TOP VIEWPOINT Q&As with Defence Minister, Secretary and CDF …€¦ · ISSUE 1 2016 Honoured to have extraordinary responsibility TOP VIEWPOINT Q&As with Defence Minister, Secretary

DefenceISSUE 1 2016

Honoured to have

extraordinary responsibility

Q&As with Defence Minister, Secretary and CDFTOP VIEWPOINT

COMMITTED TO THE JOB

2 Defence Issue 1 2016

IN THIS ISSUE

EDITORIALAlisha Welch

David Edlington Sharon Palmer

Richard Mihaich Michelle Hazell

PHOTOGRAPHYDavid McClenaghan

Lauren Larking

CONTACT [email protected]

(02) 6265 4650

Defence magazine is produced by the Ministerial and Executive

Coordination and Communication Division, Department of Defence.

FIND US ONLINEwww.defence.gov.au/

defencemagazine

8 BUILDING CAPABILITY Executive-level managers are key to

delivery of reform

10 WITH THE SECRETARY White Paper and associated initiatives will

be focus for 2016

13 POSITIVE CIRCLE Mentoring program for female APS5 to

EL1 employees

14 WITH THE CDF Tempo for 2016 will be high owing to

operational and capability commitments

20 CLOSING THE GAP Defence will increase Indigenous staff

under its Reconciliation Action Plan

21 NEWS IN BRIEF Code of Conduct breaches; Public sector

award; Unit citation; DECA vote

Contents

4Q&A WITH THE

MINISTER Marise Payne is looking

forward to the challenges and changes ahead

COVER STORY

16

DefenceThe official magazine of the

Department of Defence

Issue 1 2016

EXCHANGE FOR THE BETTERMembers of International Policy Division gain new insights through reciprocal exchanges with Japan and New ZealandPhoto: David McClenaghan

Next issue: Special edition featuring coverage of the White Paper

22 JOB WELL DONE Full list of Defence recipients of Australia

Day Medallions

23 IDEAL MEDICINE Aviation doctor receives an Order of

Australia Medal

24 PIVOTAL ROLE RECOGNISED Air Operations Officer awarded Public

Service Medal in Australia Day honours

26 SCIENTIST’S WORK REWARDED Winner of the 2015 Minister’s Award for

Achievement in Defence Science

27 MH17 TEAM HONOURED AFP Commissioner presents certificate to

five Defence scientists

28 BEST CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT Defence wins award from peak body

promoting technology transfer

29 HEART OF RAAFSALT Award to RAAF School of Administration

and Logistics Training employee

30 BRIGHT FUTURE APS Commissioner says the Public Service

is well positioned

32 IMPROVING GENDER DIVERSITY Senior leadership pushes for more diverse

workforce

33 WOMEN IN DEFENCE Eleven female military personnel from

across the South Pacific attend seminar

34 INCLUDING OUR DISABLED Network aims to ensure Defence is an

employer of choice

36 LEARNING TO KEEP THE PEACE Dispute resolution practitioners don’t just

use negotiation skills in the office

38 IN SYNC Defence team wins Corporate Rowing

Regatta in Canberra

40 PLANNING FOR SUCCESS Deputy Secretary GASG Kym Gillis returns

to Defence with a fresh perspective

42 TANKER TRIUMPH A Defence and industry team works

tirelessly on tanker acquisition project

44 TEAM ON TARGET Smooth transition of Navy’s Hellfiire

missile into service

46 PROTECTING OUR FUTURE Defence helps ensure World

Heritage-listed icons are preserved

48 RECORD BREAKING Highest number of projects

considered by committee

50 APPS A BOOST FOR STUDENTS Australian Defence College

introduces Google Apps

52 HOT NEW RESEARCH Defence forms partnership on

superconducting technologies

53 BETTER VET ACCESS Data link between Defence and DVA

improves information exchange

56 CREATING HER EXPERIENCE Peacekeeping course in Kenya a

highlight for proactive graduate

58 JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED First Inspector-General of the ADF

reflects on Defence career

60 MEMORABLE CAREER Alan Hutchinson’s remarkable 56

years of service in war and peace

62 LIVES ON THE LINE A volunteer firefighter in the thick of

the action in South Australia

63 FIGHTING FOR TIME The McGoram family is grateful for

support in fight against cancer

64 HELPING TO IMPROVE LIVES How bomb disposal campaign is

making a difference in Bougainville

66 NO MORE VIOLENCE Defence personnel mark White

Ribbon Day

68 CHALLENGE FROM THE HEART All men in Defence urged to stand up

to violence against women

69 ENTRENCHING CHANGE Senior male leaders in Defence take

White Ribbon Oath

70 RECORD RESPONSE Many roll up their sleeves in support

of the Defence Blood Challenge

71 MILES FOR MATES Kokoda trek held to raises funds and

remember a mate lost to PTSD

54

PSST ... HELP IS OVER HEREPeople Services and Solutions Teams are available to provide advice and support on workforce issues, recruitment and retention, and career and performance managementPhoto: David McClenaghan

3Issue 1 2016 Defence

COMMITTED FORTHE LONG HAUL


Minister for Defence Senator Marise Payne is looking forward to the challenges and changes that lie ahead

WITH THE MINISTER

You’ve said that 2016 is shaping as a milestone year for Defence. Can you tell us what some of the major projects are and some of the things that you are focused on? What can we expect?

We have a very significant program ahead of us, not the least of which is the release of the Government’s Defence White Paper, accompanied by the Integrated Investment Program and a Defence Industry Policy Statement.

They are really watershed moments for Defence, and have been historically.

This White Paper is no different; it is a significant statement about where Defence will go in the next 20 years in terms of capability, of operations, strategic engagement and so on.

We’ll also set forth our challenges in the workplace, both in the ADF and in the civilian workforce. They’re important priorities for me.

On top of that we have a significant acquisition program ahead of us. The organisation is acutely aware of the important decisions coming up in relation to submarines, to future frigates and to offshore patrol vessels, just to name a couple.

Then we have all of our ongoing work, the work that our teams are doing internationally in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and more broadly around the world where we have Australian men and women of the Defence Force placed. Their work is very much at the forefront of my mind as we go into 2016.

We know that Defence is undergoing some significant reform programs with Pathway to Change and the First Principles Review. How do you think those programs are going and what’s the importance of those programs?

They’re very significant priorities for me – both of them. The cultural reform that Pathway to Change represents is something to which I’m very committed to pursuing personally and collaboratively with the organisation.

I think it’s important for our professional development and professional standing that

we ensure that the important recommendations and initiatives set out in Pathway to Change are pursued actively. I know I have the support of the leadership of the organisation in doing that.

Similarly, the First Principles Review, particularly in a corporate and business sense, will really change the way we are able to operate and change the way we are able to do business with business.

Those recommendations are well under way to implementation.

I speak regularly with the Chair of the Oversight Committee and members of the Oversight Committee.

I speak regularly with the Defence Secretary, Dennis Richardson, and the CDF, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, on these matters and I look forward to seeing those develop quite progressively throughout 2016.

Last October you launched the Defence Reconciliation Action Plan. You’ve had a long interest in this area. What are your thoughts on Defence’s Indigenous strategies and its goals to increase Indigenous participation rates in both the ADF and APS workforce?

I was really pleased to have the chance to launch the latest iteration of the Defence Reconciliation Action Plan, which is the 2015-2018 plan. It is something which I’ve had an abiding interest in for my entire Parliamentary career.

Indigenous engagement is very important to Australia’s future and the ADF is absolutely no exception to that.

I want us to be as inclusive and as engaged as we can possibly be. I want Defence to set the standard for Indigenous participation.

I’ve met with a number of senior members of the organisation and discussed this in those meetings.

I look forward to doing more in this space this year and beyond and meeting as many Indigenous members of the ADF and the APS as I possibly can to get a feel for how they find the organisation and see what more we can do.

