Living-in for less

Volume 49, No. 14 , August 10, 2006

Living-in members will get more money in their hands, with the reduction of LIA contributions. This is due to a new method of working out contributions announced by the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson.

The new rates are a result of a new method of calculating LIA contributions, rather than an adjustment of the existing rates. This means the results are different between rank groups and LIA levels. The reductions vary from $2.80 per week up to $34.15 per week (see table for the new rates).

The new way of calculating contributions uses the national average market rent as a baseline so LIA contributions will not be affected by differences in rent between regions.

Welcoming the initiative, CN VADM Russ Shalders, AO, CSC, RAN, said that the new method was effectively linked to market reality. “The market rents were assessed by the Australian Valuation Office (AVO). The AVO looked at what a member would pay for similar accommodation in the private sector across a number of different locations around Australia,” he said.

Under the new policy, members paying for Level 3, 4 or 5 LIA will pay half the assessed average market rent and members paying for Level 1 or 2 will only pay 40% of the market rent, due to its age and lower quality.

For more information, visit http://www.defence.gov.au/dpe/pac

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