The Secretary responds

I wish to respond to criticisms of the changes to Defence’s civilian employment policy as it relates to former members of the ADF.

An ADF member used to be able to commence in an APS position in the Department prior to a member’s application for discharge taking effect. This was known as dual employment and was for a maximum period of three months.

Over the years the Ombudsman’s office received a small but constant number of complaints from ADF members about the maximum period of dual employment.

In August 2000, the Ombudsman asked me to examine the legality of the dual employment arrangement and whether persons in that arrangement were receiving two sets of Commonwealth funded benefits for the same work simultaneously.

Our investigations revealed that persons in the dual employment situation were able to doubly accrue recreation leave, long service leave and receive two lots of employer funded superannuation contributions in respect of their ADF service and APS employment simultaneously. As a matter of principle, the then CDF and I decided that it was untenable to continue such double dipping.

One option to deal with the problem of double benefits would be to establish separate dates for commencement of employment in the APS, and the commencement of entitlements. The entitlements, however, are regulated by legislation or legal documents such as the Defence Employees Certified Agreement 2002-2003. A simpler approach was needed to deal with the issues raised by the Ombudsman than changing legislation and the DECA.

The ADF may choose to discharge members in less than the minimum time. Where a member is the successful applicant for an APS position in the Department, the ADF career management areas have been asked to consider processing discharges from full-time service in less than the minimum period where feasible.

It had been common practice under the former dual employment policy for those who wished, to proceed on leave pending discharge in order to take up APS employment. If a member cannot be spared, this would be the case under either the old or new policy.

As the employer of public servants in Defence I have made a commitment that, where an ADF member is the preferred applicant for a Departmental employment opportunity, the position is to be made available at the end of the minimum discharge period.

The only exception to this is where the provisions in the Department’s Certified Agreement require redeployment of excess staff. The use of the phrase minimum discharge period acknowledges that the minimum discharge time varies depending on rank, employment category and Service.

The Public Service Act 1999 requires that merit is the primary reason for the selection of a candidate for an APS position. That legal requirement cannot be ignored on the grounds of filling a job quickly. The commitment from me ensures the original objective of the dual employment policy is maintained.

There has been some misunderstanding about the Leave Without Pay (LWOP) option in the new policy. It is up to each affected individual to see if this option suits them.

There is no intention that ADF members be coerced into a LWOP situation or made to believe that they will be treated less favourably unless they are able to take up the APS employment opportunity promptly.

As part of my practical commitment to ensure that exiting ADF personnel consider the APS as a second career, a booklet titled The Other Side: A Guide to ADF Members who are Exploring a Civilian Career in Defence has been released and is available on the Defence Personnel Executive web site.

• Allan Hawke
  Secretary
  Department of Defence.
  

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