delivering pay increases across the board for military personnel.