“I THINK IT’S VERY IMPORTANT FOR

OUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND

PROFESSIONAL STANDING THAT WE ENSURE THAT THE VERY IMPORTANT

RECOMMENDATIONS AND INITIATIVES SET OUT IN

PATHWAY TO CHANGE ARE PURSUED ACTIVELY.”

SENATOR MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE

You’ve been in the role since September. How have you found the first five months since stepping into the role?

I’ve been very well supported by the organisation, by the senior leadership in making sure that I have what I need to do my job well and to engage in robust exchanges about the sorts of things that come across our desks regularly.

I took the opportunity very early in the piece, in fact I think it was the end of week one, to make a quite significant visit to one of our most impressive new pieces of capability, the Landing Helicopter Dock HMAS Canberra, when she was engaged in an amphibious exercise off Townsville.

With the Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary of Defence we travelled from Canberra to Townsville on a Wedgetail. It was a great opportunity to see that capability, meet those teams, and have a chat to them about each of their individual roles and how they fit together.

That’s a really unique time when you can spend several hours on the aircraft and do that person by person.

It was great to visit Canberra, to see the embarked Navy and Army members there, talk to them about their roles, about the nature of the exercise, and how they find this very impressive new ship. We’ve since commissioned the second Landing Helicopter Dock, HMAS Adelaide.

It was a good chance to see our MRH90s in action, both going to and from the ship and doing exercise work as well.

There were a number of other vessels present in the area at the time as part of that exercise so I took that opportunity very early on to see some of the most current work that we’re doing in the Landing Helicopter Docks for example. But there is still much more to do in that regard, there are other places, of course, and areas for me to visit.

The coming program for 2016 means that I will spend a lot of my time working with the organisation to make sure we are delivering for Government, delivering for the Australian people, and that was in the front of my mind in the first three or so months of the role.

I need to be as well prepared as I can possibly be, as does the organisation, for what’s required of us in 2016 and I’d like to think I can say that we are.

You’ve had a heavy international engagement schedule. You’ve travelled to the United States for AUSMIN, you’ve met with the ASEAN Defence Ministers, and you’ve had meetings with your Japanese and Indonesian counterparts, just to name a few. How do you see Australia’s role developing in the Asia-Pacific region?

I think those opportunities for engagement are extremely important for us, and for Defence more broadly. Forming those relationships, with the US Secretary of Defence, Ash Carter, with


Photo: Lauren Larking


WITH THE MINISTER

my Indonesian and Japanese counterparts, for example, means that I am well placed to be able to readily contact them should the need arise and to discuss the issues of the day.

Given the volatile nature of the international environment in which we find ourselves, they are invaluable.

Whether it’s the Singaporean Defence Minister, who was also here for a recent bilateral meeting, or as you mentioned the Japanese and Indonesian Defence Ministers, or the US Secretary of State, being able to engage with them readily and discuss what are often challenging issues is an important part of what we do.

I’d like to reflect momentarily on the visit of the Indonesian Defence Minister, Ryamizard Ryacudu.

He made a passing remark to me in Kuala Lumpur that when he attended the Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting in Australia he would very much like to meet up with some of his old military colleagues: retired Lieutenant Generals John Sanderson and Peter Leahy. They had worked together particularly in Cambodia in the United Nations force there.

Being able to make that happen and to recognise the importance of those people-to-people relationships was a salutary reminder to me of how long our shared history and shared activity goes back, how many decades.

I’m part of a new and current chapter in relation to that. I look forward to building on what’s to come before me.

There have been a few Defence Ministers in recent years. You’re on the record as saying you intend to be here for the long term. How important is the role to you and delivering, as you say, for the Australian Government and the Australian people?

The first thing I would say is that I absolutely recognise the extraordinary responsibility that I hold as the Australian Minister for Defence. It is a singular honour and privilege.

In saying that, I think it’s really important that I bring a robust and intellectually enquiring attitude to the job, and I will certainly do that.

Having the opportunity to be in the role for an extended period of time is very important,

Minister for Defence Senator Marise Payne is briefed on the shipbuilding and submarine facilities at the Australian Submarine Corporation in Adelaide by CEO ASC Stuart Whiley. Photo: Sergeant Rodney Welch McClenaghan

“HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN THE ROLE FOR

AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME IS VERY IMPORTANT,

I THINK, TO BE ABLE TO DELIVER FOR GOVERNMENT,

DELIVER FOR THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE AND DELIVER FOR AUSTRALIA

INTERNATIONALLY.”


I think, to be able to deliver for Government, deliver for the Australian people and deliver for Australia internationally.

The opportunity Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has given me was marked with a clear statement on his part that he expected me to fulfil this role for some time.

In politics one is always subject to the will of the Australian people and I absolutely acknowledge and recognise that.

That notwithstanding, I hope to have the opportunity to work in this extremely honoured position for some time.

You’ve been involved in politics for a long time. What initially attracted you into politics? What was the driving force?

I think it’s fair to say that I was always encouraged growing up, both at school and at university, to have what you could politely call an enquiring mind.

But if you were going to be rude about it you could say that I was a pain in the neck in terms of wanting to know, and ask, and be involved, and have an opinion on things.

Some people would say that hasn’t changed. But it led me inevitably to an interest in playing a role in the political environment.

After a couple of efforts in the political process I was successful in being pre-selected for the Senate, a long time ago now, almost 19 years. So, it has been a significant part of my life.

I’m sure that my parents, my education, and the opportunity to study at a fine institution like the University of NSW all combined to add to my drive to be involved in this side of public life.

It’s something I’ve enjoyed enormously but I also recognise what a great honour it has been and is to represent the people of NSW as a Senator.

When you get away from your busy schedule how do you switch off? What do you do to relax?

Those chances seem to be fewer and further between than before I became the Minister for Defence.

Most people who know me will know that I can be conveniently pigeonholed as a sports tragic. Give me one of my key football teams in the winter season or any form of cricket in the summer season and that’s where you’ll find me engaged.

I’m a voracious reader but most of my reading these days is confined to briefs and significant draft papers. I also like to spend as much time in the country as I can, particularly the Southern Highlands where my family’s had a presence for a long time now. And my partner, Stuart, will tell you that I used to be a good cook but he doesn’t remember anymore.

The Minister, Commander Australian Fleet Stuart Mayer and Commanding Officer HMAS Adelaide Paul Mandziy arrive at the commissioning ceremony for HMAS Adelaide. Photo: Able Seaman Kayla Hayes

Executive-level managers are key to building Defence’s ability to deliver reform

REFORM


BUILDING CAPABILITY

THIRTY-three executive-level managers became the first to graduate from the pilot Leading for Reform program on 25 November in Canberra.

The development program delivers ‘learning through doing’ and is designed to support participants build the capabilities, behaviour and mindset required to realise the kind of leadership culture we need to succeed.

The pilot program was developed in late 2014. With the support of the Defence People Group, Associate Secretary Brendan Sargeant commissioned work to help executive-level managers within the enabling groups build their leadership capabilities so they are better placed to institute reform.

A series of workshops and interviews conducted in 2015 resulted in the development of the Enabling Groups Leadership Culture Vision, which has six key components.

They are to ensure we: always stay focused on our role in enabling capability; actively engage with others as we solve problems; are accountable; take calculated risks; build our teams; and adjust our approach as we learn.

Through facilitated workshops and discussions, coaching, mentoring and learning groups, executive-level staff have reflected on and developed their leadership.

“The purpose of this program is twofold: so we are successful in our reform initiatives and so that individuals develop their capabilities to lead reform both now and in their future careers,” Brendan says.

“This investment is also central to the success of the First Principles Review implementation and beyond.”

The learning occurs through a range of interconnected activities, including workshops, one-on-one coaching and action learning groups across a six-month period.

Through facilitated discussions, the workshops and action learning groups cover topical issues and explore solutions.

The action learning groups require

participants to follow through with actions and provide feedback to their group.

