Reviews affect hip pocket
People Matters

Directorate of Personnel – Air Force

Welcome to the first column of People Matters.

People Matters will be a regular feature of Air Force News where we’ll discuss topical personnel issues. Each item will be short, and we will have a range of items in each edition.

We won’t always be able to tell you the full story in these short items, but if you are interested you can call the Personnel Branch contact listed.

Why are we doing this? Put simply, there is a lot going on and the issues affect you. Whether we are talking career management, remuneration or promotion, it is important that we communicate with you.

We know most Air Force people read Air Force News, and we will therefore use it to pass information to you. Equally, we would be interested in your views of the issues.

From time to time, we will also publish separate, longer articles on important people issues.

But if you want a quick update, get in the habit of skimming through People Matters.

Air Commodore Ken Birrer
Director General Personnel
- Air Force

You might be wondering why we’ve had so many reviews recently about remuneration and allowances, particularly those relating to specific categories.

The ADF and the Air Force operate within a competitive labour market which has a significant impact on our ability to retain and attract personnel. This means that we need to tailor our remuneration packages to enable us to compete as best we can.

The following examples are some of the recent initiatives. These do not stand alone but are part of a broader strategy that, in time, will address all musterings and specialisations.

• A 6 per cent increase (in two instalments) for all ADF personnel under the new Workplace Relations Agreement (WRA).
  
• A Specialist Officer Career Structure for ADF Chaplains (by decision of the DFRT in December 2002).
  
• Financial incentives for Aerospace Engineers, Air Traffic Control Officers, and Logistics Officers to retain the critical experience they offer the Air Force.
  
• A review of Service Allowance to be conducted by the DFRT in April.
  

Phase 1 of the Remuneration Reform Program, which seeks to overhaul the officer common scale (the OR Trade-Based Pay Structure was put in place in the mid ’90s) to be put before the DFRT on February 18.

Information about these initiatives and the DFRT can be found on the web site http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/dpedsa/

Promotion cell goes troppo

The DPA Airmen Performance Appraisal Cell recently deployed to RAAF Base Townsville to conduct the 2003 Airmen Promotion Boards.

The Promotion Boards will consider more than 4500 personnel over a six-week period.

More than 120 personnel from all musterings and specialisations from Sergeant through to Squadron Leader and from all over Australia will travel to Townsville to be a part of the Promotion Board experience.

The “deployed” board will allow more people to participate in the promotion process, breaking the perception that it is a “closed” DPA shop.

The Promotion Boards will be held in the recently constructed Deployed Squadron Operations facility, giving the boards a definite “operational” feel and giving access to people who would not usually have a chance to participate. The boards will deploy to another base next year.

Officers well below par

The 2004 Officer Promotion Boards are rapidly approaching and only 50 per cent of Performance Appraisal Reports (PARs) have been submitted to date.

Every officer should be fairly represented at the board, so it is vital that assessors forward the paperwork as a matter of urgency.

The 2004 officer promotion board schedule is as follows:

• General list: March 10-14.
  
• Wing Commander: March 18-April 1.
  
• Squadron Leader: April 2-May 6 .
  

Wing Commanders and above wishing to nominate to sit on a promotion board should contact Squadron Leader Pete Gilbert on (02) 6265 2221.

Work at finding a balance

Thomas Eddison said “there is no substitute for hard work” but hard work and overwork are two different things.

Work tempo is something that has gained considerable recent attention. The Air Force has not witnessed the level of current operational tempo for almost 30 years.

Commanders insist that we must balance our workload with other parts of our lives, including family, recreation and recuperation.

In some instances it is not the operational tempo that concerns us, but all the other things that go with our daily work lives that make doing our job that bit harder.

The current discussion topic on the Air Force People Capability site is all about work tempo and trying to find a balance. Have your say about things that matter to you.

Having motivating, stimulating and enjoyable work is one thing but when it rules our life; that is another.

We all value hard work, but as Pericles reminds us, “what you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others”. Have your say at http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/raafweb/Sites/AFPC/ or e-mail afpc@cbr.defence.gov.au

Key information

Need help with PMKeyS?

The PMKeyS System Management Circular has been introduced to provide PMKeyS users with a single authoritative source of information on matters relating to the operation of the PMKeyS system.

For details see http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/home/documents/adfdocs/psm.htm

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