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| DEFENCE RESERVES E-NEWS | FEBRUARY 2007 |
 Advisory Notices New Advisory Notices for 2007 have just gone online. They are for Rental Properties, Share Trading, Substantiation and Calculating ESP for claims spanning two Financial Years.  |
  Calling employers in Victoria!Our Victorian Defence Reserves office will be holding is annual Exercise Executive Stretch from 23 to 25 March and is looking for nominations! The Exercise is physically and intellectually challenging and offers employers the opportunity to see what the Reserves is all about. Click here to nominate now! |
 Do you need assistance developing a leave policy for your organisation? All leave policies need to comply with the law - The Defence Reserve Service (Protection) Act 2001. You can use our new Leave Policy template or call our friendly state or territory Defence Reserves staff for further assistance. |
 Improved pay and conditions for Defence Reservists In September last year, the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson announced major changes to Reserve remuneration. In fact, as part of the 2006 Budget, the Government committed $181.6m over four years to improve Reserve pay and conditions of service. This means an increase in pay of up to 17 per cent for those Reserves that have the same level of training as their permanent force counterparts, health support allowances and a Reserve Service Allowance that recognises the challenges of Reserve service. This is the biggest change to Reserve pay and conditions of service since 1975. At the time, Mr Billson said: "It's a great outcome for every Reservist serving his or her country, and shows the commitment this Government has to its serving members." The increase in salary comes after the scrapping of practices in place since 1975 that saw a 10 to 15 per cent discount applied to a Reservist’s salary, relative to those in the Permanent Force. "The new initiative means that if the Reservist possesses the full competencies for the work for which they are employed there would be no percentage decrease in salary," Mr Billson said. "This could mean anything up to a 17 per cent pay rise for both ex-Permanent Force personnel and fully-trained Reservists. "This initiative shows that the way we do business has changed since 1975 and there are now many positions for which there is no training gap at all between Reservists and Permanent Force members." Other initiatives announced as part of the package included: - a completion bonus of $5000 per year for service in the High Readiness Reserves (HRR) - a $2500 per year Health Support Allowance for HRR. - a $600 per year Health Support Allowance for members of the Active and Specialist Reserve. "The Government is fully committed to rewarding Reservists for the experience and skills they bring to the ADF and these new initiatives prove that." |
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Reserves at the Ready 