“Busy workplaces can see leaders jumping straight to solutions, based on previous experience, but without looking at the current environment and situation,” says participant Gail Johnson.

“Using the action learning group process in my team has resulted in innovative solutions.

“It has also helped us focus on collective problem solving to bring more control to situations, rather than spending too much time focusing on problems.”

The Leading for Reform program helps participants lead their team with a stronger focus on reform.

“I now have a stronger network in the enabling groups for processing initiatives and obtaining advice and considering viewpoints,” says one of the participants.

“I have a better understanding of some difficult workplace behaviours.”

A second Leading for Reform program began last August and will end in April.

Feedback has been positive and Brendan is confident the program will roll out to all executive staff across enabling groups over the next two years.

“Good leaders are able to stand outside their situation and create a path into the future,” he says.

“They are able to stand outside their own perspective and reconcile and create meaning and common purpose out of divergent views.

“First Principals Review implementation needs good leadership at all levels, but the day-to-day leadership of the executive-level cohort is critical to our success.”

“USING THE ACTION LEARNING GROUP PROCESS IN MY TEAM HAS RESULTED IN INNOVATIVE

SOLUTIONS. IT HAS ALSO HELPED US FOCUS ON

COLLECTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING TO BRING MORE CONTROL TO

SITUATIONS, RATHER THAN SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME FOCUSING ON PROBLEMS.”

GAIL JOHNSON, LEADING FOR REFORM PARTICIPANT

Kylie-Rae Alcorn

Leading for Reform participants, from left, Jennifer Beattie, Tanya Sargeant, Jacob Boyle, Seima Darrow, Heath Pearce and Kylie Rae Alcorn with Associate Secretary Brendan Sargeant.

Photo: Corporal Max Bree


Enabling Groups’ Leadership Culture VisionEVERYTHING I DO IS FOCUSED ON ENABLING DEFENCE CAPABILITYI am always thinking about how to achieve Defence’s capability outcomes and connecting others around me with this purpose.

ACTIVELY ENGAGE OTHERS IN EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES AND SOLVING PROBLEMSI listen to and respect the diverse perspectives of others and I trust they have good ideas.

TAKE CALCULATED RISKSI make judgements about what risks are necessary and acceptable to achieve the outcome and innovation we need to achieve.

I AM ACCOUNTABLEWith a disciplined approach, I step up and lead. When things go wrong I ask ‘why’?

I BUILD TEAMSI speak of my team and our organisation with pride.

I LEARNI reflect on my performance and that of my team and I actively adapt and change how I work as things around me change.

Secretary of Defence Dennis Richardson outlines the goals and challenges for this year

WITH THE SECRETARY


WHITE PAPER WILL

BE FOCUSWhat is your focus in 2016?

It is the White Paper and everything associated with it, in terms getting it out on the streets and the hard work of implementation. Peter Baxter and everyone involved in the White Paper should be very proud on their achievements.

There will be the continued implementation of the First Principles Review, and big projects such as submarines, future frigates, offshore patrol vessels and Land 400.

Air Force is in a pretty good position and ensuring what they have in the pipeline continues to be delivered on time and on schedule.

And, importantly, there is the DECA.

The associated Force Structure Review, Naval Shipbuilding Plan, Capability Plan and Industry Policy Statement are being released in conjunction with the White Pa-per. What challenges do you expect to come from these?

The major challenges of these will be simply the hard work of the implementation process. There will be the expectations from industry, within the three Services and from within Government. I suppose delivering on/for them is the ultimate challenge. This is assuming their expectations are realistic to start with.

A third of the recommendations of the First Principles Review have been completed. How many more are expected to be com-pleted this year, what are the big-ticket items and what will they mean for the work-force?

I don’t think of the implementation of the First Principles Review in terms of the numbers.

For instance, it is true we have implemented about a third of the recommendations, equally it is true that the recommendations we have so far implemented are the easy ones. So a third in absolute numbers, but we haven’t yet delivered

on a third in terms of degree of difficulty and real substance.

We also need to nail down the capability life cycle, which has taken longer than anticipated, because it goes to the heart of the way we work in government and with Government. It goes to the heart of what comes out of the Department, which is of central importance to the ADF. It is essentially the vehicle through which we deliver on the force structure. Getting that right is really critical.

We aren’t yet there, but VCDF Vice Admiral Ray Griggs has been leading that and I am very confident we will get there in the first four months of this year.

We’ve got a lot of work to do this year in terms of the continued professionalisation of the APS side and some of the changes in the skill mix in the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group and we’re only in the very early stages of doing what needs to be done on service delivery. And in terms of behaviours which underpin the whole of the First Principles, we’ve got to work that in with Pathway to Change.

There will be a degree of change for the workforce; no organisation remains stationary, and there will always be change. We are at where we need to be in terms of APS numbers. We are down to just under 18,000 full-time staff equivalent. The challenge is no longer absolute numbers, but getting the right professional skill mix in the workforce. This will lead to continued change over the next couple of years.

So you are satisfied with the current APS numbers? Will more voluntary redundan-cies be sought?

I’m reasonably comfortable if we can keep numbers around the 18,000 level – which is about 4000 off the peak of the 22,200 we had a bit over three years ago – we can deliver what the Government requires. There will be no more broad general offers of voluntary or

involuntary redundancies. I very much hope between June and September of this year we can return to normal recruitment processes.

What is your message to staff in regards to the DECA?

The key message is an understanding of what is the prerogative of Government and the prerogative of the Department.

The elected Government sets the framework and maximum that can be offered,

“DEFENCE HAS CLEARLY UNDERGONE

ENORMOUS CULTURAL AND BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE,

BOTH IN THE APS AND ADF.”DENNIS RICHARDSON,

SECRETARY OF DEFENCE

Secretary of Defence Dennis Richardson with CDF Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin during the Australia-New Zealand Chief Executives’ Meeting at Russell Offices. Photo: Lauren Larking


which is six per cent over three years and a maximum of three per cent in any one year. It has been the policy of successive Coalition and Labor Governments that agreements can not be backdated.

The offer on the table is infinitely improved on what was offered a year ago. Obviously individuals must make up their own minds when it comes to vote as to how the offer suits their own interests.

Certainly I’ll be taking an offer forward to the SES after the DECA vote which will be the same as that now on the table for the non-SES, ie 3+2+1.

The way we behave is at the core of the Pathway to Change. How has the cultur-al reform process changed your leader-ship style and behaviour?

Pathway to Change was a five-year program initiated by General Hurley and Secretary Lewis in April of 2012 and I got here in

October of 2012. CDF Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin and I have been totally committed to it.

An important thing for the Department over the next 12 months will be to address this question: given that Pathway to Change was a five-year program and therefore theoretically comes to an end point in April 2017, what do we have beyond that? Do we simply say, we’ll extend it for another period of time? Or do we seek to refresh it in some way with a renewed conversation within the workforce about cultural and behavioural change.

Very often the conversation you have within an organisation is more important than the end point.

Defence has clearly undergone enormous cultural and behavioural change, both in the APS and ADF.

Too often when people talk about cultural change in Defence and behaviour

in Defence they think it only relates to the uniform, but it relates to everyone. Civilians in Defence who simply see these issues as relating to personnel in uniform are making a big mistake.

So the question for us is: what do we do beyond Pathway to Change and what would be a productive process for getting there and how might we engage staff to get there?

We would have to balance out a certain degree of institutional fatigue on some issues, combined with an acknowledgement that when you are on a journey you don’t stop before the destination. CDF and myself will have a discussion with the Senior Leadership Group this year on this.

How has Pathway to Change impacted on your leadership?

What it has done is involve me in the Defence Abuse Task Force. As a public servant, my involvement in a restorative


Dennis Richardson: “Defence does a lot of things damn well.”

justice process certainly highlighted to me the impact which behaviour can have on individuals and on families. I think those in senior positions do need to be very conscious of this, and those in supervisory positions need to be very conscious that some forms of behaviour might be acceptable to some people, but they can have a devastating effect on others.

