CAF supports Flying Allowance

“A RADICAL departure from the current Flying Allowance structure may have a significant affect on my ability to successfully manage the ADF’s aviation requirements,” Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd recently told the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal (DFRT) during the second round of hearings for the ADF review of Flying Allowance.

Air Marshal Shepherd took the stand on October 18 and told the tribunal that he believed the Flying Allowance structure was one that worked extremely well for the ADF.

“The ADF submission is one that builds upon the 1997 [previous DFRT] case and not one that proposes radical change or restructure to the allowance,” he said in an affidavit to the tribunal in August.

“As events in recent years demonstrate, air power is likely to remain one of the major instruments of national policy … [and] to continue to effectively and professionally meet Government tasking we will require skilled, competent, experienced and adaptable aircrew.”

He said the structure and result of Flying Allowance as it presently was, and proposed to be by way of the ADF case, together with the right management and administrative processes, “provides the configuration for the successful delivery of, not only our aviation capabilities, but also for the essential growth of our people”.

The Flying Allowance review formally began in January this year with the establishment of a tri-Service working group.

Members were given the opportunity to provide their comments and observations to the Working Group during the consultation visits as well as via the on-line feedback established on People Central.

The working group and members of the DFRT also travelled around Australia during May and June to get a first-hand look at the 2005 operating environment and issues confronting ADF aircrew.

In July, the Chiefs of Service Committee formally directed the outcomes to be sought by the ADF in relation to Flying Allowance. Subsequent submissions have been presented to the tribunal and witnesses have appeared to testify in both August and October.

The tribunal will hear final evidence from the ADF later this month as well as considering submissions from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations who represent the Commonwealth in these proceedings.

.