Defence

General Orders

Improvements to ADF complaint handling

Gen Peter Cosgrove, Chief of the Defence Force

 

Last year during the course of the Senate Inquiry into the Effectiveness of Australia's Military Justice System, I acknowledged that there was a need to improve the ADF's complaint handling system.

The complaint handling system is part of the broader military justice environment that gives ADF members the opportunity to have matters of concern or procedure reviewed thoroughly and investigated impartially so that any complaint can be judged according to its merits.

While in recent years the ADF has made many advances in processing complaints submitted by members, it was obvious there was scope for greater reform. One area of particular concern to me was the time it took to resolve complaints.

I discussed with the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Professor John McMillan, the need for a review of the ADF's Redress of Grievance system. Following this discussion, we agreed to commission a joint review seeking to identify complaint handling problems and options for improvement.

The joint review was completed in January this year and provided many practical recommendations to directly assist Defence in reforming the Redress of Grievance system in addition to recommendations to improve the overall handling of all types of complaints within Defence.

The Ombudsman and I have endorsed the recommendations outlined in the Review. They include ensuring there is appropriate staffing levels within the ADF's Complaint Resolution Agency, providing further training for investigation officers, improving management information systems, introducing performance management and reporting standards, and seeking changes to the legislation and policies on complaint handling.

The review recommendations will make the ADF's Redress of Grievance and complaint handling systems more effective and responsive.

I have directed that Head Defence Personnel Executive, the Service Chiefs and the Inspector General Australian Defence Force take immediate action to implement the review recommendations.

More staff have already been allocated to the ADF's Complaint Resolution Agency in order to reduce the existing backlog of complaints. Once the backlog is cleared these additional staff will help to ensure that average complaint handling times are significantly reduced. As a result, ADF members should soon notice a marked improvement in the time it takes to process and resolve complaints.

The implementation of the review recommendations demonstrates Defence's resolve to continually seek to improve the military justice system by ensuring that ADF members enjoy timely, fair and equitable outcomes in the handling of their complaints.

A team drawn from staff from the Ombudsman's office and Defence conducted the review. The team consulted widely, assessed lodged complaints and their processing time lines, reviewed recommendations of earlier studies and received submissions from a range of ADF members including complainants.

I appreciate the time and effort put in by those who made submissions as they gave the team a valuable insight into the issues affecting complainants. This review has demonstrated the advantages of cooperation between the ADF and the Ombudsman's office in finding solutions that benefit ADF members.

Senate Inquiry

The Senate Inquiry into the Effectiveness of Australia's Military Justice System will soon table its final report.

The Senate Inquiry, undertaken by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Reference Committee, was announced in October 2003 and conducted seven months of public hearings, to collect witness statements and visit ADF establishments.

I thank all Defence members for supporting the Inquiry and for making themselves available to the Committee. I would particularly like to thank those people who supported non-departmental witnesses and for the understanding and respect you showed to them.

The Service Chiefs and I are fully committed to a fair and equitable workplace that includes a transparent and cohesive military justice system. We place a great deal of importance on the military justice system and its essential role in ADF operational effectiveness.

We always remain open to suggestions to improve our administrative and disciplinary practices. When the Senate Inquiry tables its report Defence will not, however, comment on any specific recommendations until the Government has had the opportunity to consider the Report. The Minister for Defence will then table the Government's response to the Military Justice Inquiry report in due course.

In the meantime, we will continue to implement reform to the military justice system while the Report is considered, as we are currently doing with improvements to the ADF's Redress of Grievance and complaint handling systems.

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