What do you think we do best and in what areas can we do better?

Defence does a lot of things damn well. What our ADF and APS people do in the field in Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan and Sinai, they do exceptionally well.

People forget that 10 per cent of the public servants in Defence work in the intelligence community. This community is central to Australia’s counterterrorist and ADF operations.

Our scientific research adds value and is globally recognised.

We often get boxed around the ears when projects go off the rails, and so we should, but we should also recognise the projects which are a huge success, such as the new LHDs. They were delivered on time, within budget and are a magnificent capability relevant to all three Services. Everyone involved with the project should take a bow.

We also achieve and adapt to change well. When you look at the change which has taken place through the organisation in all of its dimensions, I think we’ve done well.

We take for granted one of the things we do best: we work well together. The diarchy – the strange beast it is – how many other defence organisations globally do you find the integration of uniform and civilians working to each other and co-operatively with each other? I think it’s an achievement we don’t often recognise or celebrate, simply because it’s been inculcated into our system to the point we just take it for granted.

We also keep the show on the road. We have First Principles, the White Paper and other issues on our plate and at the same time we ensure that people in the field get the best support possible, the big projects continue to be delivered, people get paid, we meet budgetary requirements and we manage the estate effectively – all in the midst of high operational tempo and continued change.

There are always things we can do better. One of the key elements in Pathway to Change is personal accountability and I still think the size of Defence too often allows individuals to avoid accountability.

I think intellectual rigour and intellectual honesty sometimes get a bit murky in an organisation of this size. We put a lot of store on reputation and reputation damage. It’s fine to do this, providing you don’t allow this to become an end in itself, because ultimately your reputation flows from the results you deliver and how you deliver them.

Service delivery is something we can do better, which is recognised in First Principles.

How important are the customer satisfac-tion surveys in the Department’s reform process?

They are being done every six months and they are providing a baseline. We aren’t doing them in the expectation that we are going to see sudden lifts in the results.

We realise the results may be brushed aside

by people as a waste of time when they think they didn’t see an improvement from the last survey. Over a period of the next couple of years we ought to be seeing an improvement and, if not, then it will tell us something.

What have been the strong points in your relationship with Senator Marise Payne since she became Defence Minister?

I’ve known Senator Payne for a long time, since she headed up different committees after 9/11, when I was in ASIO. We didn’t precisely see eye to eye, but I’ve always respected Senator Payne and we are very lucky to have her as a Minister for Defence. She is someone who has real respect in the Parliament and I think people who deal with her professionally invariably respect her.

WITH THE SECRETARY


MENTORING

POSITIVE CIRCLE

DEFENCE is providing leadership development and mentoring to its female members of the APS through a specially tailored program for APS5 to EL1 staff.

Deputy Secretary Defence People Rebecca Skinner says she is overwhelmed by the level of interest in the Defence Mentoring Circles program.

“We had almost 600 people apply to be part of Mentoring Circles, which shows a real interest in development of our female staff at this level,” Rebecca says.

The launch at Russell Offices on 3 February was attended by Canberra-based attendees, their supervisors and a number of Defence senior leaders including Chief Finance Officer Philip Prior and Chief Defence Scientist Alex Zelinsky.

The Orijen Group is providing the program, which CEO Jenny Morris says is the latest evolution of the Women in ICT program she has been running across the APS for four years.

“You’ll be encouraged to be yourself, and to explore your leadership style,” Jenny told the attendees.

“You’ll be encouraged to take control and, most importantly, take your learnings back to your

workplace and your life. Then you bring it back to the circle and they will share your wins with you.”

A previous attendee of the Women in ICT program, Penny Clowry, spoke enthusiastically about the impact that Mentoring Circles can have.

“When I was introducing myself to the circle at our first session, I said that I wasn’t sure that I wanted to move up to the EL2 level,” Penny says.

“Well, within three months I was acting EL2, and was in acting director roles for the next two years. This shows you the impact that the program has.

“There’s no doubt that the confidence I gained, and the connections that I made, contributed to me being offered those opportunities.”

Rebecca says Mentoring Circles was created to provide opportunities and development for women at the APS5 to EL1 level, an area where there are identified shortfalls.

“It is not good enough in 2016 that we have only one female Deputy Secretary in this department. We need more women in the pipeline if we’re going to get them to these senior levels,” she says.

“We need diversity, options and choice when it comes to promoting our future leaders, and the enhancements to leadership capability won’t happen if we keep going what we’ve always done.”

Annabelle Chalker

DEFENCE Mentoring Circles has been developed to provide female APS employees with career resilience and leadership development through group connection sessions. This program is run by Orijen Group, whose mentoring programs work towards three core aims: retaining and nurturing existing

talent, encouraging a culture of diversity and inclusion, and empowering female leaders.

This program will run in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, with more locations in the second half of 2016.

Mentoring Circles is coordinated by Diversity Directorate. For further information, email [email protected]

Initiative designed to enhance the professional development of female staff from AP5 to EL1

Program aim

Participants and guests at the launch of the Defence Mentoring Circles Program, a development and networking program. Photo: Corporal Bill Solomou

CDF Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin says operational and capability commitments will make for a busy year

WITH THE CDF


TEMPO TO STAY HIGH

What are your main thoughts about what 2016 has in store?

I can’t see the tempo decreasing in 2016, not with the current threat environment, not with the new capabilities coming on, and not with the change we’re going through in the organisation.

The ADF will continue to make significant contributions in our support to the community and on operations.

Around 270 Australian personnel are deployed to Afghanistan as part of our contribution to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission. During the first half of the year, Australia and other contributing nations will consider our post-2016 commitments in the lead up to the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July. Events over the past year have shown that Afghan security forces need more time and assistance to develop as an independent force, but I believe they demonstrated they are a force worth investing in.

Equally, our training missions in Iraq have proven their value in building the Iraqi Army’s capacity to fight Daesh. The Australian-trained 76th Brigade and Iraqi Special operations Force Brigade were integral in recapturing Ramadi. We will continue our work to build the Iraqi Army’s capability throughout 2016 so that they can maintain their momentum to take back more territory from Daesh with critical air support from Australian and coalition aircraft.

When I look ahead, we’ve also got two significant bodies of work coming together: the White Paper then the big-ticket issues within the First Principles Review will begin to take effect. Additionally, I expect the Headquarters Review to be completed this year. These will come together to not only shape the way Defence is in the future, but how we will do business in the future.

History also tells us that we should expect the unexpected. There are always challenges there, but the fact is we always continue to deliver for the Australian people and Government. Our people are some of the best in the world and are focused on getting results – for me, that’s what makes this job so good.

You have mentioned about the major reform occurring across Defence. What is

your message to ADF and APS personnel about the changes the First Principles Re-view will bring?

We will see more significant change this year. In particular the structure of the centre at Russell will change markedly as Capability Development Group disbands and those functions go to the Service Headquarters and VCDF Group, and as we see the Strategy area step up as well with the contestability part.

There will be large structural changes in the first six months of this year that will drive a lot of the new processes and how we are going to deliver.

We need to stick with this and remember that the aims of the First Principles Review are exactly that: to try and simplify what we do and go back to first principles.

We said we’d do this over two years – that was the commitment to Government – and even that two-year process is accelerated for some of the things we want to achieve. Most of the structural change will be in the Groups and Services in Canberra. Out in the field, people should see a better outcome, but most won’t be touched by the structural changes as markedly as people in Canberra.

How effective do you think our contribu-tion has been to the coalition to disrupt and degrade Daesh?

Australia is a significant contributor to the coalition. If you go back to the situation in Iraq and Syria in August-September 2014, ISIL – or Daesh – was perceived as invincible. Since then their progression has been stopped, we’ve proven they are not invincible, the counterattack is occurring by Iraqi forces supported by coalition air assets and coalition training, more than 40 per cent of territory that ISIL had taken has been recaptured and ISIL leadership is in hiding.

