Letters
to the Editor
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One
of the ways Toll Transitions estimates the value of compensation
payable for damaged furniture and goods.
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Bid
on compensation
I RECENTLY
moved back to Puckapunyal from Brisbane on what I would say is probably
the most disappointing move, in the way of breakages etc, that I have
ever had.
I have
two questions:
First,
does Toll Transitions have more than one furniture repair contractor
for the state of Victoria or does it normally take more than five weeks
for someone to come and collect your broken or scratched furniture to
repair it?
Second,
is it a standard procedure for Toll Transitions to use pages from ebay,
a US site, not the Australian web site, not even the right item and
with a few days left on the auction, as a determiner of market value.
The way I understand ebay is that it is a proxy auction site, nothing
more.
Does this
mean to say that anybody within the ADF that moves and has items that
are broken and are unable to be fixed, Toll Transitions will go to ebay
and find an item that is close to the broken one and use that to give
you your payout?
Sgt Robert Butchart
Communications Wing
School of Armour, Puckapunyal VIC
Helen Newell, General Manager, Toll Transitions, responds:
Toll Transitions provides removal services, including Indemnity cover
for furniture and personal effects on behalf of Defence for Defence
members.
The current
Indemnity Scheme is a "make-good" scheme that was originally
developed for Defence by DAS and Removals Australia and that scheme
is now managed by Toll Transitions.
The principle
of the scheme is to make good any loss or damage to a Defence member's
furniture and personal effects based on a tiered approach.
If an item
suffers removal related damage Toll Transitions will, subject to the
exclusions and conditions outlined in the Easymove Guide, pay:
- for
the cost of repairs as substantiated by a quotation if those repairs
are possible and/or economical, or;
- pay
for the supply of a like item, taking into account age, style and
condition.
Where repair
or replacement is not possible or practicable, Toll Transitions will
pay compensation equivalent to the extent of loss/damage sustained taking
into account age, style, condition and/or diminution in value.
It is important
to make clear that the current indemnity scheme is not new for old insurance
but based on this "make-good" principle.
In relation
to the specific questions raised in the letter, I can advise that Toll
Transitions has 13 furniture repairers based in Victoria.
While these
repairers are required to meet Toll Transitions requirements, the demand
on their services is high and as a result repairs do not always occur
as quickly as hoped.
If members
require repairs to be completed more urgently than the allocated provider
has indicated, please contact Toll Transitions and we will attempt to
make alternative arrangements.
When attempting
to determine a current market value for items in order to determine
an appropriate amount of compensation, Toll Transitions uses many avenues,
including specialist suppliers and valuers, as well as current indicators
such as various sites on the internet.
It is sometimes
difficult to determine the value of certain collectables without using
those guides as that value generally lies in what someone else is willing
to pay for the item .
It is appreciated
that Defence members move frequently and when damage does occur, that
can be very frustrating.
I can assure
Defence members that Toll Transitions is working hard with the removals
industry to reduce damages and is also attempting to improve the application
of the current indemnity scheme while developing alternative options
for Defence to consider.
Don't
hide
I WOULD
like to respond to the recent "Op Sup Crisis" letters to the
editor. How many of you have wanted something bad enough to do whatever
it took to get it?
I know
a lot of people who have jumped through admin hoops to get medical waivers,
given up time with their family for study and or spent weeks away on
courses for promotion.
All of
these took significant effort and sacrifice because the goal in sight
meant enough and they wanted it enough.
Do you
care enough about your trade and your corps, your Service, to do something
about it?
If you
do care - about the people you work with or those you are responsible
for, the job you do and you're in it for the long haul - then do something
about it.
Don't complain
about training standards, TMPs, ECRC cases or trade management without
offering a solution.
My challenge
to you all is this. Put your money where your mouth is and offer your
experience, your skills and knowledge to those organisations where it
can be used.
If you
find yourself in the position where you are asked for comment, then
don't just sit there. Provide feedback.
If you
think you've got what it takes, then ask for a posting to where you
can do some good.
These things
don't happen overnight and they can't be fixed overnight. Good leadership
(this starts with you) accountability (maintain high standards) and
effort (it will involve hard work) means you won't be hiding in a foxhole
as the war rages ... you'll be advancing on the enemy and gaining ground.
Capt R.K. Rice
Training Developer
ALTC, Bandiana VIC
No
military sense
WITH reference
to "Skill at Arms slipping under AIRN", Army, April 8.
I read
this letter, and the response from SO1 Preparedness with some interest,
given that recently, I was obliged to poke a weapon down a darkened
WTSS lane, and fire 23 notional rounds.
Twenty-three
rounds later I scored a group of 153mm. Not bad for a pogue who almost
never handles a weapon, and who has fired on a live range twice in the
past four years.
I have
to ask if the people who write the AIRN rules are thinking about the
real, nasty, terrorist-infested world out there.
Putting
everyone except for SF and infantry through the WTSS, and considering
that as an acceptable tick in the box may be easier to administer, but
it makes no military sense.
