| Myth: | Members of the ADF receive free medical services. |
|---|---|
| Reality: | Yes, but there are catches. Medical services are provided to ensure that members of the ADF are always fit for duty whenever and wherever they may be required to serve. Prescribed medical treatments are legal commands and must be complied with; that is, members do not have a choice. Moreover, if a member cannot maintain the required level of medical and physical fitness, they can (and usually are) discharged from their Service. |
| Myth: | Families of members of the ADF receive free medical services. |
| Reality: | No, they do not. In exceptional circumstances, emergency treatment may be administered by ADF medical staff until arrangements can me made to transfer the family member to a civilian facility. At some remote military establishments, medical services may be available to civilian family members if there are no suitable established civilian services. |
| Myth: | Service personnel and their families are provided with free housing. |
| Reality: | No, they are not. All members of the ADF pay 'market' rent for their housing, whether supplied through the Defence Housing Authority or the normal rental market. Members who live in singles quarters also pay for their room and their meals. When deployed away from their normal place of employment, members of the ADF are supplied with free accommodation commensurate with the nature of the deployment. |
| Myth: | Members of the ADF do not have to pay for their uniforms. |
| Reality: | The initial issue of uniforms is supplied free of charge. Replacement uniforms, other than specialist clothing (eg, flying clothing, personal protective equipment) are paid for by each individual, who purchases standard issue clothing from their Base clothing store. However, service salaries include a component for uniform maintenance. Specialist clothing is supplied free of charge, but always remains the property of the ADF. |
| Myth: | Members of the ADF are exempt from some Australian laws that other Australians must comply with. |
| Reality: | Not true. All members of the ADF are subject to the full force of State and Commonwealth law, whether they are in uniform or not, and they are also subject to the Military Discipline Law. Additionally, ADF personnel are subject to the Laws of Armed Conflict and other international conventions and protocols to which Australia has agreed. In other words, ADF personnel are subject to a greater range of Law than are non-military Australians. |
| Myth: | The Defence Force Retirement & Death Benefits (DFRDB) scheme is an "unfunded" superannuation scheme. |
| Reality: | No, it is NOT UNFUNDED. ADF personnel who were or are members of this compulsory scheme had to contribute 5.5% of their salary into the fund, which went directly into the government's general revenue. More importantly, the government did not quarantine or invest members' contributions, nor did they formally allocate their own (employer) contributions to the fund. In other words, the government treated members' contributions as an interest-free loan until the member separated from the ADF. And the government now claims that the scheme is unfunded? |
| Myth: | ADF personnel and their families can travel free on military aircraft. |
| Reality: | On occasions it is possible but, due to operational constraints, very few are able to take advantage of it. Military aircraft do not operate a dedicated passenger service and it is only possible for dependents to travel if space is available, ie, Space Availability – with the demands on service air in the current operational environment, these situations occur rarely. |
| Myth: | There are plenty of non-operational jobs for ADF personnel to recover between periods of arduous duty such as overseas operational deployments. |
| Reality: | Not true. Since 1990, with the government initiated civilianisation and outsourcing of many non-operational jobs in the ADF, it has become increasingly more difficult to rotate combat-force personnel through non-operational jobs before redeployment to operations. The main purpose of civilianisation and outsourcing of services was to reduce costs, but this has occurred at the cost of workforce flexibility. |
| Myth: | Members of the ADF have security of employment tenure. |
| Reality: | Signing up for military service is usually for a fixed term (eg, six years), with the term depending on the type of employment. The ADF is under no obligation to extend or renew a period of engagement. When organisational restructuring results in the member's job or occupation being made redundant, the member may be reassigned or retrained, but there is no scope for compensation for loss of the job for which the member was trained. An example was the decision to transfer Air Force helicopters to the Army. Experienced helicopter pilots had to choose between transferring to the Army or changing the direction of their career. |
| Myth: | As there are no age limits to service in the ADF, members can have very long careers. |
| Reality: | Retirement age in the ADF is much the same as in civilian life. Generally, members serve until 60 years of age, some get extensions to 65. However, limitations are imposed on 'operational appointments', usually by the rank/age combination. By design, combat operations favour the young. |
| Myth: | Members of the ADF have exactly the same rights as all other Australians. |
| Reality: | Wrong! In signing up for military service, the individual voluntarily surrenders to the Australian government his or her inalienable right to "life, liberty and security of the person" (United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 3). In practice this means obedience to the authority of the state, in the face of danger or threat to life. The government cannot require this relationship of any other citizen. That is, members of the ADF do not have exactly the same rights as all other Australians. |
| Myth: | It is easy for retired members to obtain employment to supplement their superannuation pension, because they have marketable skills. |
| Reality: | For those who separate from the ADF after a short career, this is often the case. However, if separation from full-time service in ADF occurs after a long career, the superannuated member is usually in their 50s or older. Government statistics show that re-employment rates for people in this cohort are relatively low. One reason for this is that civilian hiring policies tend to favour younger candidates because they can offer potentially longer service. Another reason is that many military retirees are often over-qualified for the jobs on offer. It is true that some very high ranking officers obtain employment as consultants to large organisations involved in Defence industry, but this represents a tiny proportion of retirees. |
| Myth: | Indexing pensions according to movements in the consumer Price Index (CPI) protects retirees' standard of living. |
| Reality: | The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated "In recognition of the inadequacy of the current CPI in measuring inflation, the ABS has proposed that it develop a suite of indexes specifically designed for the measurement of inflation." Additionally, Treasury has stated that "...CPI - however measured - will be of less direct relevance for future social security indexation than it has been in the past..." and "The current relativity of these entitlements to MTAWE and the likelihood of continued real wage growth together suggest that MTAWE will become the main influence on benefit rates...". Moreover, the Department of Social Security has stated that "The purpose of the indexation provisions is to ensure that the purchasing power of DSS payments, and hence the living standards of those reliant on the payments, does not fall." DSS currently uses MTAWE as a reference index. If these expert statements do not convince you that CPI is an inadequate measure of inflation, then nothing will convince you. Just because a politician says that CPI is an adequate measure does not make it so. |
| Myth: | The welfare of members of the ADF are protected by the same Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) legislation that applies to other working Australians. |
| Reality: | Wrong! The ADF is exempt from some provisions of Australian OH&S legislation, and there are good practical operational reasons for this to be so. However, it is incumbent on the government to fully compensate retired and serving members of the ADF when they suffer as a consequence of these exemptions. The public record shows that successive governments resent their obligation, and retired and serving members often have to fight for their rights. |