You’re seeing successes, but we’ve often said it will be three to five years to be able to support the Iraqis and train their forces to a point that they can secure their borders.

If you look at what we contributed to that over the last year, our Special Operations Task Group’s advise and assist mission trained over 800 Iraqi personnel, our Building Partner Capacity mission trained over 2500 Iraqi

“OUR PEOPLE ARE SOME OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD

AND ARE FOCUSED ON GETTING RESULTS – FOR

ME, THAT’S WHAT MAKES THIS JOB SO GOOD.”

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL MARK BINSKIN, CDF

Army personnel, the F/A-18s in the Air Task Group flew over 600 missions or 1200 sorties, the Wedgetail over 190 command and control missions in Iraq and Syria, the KC-30 Tanker about 550 air-to-air refuelling missions, and at sea in the past two years RAN ships have seized almost $5 billion worth of illegal narcotics, a significant contribution in the fight against terrorism.

What stands out in your mind about the year just gone?

The first thing that comes to mind is the success on operations. We had about 7500 ADF

CDF Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin chats with ADF personnel serving with the Air Task Group in the Middle East Region. Photo: Corporal Ben Dempster


personnel deployed around the globe –South Sudan, Sinai, Golan Heights, Lebanon, Iraq, Middle East countries, Afghanistan, the South China Sea, on Operation Resolute and patrols around the South Pacific.

We maintained a small element in the search for MH370, conducted major humanitarian and disaster assistance relief operations in Vanuatu and Nepal, and at home we carried out 120 Defence Aid to the Civil Community tasks.

We held two major exercises – Talisman Sabre and Northern Shield. The former involved over 30,000 personnel from the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan and a lot of effort went into making that successful.

On the capability side, the MH60 Romeo Seahawk helicopters, HMAS Canberra and the Soldier Enhancement Kit received initial operational capability; the new CH47 Chinooks received initial materiel release; and the deployable health capability final materiel release.

On the ceremonial side, we supported over 1400 Centenary of Anzac events globally. Every

one of those events probably had a catafalque party drawn from local forces whether Army, Navy or Air Force, or cadets. That level of community support will continue through to 2018.

I was privileged to be at Gallipoli for the centenary, and what that stood out for me – apart from the magnificent conduct of our people – was sitting at Anzac Cove the morning of the Dawn Service and watching the ships come out of the mist in the distance and sail past a couple of kilometres off the coast.

Another highlight was the Operation Slipper welcome home parade in which just over 15,000 personnel participated, including Defence civilians, which was really important.

Legislative changes to the Defence Act ap-proved in December now give the CDF full command of the ADF, recognise the VCDF as the deputy of the CDF and repeal the Air Force Act 1923 and the Naval Defence Act 1910. What do you see as the main benefits of the updates to the Act?

The First Principles Review recommended changes to the Defence Act 1903 to formally recognise the authority of the CDF and the VCDF. The Defence Legislation Amendment (First Principles) Bill will remove legislative limitations to give the CDF full command of the ADF. What that does is clarify that the Service Chiefs’ command power is subject to the CDF’s direction.

The legislative change will not affect the current chain of command or the day-to-day operations of the ADF. However, the associated repeal of the Naval Defence Act and the Air Force Act gives us the opportunity to modernise and simplify the legislation in relation to the ADF Cadets.

There will be some administrative changes to Defence Instructions (General) and single Service Defence Instructions when the legislation takes effect on 1 July 2016. After that date, all new Defence Instructions will be issued by the CDF and Secretary while existing Defence Instructions (General) and Service Instructions will become Defence Instructions.

EXCHANGE LINKS WITH PARTNERS


Two members of the International Policy Division gain new insights during reciprocal exchanges with Japan and New Zealand

POSTINGS for staff within the International Policy (IP) Division are not uncommon, however, in 2015, for the first time, IP had a reciprocal exchange, with a Japanese policy

officer joining the Division for four months.Shinichi Ikawa worked in IP Division in Russell

Offices in Canberra from June until September 2015 before returning to his position at the Japanese Ministry of Defence (JMOD).

Tara Boyd has been working for the JMOD's Capacity Building Office in Tokyo since February 2015 and will return to Australia in July.

Tara joined Defence in 2010 as part of the graduate development program after completing a Bachelor of Psychological Science.

She joined IP in 2011 as a policy adviser for India and the South Asian Defence Cooperation Program countries.

Before her current posting, she had short-term postings to New Delhi and Seoul, providing support to the Defence attachés.

Her main role in Tokyo is to look for defence capacity building opportunities where Australia and Japan can cooperate.

“Defence is an experienced provider of capacity-building assistance. Drawing on my in-depth understanding of our Defence Cooperation Programs in the region, I help progress and coordinate Japan's capacity building engagement,” Tara says.

“A key example of this was Japan’s participation in the Australian-led Exercise Harii Hamutuk, an engineering exercise in Timor-Leste in October.”

Participants included the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force, Australian Army, US Marine Corps, US Navy and Timor-Leste military personnel.

“I also work to improve exchanges of information between our departments and progress mutually agreed defence co-operation,” Tara says.

“Exchange positions like my own are an important and visible demonstration of the strength of the Australia-Japan bilateral defence relationship. They assist in building enduring links between our two departments, which will enable a better understanding of each other’s policy processes and priorities.

“I have already learnt so much about the JMOD

and have had the opportunity to meet a number of senior officers throughout the ministry, including Defence Minister Nakatani.”

The highlight of her exchange so far has been attending the Australia-Japan Defence Ministers Meeting.

“I addressed the delegation and conveyed the importance of my role and its benefits to the broader bilateral defence relationship,” Tara says.

Before she was posted to Tokyo, Tara studied Japanese for a year through postgraduate study and then had six months' intensive language training in Tokyo.

“I can speak Japanese, but more nuanced conversations can be difficult, especially those that involve particular Defence and security terms,” she says.

“It’s a daily challenge but I continue to look for opportunities to improve my speaking, listening and writing skills.”

She says living and working in Tokyo is a dream come true as she first travelled to Japan in 2005 for a holiday and “fell in love with Japan’s history, culture and style”.

“I have explored many parts of the country and am always impressed by the friendliness and politeness of Japanese people,” Tara says.

“I love the diversity of style and atmosphere in Tokyo, particularly the quiet, traditional streets and parks hidden among the skyscrapers in the sprawling city.

“I really enjoy Japan’s unique cultural traditions and activities, including staying at traditional ryokans (inns) and bathing in the natural outdoor onsens (hot springs).”

She says she would like to have a career which builds on the work and strong networks she has developed.

“I would like to maintain a strong link with Japan, whether that is through continuing to work on the Australia-Japan bilateral relationship in Canberra, or a posted diplomatic role at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo,” she says.

She has had a lot of contact with Shinichi since he returned in September.

“I work with Shinichi frequently on capacity building issues and we have exchanged many experiences about our respective secondments,” Tara says.

Sharon Palmer and Warrant Officer Class Two Andrew Hetherington

INTERNATIONAL

“EXCHANGE POSITIONS LIKE MY OWN ARE AN

IMPORTANT AND VISIBLE DEMONSTRATION OF

THE STRENGTH OF THE AUSTRALIA-JAPAN

BILATERAL DEFENCE RELATIONSHIP.”

TARA BOYD, INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIVISION

Tara Boyd on exchange in

Tokyo.

Staff from International Policy Division’s Pacific and Timor-Leste Branch.

Lieutenant Commander Alan Willmore, Stephen Broadbent, Emily Rossetti,

Shinichi Ikawa and Luke Barrington.Photo: Corporal Aaron Curran


INTERNATIONAL


Shinichi Ikawa

Law graduate Shinichi joined the JMOD in 2009 as he has an interest in international politics and security. In Japan, he works for their IP Division in the Bureau of Defence Policy.

