All countries need a strong and viable Reserve, according to Australia’s most senior Reservist Major General Greg Melick.

“Keeping a large standing army, in particular, is not viable for most countries,” said Major General Melick, who is Head of Australia’s Reserve and Employer Support Division.

“Reservists are important to defence capability and as such, we need to have appropriate partnerships in place, especially partnerships between Reservists and their employers.

“We need to work closely with employers so they understand the benefits of Reserves to their business.”

Major General Melick made the comments when reflecting on issues raised during the 10th International Conference on Employer Support for the Reserves, held recently in Sydney.

The conference was attended by more than 100 delegates from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

“Nobody does leadership as well as Defence and this is something that is often forgotten,” he told the delegates during the closing stages of the two-day conference themed ‘Employers and Defence Upskilling the Workforce’.

“We need to highlight to employers and the community at large that Reservists develop many skills, such as leadership and problem solving skills, and how such skills can be used in the civilian workplace.”

Major General Melick also said Australian Reservists had proved their capability most recently during the devastating bushfires in Victoria. In China, Reservists recently helped save hundreds of thousands of lives during floods and earthquakes.

“We may have different slants on problems, but essentially we all face similar problems and this is why it is so important that we meet like this and share ideas.”

Major General Melick sincerely thanked the delegates for travelling long distances to participate in the conference.

The 11th conference will be held in Canada in 2011.

 
Major General Wang Jinyu, Deputy Director of the Mobilisation Department of the General Staff (China), with translator Major Liu Kai.

As a Partner at Clayton Utz, Cottesloe’s Kevin O’Sullivan normally just walks to his office door when he needs to talk to his Articled Clerk, Craig Cowdrey. But last month was different.

Kevin had to fly 6,000kms to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands to catch up with Craig, who is currently on duty over there as a Captain in the Army Reserve.

Kevin’s trip was part of Exercise Boss Lift, a Reserve and Employer Support Division initiative.  Each Boss Lift takes around 20 Australian employers to see what their workers are doing as Reservists on a real overseas deployment.

Captain Cowdrey is on a four-month rotation in Operation Anode, the Army’s contribution to the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands RAMSI for short.

RAMSI began in July 2003 when the Solomon Islands Government asked the Pacific Island Forum for help in restoring law and order. Along with our Diggers, there are also soldiers from Tonga, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, along with members of the Australian Federal Police and police from 13 other Pacific nations.

“My own Dad was in the British RAF Regiment,” said Kevin. “It meant that as a kid I lived on air bases until we came to Australia as ten pound Poms. That’s about as far as my military exposure went – until this trip.

“As a lawyer I’ve been trained to be cynical, and I was also pretty ignorant about the Reserve, so this has helped me see the whole thing as a very worthwhile exercise – I now know it’s much more than glorified boy scouts. They are not there to mess about – they are doing a serious job, and they are doing it in a highly professional manner of which we should all be proud. I knew Craig was committed to his Reservist training – when he first said he wanted to volunteer for this operation I encouraged him to scratch the itch. I’m very happy he did!"

“Since he went to the Solomons we’ve been in frequent contact by email and he’s very happy with what he’s doing – over there Craig’s a senior member on the Army staff and putting his brain to work."

Kevin’s visit included a trip to the Diggers’ observation post above Rove Prison plus trips around the capital city, Honiara, and to local villages including a village feast. He and his fellow bosses also attended a memorial service for Private Jamie Clark at Mbarana Village near where the soldier fell to his death while on patrol in March 2005.

“Now I’ve been there myself, I feel RAMSI is a regional responsibility,” said Kevin. “As a so-called developed country, we have to step up to the plate. The Solomon Islands should be a paradise, and if we can help them get there then it will have been worthwhile.”

“I also think operations like this improve our own military preparedness in an unstable world. It’s good to have people trained and ready.”

For Captain Cowdrey, the tour has seen a couple of stand-out moments.

Defence Force Reservists working or studying at Swan TAFE in Western Australia can reap the benefits of special provisions introduced to support them.

Swan is the State’s first TAFE college to formally support its students and staff who are also members of the Navy, Army or Air Force Reserve.

“We introduced special provisions to ensure students are not disadvantaged academically or financially as a consequence of participation in Defence Force Reserve activities,” said Mark Taylor, Swan TAFE’s Human Resources Director. Mark is also an Air Force Reserve Officer, having served for the past 17 years.

“These provisions acknowledge the commitment our students are making to their community and country through voluntary service in the Australian Defence Force and ensures they are not disadvantaged in their studies,” he said.

“As a major public sector agency, Swan TAFE has also extended this support to its staff by making them able to access paid leave for Defence Force service and annual training. 

“The public sector in Western Australia has a long tradition of providing positive conditions of service for employees that are part-time members of the Defence Force and Swan TAFE is proud to be able to do its bit.”

Swan TAFE has more than 33,000 students across six campuses, making it one of WA’s largest TAFE colleges and the largest trainer of trade apprentices.

“The policy we have in place has the potential to help so many people,” said Mr Taylor.

In earlier issues we covered Principle Source of Income which forms part of the information required by a self employed Reservist when claiming ESP. In this issue we will cover the Legitimate Business Test which is another method of possibly meeting the requirements for ESP where PSI can not be satisfied.

Legitimate Business Test

Some self-employed Reservists may be unable to satisfy the Principal Source of Income requirement by reason of the nature of their business. Delegates must refuse these claims.

In exceptional circumstances where it would be unfair to apply the Principal Source of Income requirement, the Reservist may submit a claim to the ESP delegate with supporting evidence to satisfy the Legitimate Business Test.

The ESP delegate will forward the claim to the Director of the ESP scheme for adjudication. Notwithstanding the inability to satisfy the Principal Source of Income requirement, the Director, Deputy Director or Assistant Director may approve the claim if the Legitimate Business Test is satisfied.

Evidence of Principal Source of Employment/Time Spent on Work/Invoices

To establish eligibility under the LBT provisions the Reservist should nominate a continuous period of service of six months or longer, prior to the period of continuous Defence service being claimed (ie. the LBT assessment period must precede the period of service being claimed) and provide evidence that over that period the business has provided his or her Principal Source of Employment.

For example, if a Reservist submits an ESP application for a period of continuous Defence service that commenced on 1 Jan 06, a suitable period for assessing Principal Source of Employment would be from 1 Jul 05 to 31 Dec 05. However, an assessment period from 1 Jul 05 to 31 Dec 05 could not be used for a period of Defence service undertaken in Nov 05.

If the LBT evidence is more than three months prior to the commencement of the period of continuous Defence service being claimed, then more up-to-date supporting evidence may be required.

Submission of an application for ESP under the LBT provisions

An application for ESP under the LBT provisions should be submitted through the CO/OC or ESP Delegate who must forward the claim to the Director of the ESP scheme for adjudication. Notwithstanding the Reservist’s inability to satisfy the Principal Source of Income requirement, the Director of the ESP scheme may approve the claim if the Legitimate Business Test is satisfied.

Additional information on LBT is available on this website however should you require additional information or clarification on LBT or any other aspect of the Employer Support Payment scheme that is not already covered by our website, you may email an enquiry to esp@defence.gov.au.