Federation rejects proposed WRA
Volume 11, No. 55, November 02, 2006
By Graham Howatt,
Armed Forces Federation

At the car wash: The new $4.5 million vehicle wash point at Enoggera. Photo by WO2 Graham McBean

THE ADF Workplace Remuneration Arrangement (WRA) was presented to the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal (DFRT) on September 27 without the support of the Armed Forces Federation of Australia.

After examining the finer details of the ADF’s submissions and taking account of the negative feedback received across the board during our consultation with members, the Federation held the firm view that it would be doing an injustice to ADF members if we did not object to the WRA, as presented.

The Federation submitted to the DFRT that in such a volatile economic climate ADF members should not be locked into an arrangement for more than two years.

We also submitted that the offer of 12.6 per cent over the proposed three-year period greatly undervalued the contributions ADF members would be expected to make regarding productivity and efficiency expectations of management.

It was our submission that an increase of 12 per cent over a period of two years would be far more realistic and necessary in order to gain the Federation’s support.

We drew the DFRT’s attention to continuing anomalies between the Defence Collective Agreement for APS employees in Defence and the WRA regarding the treatment of allowances that are considered as salary for the purposes of superannuation.

Two examples were Language Proficiency Allowance and Duty at Sea Allowance. Each of these allowances are superannuable for APS members but not for military members. That means military members are not being treated equitably by Defence.

Regarding service allowance (last reviewed in July 2003), we submitted that the exclusion of operational tempo as a consideration in determining the amount on offer requires the ADF to present service allowance to the DFRT for a fundamental review during the (reduced) life of the WRA.

The Federation seeks to have processes standardised for the future with reconsideration by the CDF regarding the members’ right to vote on their WRA.