As the name implies, his division is responsible for Japanese defence policies, cooperation, force planning, acquisition of equipment and intelligence.

In Australia, Shinichi worked in the Pacific Islands and Maritime Security Section.

“My section developed and coordinated policy advice on Australia’s defence relationships with Pacific Island and Latin American countries,” Shinichi says.

“I worked mainly on Australia’s relationships with Tonga and Chile.

“I worked on the Chief of Defence Force’s visit to Tonga for the coronation of Tonga’s new king in June and Tonga’s Chief of Defence Staff’s counterpart visit to Canberra.

“I also worked on Defence cooperation talks in September where I was part of the delegation and attended the talks, which provided me with the opportunity to see how Australia engages with its regional partners.”

Shinichi first became interested in working in Australia when he was finishing his Master’s degree at Columbia University in the US earlier in 2015

“Our Ministers had agreed on a personnel exchange program and Australia had already sent personnel to Tokyo, but JMOD was still preparing to send an officer to Canberra,” Shinichi says.

“I felt so cosy in Australia because the people were so nice and relaxed.

“All of my colleagues welcomed me and gave me a lot of opportunities to learn how Defence works and to experience the Australian lifestyle.

“They took me to so many places in Canberra which I don’t think I would have gone to and enjoyed by myself.

“I also like the way people socialise. “I experienced morning teas, section

activities and dining-in nights. The degree of formality and frequency varied, but all are good for socialising and getting to know each other, which make both my private and official life easier and more interesting.”

Shinichi says he learnt a lot during his secondment and was impressed by Australia’s commitment to the region.

“An example of that commitment is the scale of the Australian Defence Cooperation Program to Tonga,” Shinichi says.

“It is solely bigger than the whole of JMOD’s capacity assistant activities in the world, although this is primarily because of the different strategic priorities and Australia’s enduring strong commitment to the region.

“I will definitely tell my Japanese colleagues a secondment in Australian Defence will be a great opportunity to know Australian views on regional security and relationships with Japan and to establish links with Australian colleagues.

“IP Division, especially the Pacific and

Timor-Leste Branch, is the ideal place for Japanese officers – they can see the convergence of many of Australia’s and Japan’s interests and concerns in the region.”

Luke Barrington

Luke Barrington is also working in IP in Canberra on exchange from New Zealand.

Luke works for the New Zealand Ministry of Defence helping manage New Zealand’s international defence relationships and is responsible for New Zealand’s defence relations with North, Central and South America.

He began working in Australia in February 2015 and will return to New Zealand this year.

Working in the Pacific and Timor-Leste Branch, his role focuses on the Pacific Island countries.

“I had my eye on this exchange since it was announced in 2013 and it was a pleasure to be chosen as the successful candidate,” Luke says.

“New Zealand and Australia work closely on a huge number of issues, so having an understanding of the Australian system is really beneficial.

“The exchange is a really wonderful opportunity to work inside an Australian Government department and to experience and

observe the differences between the NZ and Australian systems.

“It’s also great to make connections with Australian public servants working on similar issues.

“I’ve made some great friends here that I plan on staying in touch with when I get home.”

Luke says he has learnt a lot since working in IP, despite the difference in scale.

“I know we are a smaller country with a small defence force, but it wasn’t until I came across here and witnessed the Australian system for myself that I really understood the difference in scale and capability.

“Australia is huge, relatively speaking. It illustrated to me just how hard New Zealand will have to work to make sure we remain interoperable.”

He says Defence’s diarchy was foreign to him and that took some getting used to.

“Our Secretary runs New Zealand’s Ministry of Defence and the New Zealand Defence Force is run by our Chief of Defence Force and they are separated by legislation,” Luke says.

“They are two separate organisations providing joint advice on Defence matters to the Government.

“Working under the diarchy has been really interesting and a good illustration of how New

Luke Barrington, of New Zealand, and Shinichi

Ikawa, of Japan, are both on exchange to

International Policy Division in Canberra.

Photo: Corporal Aaron Curran

Zealand and Australia are similar, yet also very different. My advice to my New Zealand colleagues wanting to come here is to just go for it.

“It’s a great opportunity and Canberra is a great place. Australia’s a great country. It’s an incredibly welcoming and easy place to live.

“Australians’ positive outlook on life is infectious and they’re always ready to lend a hand and give things a go.”

Anita Lewan

Across the Tasman, Anita Lewan, of IP Division, is finding out about New Zealand’s Defence system.

She is on a two-year secondment and works in Wellington as Senior Analyst South-East Asia.

She is due to return to Australia in June.Before joining Defence in 2008, Anita

studied international relations and politics and worked in the Attorney-General’s Department and the then Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Before going to New Zealand she was Assistant Director Papua New Guinea.

She says her primary focus is managing New Zealand’s multilateral defence engagement, including the ASEAN Defence

Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) and the Five Power Defence Arrangements.

“I designed and ran the inaugural Maritime Security Future Leaders’ Program and also a counter piracy workshop,” Anita says.

“I am working on an ADMM-Plus Counter Terrorism and Maritime Security Exercise, which will be one of the biggest exercises held in the region this year.

“I am also planning Exercise Mahi Tangaroa, a maritime security exercise to be held in New Zealand before the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th Anniversary Fleet Review.

“As a posted official, I also represent the Australian Government at events such as Anzac Day commemorations.

“I was selected to be the inaugural-seconded officer under the renewed Australia-New Zealand exchange program through a formal expression of interest process.”

She says New Zealand is an important bilateral partner to Australia and she jumped at the chance to learn more about the country, its people and the way its Government works.

“One aspect of New Zealand culture, which really stood out for me, is the inclusion of the Maori culture in day-to-day activities,” Anita says.

“All the Government ministries are known by

both their English and Maori names and Te Reo [Maori language] is not only taught in schools, it is used in daily conversation.

“I was privileged to be welcomed into the New Zealand Navy family during a powhiri [a traditional Maori welcome] at Te Taua Moana Marae [Devonport Naval Base Marae].”

She says her role is diverse.“There are less than 100 civilians working in

the Ministry, so I have responsibility for a wide range of issues,” Anita says.

“I’ve gained a working knowledge about a multitude of things in a short period of time.

“I would definitely recommend this posting to my colleagues in Australia. Wellington is such an amazing place to live and New Zealanders are genuinely welcoming and fun to work with.

“Perhaps most importantly, Wellington is the coffee capital of the world! If you like a good brew, this is definitely the place for you.”

She says she has also learnt a lot about rugby especially with the World Cup taking place, but has been “gracious in defeat and try not to mention the cricket too often”.

IP Division also has policy advisers working in Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and the US.

Anita Lewan in a New Zealand Defence Force helicopter during her two-year secondment to New Zealand.

“THERE ARE LESS THAN 100 CIVILIANS WORKING

IN THE MINISTRY, SO I HAVE RESPONSIBILITY

FOR A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES.”

ANITA LEWAN, INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIVISION


Defence will increase Indigenous staff numbers to 2.7 per cent by 2018 under a new Reconciliation Action Plan

Hannah Mills


CLOSING THE GAP

A PLAN to attract and retain more Indigenous staff in Defence has been issued in Canberra.Defence Minister Senator Marise Payne launched the Defence

Reconciliation Action Plan 2015-2018 (D-RAP) at Russell Offices on 19 October, saying Defence has committed to increasing the Indigenous participation rate to 2.7 per cent by 2018.

She says Defence will be engaging Indigenous entry-level employees and providing support for Indigenous university students, as well as growing the numbers of senior Defence Indigenous leaders.

“This is Defence’s third Reconciliation Action Plan and it builds on the progress Defence has made over a number of years, while acknowledging there is still work to be done,” she says.

“Reconciliation in Defence is everyone’s business.’’

The launch coincided with the renaming of the Russell Building 1 theatrette to the Ngunnawal Theatrette, after the local Aboriginal community.

