Increased Pay for ADF Reservists

The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson, announced that, as of today, Australian Defence Force Reservists would receive as much as a 17% pay rise and many would also see an allowance increase of $10 per day.

“The Government agreed to these initiatives in March of 2006 and the measures were announced in the 2006-07 budget.  Yesterday, the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal approved implementation of these initiatives as of 1 September 2006,” 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 $10 per day, or part day, extra allowance would be eligible to all those at or below Major, or equivalent, rank.

The increase in salary comes after the scrapping of practices in place since 1975 that saw a 10 to15% 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% 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,” Mr Billson said.

These new measures taking effect today are part of a broader package announced in this year’s Budget.  Other initiatives 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.”

Media Information:

Cameron Hill                                                 (Mr Billson)    03 9781 2333              0408 239 521

Defence Media Liaison                                (Defence)       02 6265 3343              0408 498 644

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