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Making sense of pay and conditions

The complexity of Australian Defence Force (ADF) pay and conditions can be daunting, especially to those just joining one of the three Services. But don’t despair, there’s help at hand. Ara Nalbandian explains.

ADF pay and conditions are governed by rules made under the Defence Act 1903. Within Defence, these rules are reflected in the ADF Pay and Conditions Manual (PACMAN), as opposed to Australian Public Service employees’ pay and conditions, which are contained in the Defence Collective Agreement 2006–2009 (DeCA). This article does not discuss the DeCA.

Apart from PACMAN, Defence Personnel Executive produces two publications in which you can find information about ADF pay and conditions. One is the Member’s Guide and the other is PACMATE.

Member’s Guide

The 2007 edition of the Member’s Guide to ADF Pay and Conditions of Service in Australia is a brief, easy-to-understand guide that will provide basic information about pay and conditions for ADF members and their families. Affectionately known as the Member’s Guide, this quick reference is a summary of the more detailed PACMAN. It is designed for ADF staff – from new recruits to senior officers – and their partners and families.

The Member’s Guide has been revised to include updates on conditions such as emergency support for families, the family stability initiative, leaving the ADF and superannuation. One important point to remember is that it is only a guide that is meant to provide a quick overview and cannot be used as a definitive source of policy on pay and conditions of service. PACMAN contains the definitive policy.

The guide is available in several formats: electronically, as a printed booklet and as a CD. However, the guide is best accessed online at http://www.defence.gov.au/dpe/pac/, where it will be kept up to date throughout the year. The printed booklet is available from customer service centres throughout Defence. To obtain the CD, please send a request via email to: PACMAN@defence.gov.au.

PACMATE

The Pay and Conditions Manual – Administration and Technical Explanation (PACMATE) is the main entry point for PACMAN. PACMATE contains:

  • an alphabetical index to PACMAN;
  • Personnel Executive contact information;
  • an explanation of who is authorised to make decisions;
  • the new Decision-maker’s Handbook;
  • a section on taxation issues; and
  • a section on Clause notes.
PACMAN
Photograph, caption follows

Defence legislation diagram

Recently rewritten in plain English, PACMAN contains the policies for pay and conditions of service. Technical jargon is kept to the absolute minimum. PACMAN sets out the rules about pay and conditions and uses some common standards to help you easily identify different types of information, including:

  • tax alerts;
  • who can make decisions; and
  • policy guidance.

PACMAN consists of:

  • Volumes 1 and 2, which describe the ADF conditions of service for members within Australia; and
  • a separate volume entitled Overseas Conditions of Service, which describes conditions of service for ADF members and Australian Public Service employees on duty overseas.

These three volumes contain a great deal of detail that will help you work out what your entitlements are.

The majority of PACMAN’s content comes from documents that are either laws or made under a law; therefore the rules in PACMAN must be followed.

What’s New

PACMAN covers matters such as leave, travel, housing and many allowances for ADF members and their dependants. It is updated regularly as changes occur. The ‘What’s New’ page on the Pay and Conditions website at http://intranet.defence.gov.au/pac/ can alert you to changes as they are made to PACMAN.

Demystifying PACMAN

If you wish to learn more about how PACMAN works, there’s a suite of e-learning courses on CAMPUS entitled ‘Getting the most out of PACMAN’. Administrators of ADF pay and conditions would benefit most from doing this suite of courses, but any ADF member is encouraged to use this interactive tool, which is a lot of fun!

Ara Nalbandian is Executive Officer – Drafting in the Conditions Information and Policy Services Directorate, Personnel Policy and Employment Conditions Branch.

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