The name was gifted to Defence by the United Ngunnawal Elders Council and is a sign of respect for Defence’s Indigenous heritage.

The D-RAP launch was attended by members of the United Ngunnawal Elders Council, Defence Minister Marise Payne, Defence Secretary Dennis Richardson, CDF Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin,

and representatives of other government departments.

The D-RAP was developed in partnership with Reconciliation Australia and involved extensive consultation. The key actions reflect the three Reconciliation Australia themes to improve relationships, show respect and increase opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Defence has committed to initiatives against each of the key actions including:

Improving relationshipsDefence will support the Defence Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander Network (DATSIN) as a source of advice, support and networking for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander personnel and the organisation more broadly.

A key event to support this initiative is the DATSIN Conference, where Defence members are encouraged to attend and commanders and managers are encouraged to support attendance.

Show respectTo demonstrate Defence’s respect for the

Indigenous community, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags will be permanently displayed at every Defence establishment.

This builds on the work of the previous D-RAP requiring all Defence establishments to have an acknowledgment-of-country plaque.

Increase opportunitiesFour activities to increase opportunities for

Indigenous Australians in Defence include:

advertising at least 25 APS Affirmative Measures (Indigenous) positions in Defence each financial year;

engagement of at least 60 Indigenous entry-level APS employees through traineeships each calendar year;

running four Indigenous pre-recruitment courses each year, which will help increase the number of Indigenous Australians joining the ADF; and

a requirement to have 3 per cent of Defence procurement going to Indigenous businesses.

A quarterly D-RAP working group has also been established to monitor the implementation of the initiatives.

Defence will ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation on the working group and invite external representatives to share their experiences.

The Director of Indigenous Affairs Glynn Greenaway says the D-RAP builds on the work Defence has undertaken to become an inclusive and respectful employer.

“A diverse workforce is a capable workforce,” he says.

To increase your knowledge of Indigenous culture and history, complete the Defence Indigenous Cultural Awareness course (7208) on Campus. The Defence Reconciliation Action Plan 2015-2018 can be found at www.defence.gov.au/Diversity/Indigenous/strategic/drap/

Defence Secretary Dennis Richardson, CDF Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin,

Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Agnes Shea, Defence Minister Marise Payne,

Able Seaman Alan Lucas and Indigenous Supplier Engagement’s

Laurellee Watson at the launch of the Defence Reconciliation Action Plan.

Photo: David McClenaghan

INDIGENOUS


LEVEL BEHAVIOUR STATE SANCTION

APS3 Inappropriate conduct – bullied and harassed employee

QLD Reprimand

APS4 Inappropriate use of IT and privacy VIC Termination of employment

APS5 Inappropriate conduct – failure to follow directions

VIC Reprimand and fine

APS6 Inappropriate conduct – use of IT, bullied and harassed employee

NSW Reprimand and fine

EL1 Inappropriate use of IT ACT Reprimand

EL1 Inappropriate use of resources - Defence travel card and Defence purchasing card

ACT Resignation and fine

EL1 Inappropriate computer use ACT Resignation

EL1 Inappropriate conduct – failure to fol-low directions and attendance issues

SA Reprimand and reduction in salary

EL2 Inappropriate use of IT NSW Reprimand and reduction in salary

Code of conduct breaches, July to December 2015

Links to the APS Code of Conduct, APS Values and APS Employment Principles are available on the PeopleConnect intranet site.

MARGARET Walsh, a Business Relationship Manager with Chief Information Officer Group, has been rewarded for her work assessing the highest

performers in public sector management.The Institute of Public Administration

Australia (IPAA) held the 14th annual Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management on 26 November 2015.

Margaret was among 45 assessors from 23 organisations across the APS.

She was one of three assessors recognised for their contribution.

Margaret has completed three years of assessing, learning and applying the IPAA Excellence in Public Sector Management model to nominations received from all levels of Government.

“It’s a great opportunity to be exposed to the innovation happening in the public sector,” she says.

“To network with fellow assessors and contribute to something that recognises excellence in project and program delivery beyond the usual schedule and resource success factors is rewarding.”

The assessors play an important role in the awards as they determine the highest performing initiatives for consideration by the judging panel.

On average, over a six-to-eight week

CIOG’s Margaret Walsh, centre, receives an award for her work on the Institute of Public Administration Australia Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management from IPAA ACT President Glenys Beauchamp, right. The Department of Agriculture’s Jonathan Muller, left, also received an award.

ASSESSED AS BEST

timeframe, an assessor will review two nominations with another assessor and then come together with another assessor pair to reach consensus.

Assessing requires linkage of the nomination and its evidence and then writing feedback

reports. For higher quality nominations, an additional report is required.

“It would be great to see Defence offer more assessors,” Margaret says. “Having more Defence members exposed to the process would certainly enhance our nominations.”

THE Defence International Training Centre (DITC) at RAAF Base Williams in Laverton, Victoria, has been honoured with a unit citation.

The Deputy Secretary Strategy unit citation recognises DITC’s outstanding contribution to Defence’s international engagement.

DITC’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Col-onel Fiona Curtis, says the award is a tribute to the DITC team. “Some of our APS staff have been working at DITC for more than 20 years,” she says. “The experience and enthusiasm they bring to the job create a great learning environment for our course members.”

More than 10,000 students have graduated from the centre.

Top marks

VOTING on the proposed enterprise agreement is open from 25 February to 1 March. Defence is offering six per cent over three years, com-prising three per cent in the first year, two per cent in the second and one per cent in the third. For information about the proposed agreement visit the DECA page on the PeopleConnect site. Queries or suggestions relating to the enterprise agreement can be emailed to [email protected]

DECA vote

NEWS IN BRIEF


Steven AbbottJaimie AbbottDominic AdamsDavid AdamsDavid AnsteeJohn AppletonCourtney ArmstrongRenee AttwellsHunter AustineCarmen AzzopardiPhilip BakerTaylor BantonDavid BarkerNicholas BarlettaAdam BaskettKaren BatesSharon BeathMichael BeaugleholeAnne BeckerDimitri BellasAmy BennettJohn BlylevensMark BolgerMichael BosselmannWayne BrockmanDeborah BrownJoanne BullockMatthew ByrneAntony CarkagisAndrew CarneyVincent CarrollAnthony CarrollJeremy ChapmanDaniel ChappellSharon ChaseJacqueline CheungGrant ChristensenDamien ClaytonPatricia CoatesPhillip CollinsLouise ColvinJulie ConcannonGuy CoverdaleDuane CummingGraeme CusickAlan DavidsonTy DavisBrett DavisMichael DavisPeter Del FanteOliver DoigAndrew DouglasDavid EbertSimon EdwardsJames EvansNicholas EverettAnne-Marie FarrugiaSean FennClint FerdinandsMark Fernandez

Julie FetchMaria FicheraNicola FinnStephen FosterPaul FreundCameron GeeErin GibbonKim GibbonsBruce GibsonAmy GladdenDean GordonAshley GRahamJames GrantBrendan GrayTony GreenGlynn GreenawayLuke GregoLuke GriffisDaniel GrimshawAndrew GroseKrisna GustiNicole HaarAndrew HaleDean HalpinCheryl HammondJane HansenBrendan HarrisonMark HarwoodSimon HawkesJesse HayAllan HenryTodd HindsDaniel HooperDavid HowardShaun HowardEdward HughesTimothy HumphreyErin HurrellDianne HutchinsonIain JamesIsaac JanesAudrey JenkinsThomas JesserAnne JohnsonPaul JohnstonBenjamin KatzTerri KeleherDaniel KellySean KennedyAndrew KirkNeil KrauklisScott KundeChris LangtonPeta LargeHerbert Larsen-BayerAlison LawrenceKenneth LawtonKaren LearyEric LeeKristina Liddall

