Families in focus

STAY OR GO: If CO HMAS Ballarat, CMDR Malcolm Wise OAM is posted away for more than six months, his family can choose to accompany him or stay in their current locality. Photo: LSPH Damian Pawlenko

Volume 49, No. 20, November 02, 2006

Changes in the Member with Dependant (Separated) policy were announced by Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson in October under the new Family Stability Initiative.

In 2004 a tri-service working group was established to review the existing policies on the categorisation of Member with Dependant (Separated) (MWD(S)) within the ADF.
In December 2004 this working group presented the first of three papers dealing with the existing MWD(S).

Notwithstanding the substantial body of work completed in these papers, the issues surrounding MWD(S) applications, approvals, rejections, and the consequences on retention, remained.

Following a Personnel Steering Group Agendum being raised in March 2006, Director General Navy Personnel and Training CDRE Nigel Coates sought input from various areas within Navy to assist in formulating a Navy position on this policy.

He also considered MWD(S) to be a capability issue as Navy continued to trial innovative ways to man our ships (eg flexi-crewing and multi-crewing) and also a retention issue, as our members seek to have greater choice in where they want their families to live in relation to where the member has been posted.

This proved to be an ideal opportunity to employ Sea Change Focus Groups, now established within most establishments and some HMA ships, to actively involve the local community and seek the wider local community views to the existing policies governing MWD(S).

The focus groups have been used in this way for a variety of subjects, one of which was the revised sailor’s promotion system.

Sea Change Focus Groups provided CDRE Coates with comprehensive and anecdotal community views on the outgoing policy, with suggestions on the improvement of the policy.
This allowed Navy to provide strong recommendations to the tri-service working group, which resulted in a change in policy.

The recent change allows members who are posted to a new location for more than six months to elect to leave their family in their current posting location and proceed on posting unaccompanied while receiving support by a package of entitlements.

Members who choose to proceed on posting unaccompanied are categorised Member with Dependant Unaccompanied (MWD(U)).

This option was previously available only to members who met certain eligibility criteria under the former MWD(S) policy.

Under the new MWD(U) policy, these criteria no longer apply which allows all members with dependants the freedom of choice.
■ For more information about the Family Stability Initiative, see p17.

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