Dear Colleague

 

AUSTRALIAN VETERANS AND DEFENCE SERVICES COUNCIL SEEKS MORE CASE STUDIES TO SUPPORT NEED FOR CHANGE TO INDEXATION OF MILITARY SUPERANNUATION

Last year, to further the case with the Government to improve the indexation of military superannuation,  I wrote to a number of ESO's seeking actual case studies without names but based on real people to demonstrate in each case the failure of retired pay to maintain quality of life standards. AVADSC used the relatively small number of replies to prepare an interim report which showed that many sailors, soldiers and airmen are disadvantaged in a financial sense in comparison with other members of the wider Australian community who have not served the country in the military and that a change to the indexation of military superannuation will alleviate this situation to some extent.  This was forwarded to the Minister for Defence Personnel in July but his reply of 13 August failed to address the issue confirmed by the case studies.

In reality, the only progress which has been made in this matter is the announcement by the Opposition during the election that it would correct the situation of inadequate indexation for those military superannuants over 55. This position, while not the whole solution, acknowledges that it is the older veterans who have suffered the diminishing effectiveness of their retired pay to maintain a quality of life over a longer period than any other military superannuant and they are therefore hurting more than others.
For this reason they should have priority for corrective action.

So we can follow up our "Report of the Interim Conclusions from Case Studies provided to AVADSC by Veterans", a copy of which is attached, we must have more case studies and accordingly would be grateful if your organisation could distribute a request for more case studies amongst your members or constituencies.  Any queries or responses to this request should be sent to:

 

Doug Roser
C/o AVADSC
PO Box Q314
QVB Post Office
SYDNEY NSW 1230

 

or direct to him at email dougroser@bigpond.com.

Veterans who do not have access to email or may find it easier to advise their circumstances by phone should contact the AVADSC Office on 02 93932320 and ask for Doug Roser's home phone number and make direct contact with him to discuss their details.

The information we seek is the same as it was with our first request, ie:

 

* Rank on discharge;
* Number of years' service;
* Age on discharge;
* Retired pay on discharge;
* Current retired pay under military superannuation;
* Employment and superannuation history after discharge;
* Employment and superannuation history of spouse;
* Home ownership factors, ie, whether still paying a mortgage;
* Sources of income other than superannuation and social welfare;
* Annual rate of pay for same rank in Defence Force;
* Access to social welfare.

 

However, our initial replies have highlighted that it is becoming more prevalent for veterans, who have served most or all of their working lives in the military with the expectation that their retirement pay would maintain their quality of life, now have no option but to engage with Centrelink to supplement their income via the Age Pension.  This is a deplorable situation for veterans who have given such long term military service.  Thus, we would ask respondents to particularly highlight details of any such circumstances.

In requesting these additional case studies, would you also please pass our thanks onto those members who did provide case studies.  As they will see from the attached copy of the report no one has been identified in the report.

 

Regards

RADM Ian Crawford RAN (Retd)
National President
Australian Veterans and Defence Services Council (AVADSC)
Tel: 02 9393 2320    Fax: 02 9267 9837