The Grouping
Practice does not assess a members' ability to safely handle and operate
the weapon. It tests the members' ability to group and zero.
One range
supervisor (usually a civilian) standing at one end of a darkened WTSS
range cannot possibly assess each firers' weapon handling proficiency.
That is
why we have (or used to have) coaches on the mound behind the firers
(back when we used to fire real bullets at real targets.)
Sooner
or later, the war on terror is going to hit us here in Australia, and
then we'll all need to have our marksmanship up to date. We can't rely
on SASR and 4RAR(Cdo) to do the wet work for us forever.
LCpl J.J. Gardner
ASACommcen
Victoria Barracks, Sydney NSW
Poor
pay means critical trade
AFTER reading
the front page of edition 1089 [Army, December 18], "Fair Hearing,
Pay groups for infantry clerks and storemen fixed", I once again
had my reasons for leaving the ADF reinforced.
Not to
undermine the work that members of the RAInf perform (I along with many
other medics hold a 343 rifleman qualification) but I had to ask why,
as an advanced medical assistant corporals, are we paid less than an
infantry clerk corporal?
And I don't
need to hear that rubbish about being qualified at two trades, etc,
as a large percentage of advanced medical assistants are multi skilled/trade
qualified.
For too
long we have been told your pay is being reviewed and that we cannot
qualify for civilian qualifications equivalent to our job requirements.
Every day
that we attend work we are required to perform medical tasks that, if
performed incorrectly, can adversely affect or kill another member and
yet we are placed in or below equivalent pay groups for low risk jobs.
The ADF
has classed us as a critical trade due to the high number of discharges.
If the
ADF looked at simple discrepancies such as pay and civilian qualifications
there may be more medics retained rather than lost to better paying
civilian jobs after putting themselves through uni or TAFE.
It is too
late for me, but someone may be able to answer this and put a few of
my fellow medics' minds at ease about their future with the ADF.
Cpl B. Stent
5 Avn Regt
RAAF Townsville, QLD
Be
informed
IN JULY
2003, members of MSBS were given greater control of the Employee Benefit
component of their MSBS portfolio.
This was
achieved by providing five different investment strategies in which
members could elect to have their own contributions invested, with different
levels of risk and consequently returns.
The default
strategy is the Growth Fund and for those who did not elect one of the
other strategies, their total Employee Benefit was placed into this
fund with effect July 1, 2003.
After three
financial years of negative returns, a result consistent with the majority
of investment funds, MSBS has followed the global trend and all strategies
are in the black.
For those
members who have not looked at the return their investments are currently
earning, nor considered one of the other strategies, I suggest that
you log on to comsuper.gov.au and take an interest in what is occurring
in the investment arena.
I am not
qualified, nor would I wish to recommend a strategy for any individual
but I am concerned most MSBS contributors have probably not taken an
active role in managing their sometimes significant funds.
The choice
has been given to you and no-one else is going to manage your money
for you, other than to put it into the default fund.
Maj Nick Read
ALTC
Bandiana, VIC
Second-class
citizens living-in
WHY do
living-in members seem to get treated like second-class citizens?
This is
a topic that I could talk about ad nauseam but one recent incident in-particular
has gone too far.
Renovations
are soon to be conducted on OR accommodation within Randwick Barracks
and, as a result, all members housed in a particular block were told
to vacate.
The options
I was informed of were: apply for RA and move out (because it's for
service reasons, a full removal is the entitlement) or move to the other
block and remain a living-in member.
As I am
due to discharge in three months, it is not viable to live out, as Sydney
will not be my discharge locality. So, by choosing to live-in I was
told that I wasn't entitled to a removal or disturbance allowance as
the move was in the same locality from living-in to living-in.
The ADF
Pay and Conditions Manual, Volume 2, Chapter 4.1.3 - Member who is entitled
to removal, states: "(1)(c) is required to vacate service or privately
rented accommodation for reasons beyond the member's control".
Chapter
4.1.6 - Members who are not eligible for removal, states: "(d)
the member is posted to the same locality or an adjacent locality and
the residence is in the locality of the new posting, unless there is
a requirement to relocate for Service reasons.
Chapter
4.3.2 - Disturbance Allowance - eligibility, states: "(2) However,
a member is not entitled to disturbance allowance for a removal: (a)
from living-in accommodation to living-in accommodation within an establishment,
unit or base ...".
Therefore,
I did not get a removal or receive disturbance allowance.
I could
have used the removal as I have a large fridge, queen-sized bed and
numerous heavy and cumbersome boxes.
Also, the
disturbance for me (as opposed to someone moving out) was greater as
I had a week to move everything (after returning from an overseas deployment),
due to work commitments I had to work back on a number of evenings and
the final weekend to vacate was spent doing an away training exercise
with my unit and I didn't have the luxury of removalists packing and
moving my belongings in one day.
The move
was conducted in stages (time available), I was assisted with some heavy
items from work colleagues and, to put it bluntly, it was a royal pain
in the posterior.
Unfortunately,
due to time constraints, I did not have time to look up all these rulings
prior to vacating my previous abode and as such, could not challenge
the Relocations Cell on the information I had been given. It seems I
was misled or the rulings were unclear to DHA.
