GRS to rise by 6 per cent

GROUP Rent Scheme (GRS) contributions will increase by 6 per cent, according to Head DPE Maj-Gen Mark Evans.

Living-In-Allowance (LIA) contributions will also increase by 4.5 per cent to help meet the cost of providing and maintaining LIA.

Both increases, part of the annual contribution review by DPE, will take effect on December 15.

The GRS contribution will rise between $7 a week for a private and $21 a week for a major-general.

An increase in LIA rates will see selected members paying between $1.85 and $4.80 extra each week.

The rent bill paid by Defence to DHA is expected to grow by 9 per cent this financial year, excluding the 2 per cent loading to move towards the goal of achieving a 50 per cent housing subsidy.

Maj-Gen Evans said the impact of this annual review would have been even more significant but for Defence’s decision to protect its people from such increases.

Defence has decided to apply a 6 per cent increase. This has two elements. The first element is the average increase in the Defence rent bill last year. The second element is a loading to move towards the 50 per cent subsidy target.

“This means that for this year we will not pass on the whole increase in rents. Defence is committed to a 50 per cent subsidy level, but there will now be a delay in achieving this target,” Maj-Gen Evans said.

He said despite the latest increases, ADF members still paid less than 50 per cent of their rental expenses.

The 2005-06 rent bill reflected both movements in market rents in the general community and improvements in service residences.

Larger and newer houses that cost Defence more to rent were replacing the older, cheaper homes in DHA’s stock. Defence is working with DHA to address this issue.

“Members pay the same rate of GRS contribution for their rank group wherever they are posted within Australia,” Maj-Gen Evans said.

“This protects members and their families from regional differences in the real cost of housing in Australia. While a member might not be in the newest house, or local real estate rents might be low, on the next posting the house may be better or the local private market rent a lot higher.”

Increases in LIA rates were no longer linked to increases in GRS contributions.

He said Defence’s subsidy of housing and LIA had no effect on Centrelink or Child Support payments, unlike housing subsidies paid by civilian employers.

There was no Fringe Benefits Tax reporting for housing assistance on members’ payment summaries either.

For more information, including detailed tables showing the dollar increases in GRS and LIA rates, visit the Defence Pay and Conditions web site and click on GRS and LIA annual contribution review at http://intranet.defence.gov.au/pac/ or http://www.defence.gov.au/dpe/pac/