Federation now open to civilians
From the Federation Graham Howatt

For many years civilians working within Defence have shown quite a lot of interest in the activities of the Armed Forces Federation of Australia, even to the extent of seeking membership.

However, before December 2002 the Federation’s constitution was structured in such a way that membership was only available to serving, ex-serving and reserve members of the ADF, making Defence civilians ineligible to join. This is no longer the case.

Broadening membership of the Federation to provide for “affiliates” was put to the Federal Council in August 2002 for consideration, quickly followed by a national referendum of members to gain their endorsement before making the necessary amendments to our constitution.

The Federation is now able to advise that respondents to the referendum have given great support to the proposal and we wish to advise the following inclusion to Part 3 of ArFFA’s constitution:

“All Australian Public Servants employed by the Department of Defence, personnel employed under contract by the Department and spouses of ADF personnel, are eligible to apply for affiliate membership of the Federation.

“Affiliate members shall not be able to vote or hold any elected office of the Federation.

“Affiliate members will be entitled to the benefits provided by the Federation, noting that the Federation will not act in the industrial sense for individuals within this category.”

To all those civilian personnel working within Defence who have shown particular interest in the Federation’s $250,000 (discounted) home loan that we have established with the Mortgage Doctor, we are now in a position to assist you.

This constitutional change does not impact on the role of the Federation. We will always remain focused to “foster, protect and promote the welfare of the members of the Federation, in their capacity as members of the Australian Defence Force,
whatever their rank, category, branch, sex, employment, service or geographic location”.

To contact the Armed Forces Federation of Australia (02) 6260 5100 or 1800 806 861 or e-mail Arffa@bigpond.com

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