Either
way, I feel that I am entitled to, at the very least, payment of disturbance
allowance and that there should be more considerations given to members
who choose to live-in and are evicted through no fault of their own.
Cpl Scott Johnson
1 Psych Unit
Randwick NSW
Adrian Wellspring, Director Housing Policy and Removals, responds:
Members moving from Living-In Accommodation to Living-In Accommodation
in the same locality are eligible for a removal at public expense if
the move is for reasons beyond the member's control (4.3.3 (c) of the
ADF Pay and Conditions Manual).
A compulsory
removal from Living-In Accommodation that is subject to refurbishment
falls within this category.
Such a
situation would also constitute a "requirement to locate for Service
reasons" under clause 4.1.6 (d).
Unlike
normal removals, however, a "bulk removal" is normally arranged
to relocate all affected occupants of the Living-In Accommodation. Arrangements
for a "bulk removal" for personnel in this circumstance are
not normally managed by DHA.
A "bulk
removal" would normally involve appointing a single point of contact
to represent all affected personnel, the completion of inventory forms
and liaising with the local Client Service Manager - Relocations and
the regional Toll Transition personnel to ensure all personnel are moved
at the same time.
Organising
the removal through Toll Transitions also ensures the furniture and
effects being relocated are correctly handled and protected by indemnity
cover.
All costs
associated with a bulk removal would normally be factored into the project
costs associated with the refurbishment of accommodation.
Disturbance
Allowance is paid to cover the unreimbursed costs that may be associated
with a removal.
Although
there is no definitive list of these costs, it would include items such
as the accelerated depreciation of furniture and effects, spoilage of
food items, additional school costs, etc.
Disturbance
allowance is not paid to compensate a member for the inconvenience of
moving personal belongings from one residence to another.
It is considered
that a removal from one barrack block to another, within the same establishment,
unit or base, is not of sufficient disruption as to warrant the payment
of Disturbance Allowance.
Pay
efficiencies
IN AUGUST
2003, we in the Catering Corps recieved a well-deserved pay increase.
I was also
promoted with effect January 19, 2004, and it took until payday April
8 to see my spondulies.
However,
on a happier note on February 26, I had another person move into my
Rental Assistance property and lo and behold, as of March 11, an amount
was taken out of my pay over two pays as I had been overpaid Rental
Assistance.
Perhaps
next time I receive a pay rise and an overpayment, could Housing please
contact the pay cell at SCMA and take the money owing to them from the
money that is owing to me or should I just employ a civilian debt recovery
service to contact pay at SCMA. What the ...
Sgt R.A.Mills
Catering Pl
3RAR, Holsworthy Barracks, NSW
Taking
it on the chin
I WAS just
reading your sport article titled "If looks could kill" [Army,
April 22] and noted that the writer whilst covering the subject matter
well, was unable to spell the name of Australia's undisputed world boxing
champion.
For the
record, it is Kostya Tszyu. Yes, it isn't an easy one but I do believe
that research is the backbone of acurate [sic], quality journalism.
Sgt Rod Reeves
RTC-SQ
Brisbane QLD
Editor's Note: Sgt Reeves is quite correct and we thank him for the
correction. It is always nice to be reminded about research being the
backbone of quality journalism, as is accurate spelling.
Mail's
in ... not
TPR Allen's
letter in the past Army newspaper [April 22], raised an issue that many
here in Moleana believe needs answering.
I too received
the mail brief before deploying to Timor, so to wait more than six weeks
for mail is very frustrating.
We have
been told that not all mail goes via air and that some gets sent by
ship, but I find it hard to belive that is the reason it's taking so
long.
There has
to be some explanation and we are all very interested to find out what
it is.
Cpl Martin McCulloch
5 Avn Det
Moleana, East Timor
Hairing
your concerns
IF BEARDS
prevent sealing of your face mask, why in a high-threat environment
(ie, Iraq) were personnel permitted to have beards?
Capt Richard Peace
OIC Ops Training
SME, Steele Barracks, Moorebank NSW
Who
is Army Jimbo?
I AM wondering
who Army Jimbo is on the page which has the cartoons and Nodstar's excellent
prophecies (which are eerily true). Can you reveal his identity? He
sounds like a total spunk.
C. Sloate
Ngunnawal, ACT
Editor's Note: The identity of Army Jimbo cannot be revealed for
insurance purposes.
Ask
the Chief
Would you
like to ask CA Lt-Gen Peter Leahy a question? It could be about acquisitions
or uniform, operational tempo or a general welfare issue.
As part
of hearing soldiers' views, CA has agreed to start Ask the Chief
in Army newspaper.
He wants
to know your questions so he can answer them in a future edition as
part of his look back at what the Army has achieved and been part of
in 2003.
As with
Letters to the Editor, it is the right of all soldiers to ask CA a question
through Ask the Chief in Army without using the chain of command.
Submit
your questions in e-mail form to armynews@defencenews.gov.au
with "ask the chief" in the subject line.
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