Andrew LoweMichael MadiganRobin MansonChristian MapstoneCorey MarshallNeil MartinTeome MatamuaMarilyn MathesonMark McauliffeCarol McBainNardia MccullochTatum McGregorKristy McgregorJae MckindlayPeter MclenaghanAnthony McleodStephanie MedcalfDaniel MeehanJames MeredithKarl MetzgerGavin MillsBruce MillwardLauchlan MilneLeslie MolloyGary MoodyJohn MooneyTarren MorrisAnthony MossJohn MossOwen MossDeborah MowbrayLuke MurphyDaniel NashPaul NashRenee NelsonAndrew NewmanKristy NicholsMark NicholsonBryton NoonanIrene NormanPeter NoyPaul O’keefeLisa O’meleyNed OrchardMurray OrrDominic PaceMelina PacittoMary PalaamoMatthew PeirceJohn PenhallBrendan PerrottetLance PetersonJames Pettitt-BrownRodney PinderGraham PooleMalcolm PottsJodie PryorAnne QuillChristopher RansomKerry Ratcliffe

ACHIEVEMENTS

A JOB WELL DONE

Adam RawlingsMatthew ReadDavid ReenTiffany RhodesPeter RobbNaomi RobertsAaron RobinsonDeborah RogersAlexander RolfeJason RossHeath RotheramJoshua RussellMeegan RyanGenene SandersMarika SansonTroy SansonYvonne SavageCheryl-Ann SchlitzNavika SewsunkerKalen SharpMargaret SharpBradley ShippFay ShulzLyvern SlenderRussell SmithMichael SmithOwen SmithTodd SnowdenSaraha StevensLynette StewartMurray StimsonEmily StricklandBilly-Joe StutzCourtney Symons

Peter TempleKatherine ThatcherBradley ThomasRebecca ThomasRobert ThompsonNatalie TobinWilliam ToddJodie VaileJohannes Van BallekomNakita Van RooijenTroy VanderkroftRhys VinsonMark VintonMartyn VoormeulenBruce WalshDavid WaltersDaniel WarnerDarren WattAlisha WelchAlison WestAndrew WestBenjamin WhiteTomas WilkinsPeter WillemsDavid WilliamsPeter WilsonVicki WilsonTimothy WitherdenRalph WittwerNathan WoodrowLuke WoolfeGregory YatesScott Young

Scores of Defence employees have received Australia Day Medallions in recognition of their workplace contributions

Natalie Tobin, PSSTeam Townsville team leader, is one of many employees to receive an Australia Day Medallion. Photo: David McClenaghan


IDEAL MEDICINEAviation doctor receives an Order of Australia Medal for his work with hypobaric

chambers and other aerospace training at RAAF Base Edinburgh

ACHIEVEMENTS

Gordon Cable (centre) and RAAF Institute of Aviation Medicine’s Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Collette Richards, brief retired senior Air Force leaders on the Integrated Physiological Trainer and how it is used for spatial disorientation training.Photo: Sergeant Rodney Welch

RAAF Institute of Aviation Medicine’s (IAM) Dr Gordon Cable has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his work training ADF

aircrew and health specialists.Since 1996, the senior medical officer has

worked as a consultant at IAM at RAAF Base Edinburgh.

Gordon received his OAM from South Australian Governor Hieu Van Le at Government House in Adelaide on 27 August 2015.

IAM, a unit within the Air Warfare Centre, is responsible for three specialist areas including training, clinical aviation and aviation medicine research flight.

The unit is staffed by a combination of ADF and APS personnel with skills in aviation

medicine, human factors, aviation psychology and aeronautical life support.

Commanding Officer IAM Wing Commander Collette Richards says appointments to the Order of Australia confer the highest recognition for outstanding achievement.

“The award recognises Gordon’s significant service to aerospace medicine, as a practitioner to public health education and to professional medical bodies,” Collette says.

“He has been instrumental to IAM achieving its mission of providing world-class aviation medical training to aircrew and health specialists. It is estimated in his time at IAM he has developed and conducted training for more than 20,000 personnel.

“He was also instrumental in the development of the Combined Altitude Depleted Oxygen

hypobaric chamber training in response to many cases of decompression illness.”

Gordon says receiving the award was a great honour and privilege and has provided additional motivation for him to continue his work in all aspects of aerospace medicine.

“It is extremely humbling and gratifying to be recognised by such an honour,” he says.

“I hope I can use this recognition to further promote the science of aerospace medicine and raise the profile of the outstanding work done by IAM.”

He hopes he can continue his research and training work by exploring more operationally focused methods of hypoxia awareness training for aircrew, something of particular importance for today’s high-altitude and high-tempo aerospace operations.

Flying Officer Shane Ivimey

David Dunham has received a Public Service Medal for his work in the challenging and fast-

paced role of Air Operations Co-ordinator

ACHIEVEMENTS


PIVOTAL ROLE RECOGNISED

A IR Operations Co-ordinator David Dunham has been recognised for his outstanding service to the aviation operations, aviation safety and airspace management of

RAAF Base Pearce and Gingin airfield flying operations.

David, who has been in the APS for 13 years, was awarded a Public Service Medal in the 2016 Australia Day Honours List.

“You’re just doing the job and then this comes out of the blue, however it’s nice to be recognised,” David says.

The award recognises his pivotal role in the co-ordination of airbase support to the international search effort for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in 2014 and to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services in 2014-15 in its response to bushfire emergencies in Western Australia.

David is responsible for planning and co-ordinating safe, efficient and effective use of RAAF Base Pearce and Gingin airfield, military airspace and selected airfield support services.

He was also heavily involved in the development of a long-term, strategic plan for restricted military airspace management and incident management.

As a result, RAAF Base Pearce has been consistently well placed to respond to contingencies.

“Pearce is a small base that reacts quickly and efficiently to the things that pop up. That, in large part, is due to good co-ordination and communication between the local units and service providers,” David says.

“The base has always had a good reputation, in providing effective air operations support and having people who work hard and get the job done.

“We’re always working ahead and planning for how we’re going to get our flying done and

how we’re going to support that flying with available services.”

A major element of the search for MH370 was staged out of RAAF Base Pearce. With deployed RAAF and international aircraft, crews and support personnel and a significant increase in deployed supporting staff, the base operated well beyond normal capacity and enabling functions were stretched.

David says the first week of Operation Southern Ocean was hectic.

“It quickly ramped up. In addition to RAAF aircraft, we had aircraft from different nations including China, South Korea, Japan, US, NZ and Malaysia,” he says.

“There were a lot of unknowns and firsts. We had language barriers to get through. Each nation had put in considerable effort to deploy aircraft and were keen to participate in search operations quickly. There were significant challenges the base had to meet to enable each nation to be in a position to commence fully supported and safe flying operations.

“Base personnel worked long hours to get that initial support in place, then gradually people were deployed to Pearce and a task Group was established. This settled things down and allowed for the development of a routine, but the high tempo remained until the end.”

With maximum search efforts deployed for about six weeks and no result, it is not surprising that David was disappointed.

“At the end, when the visual search was called off, there was that disappointment and it was pretty obvious with everyone,” David says.

“Everyone put in a lot of effort. We usually come up with successes when we do things and not finding anything from MH370 was a disappointment, however with time there has been the opportunity to recognise that significant achievements still came from Operation Southern Ocean.”

Michelle Hazell

“WE’RE ALWAYS WORKING AHEAD AND

WE PLAN FOR HOW WE’RE GOING TO GET

OUR FLYING DONE AND HOW WE’RE GOING TO SUPPORT THAT FLYING

WITH SERVICES.”DAVID DUNHAM,

AIR OPERATIONS CO-ORDINATOR, RAAF BASE PEARCE

David Dunham has been recognised in the 2016 Australia Day Honours List for his service.

Photo courtesy Community Newspaper Group


David still follows the fate of MH370 with high interest.

“Everyone would like to know that eventually the main body of the aircraft will be found, and it probably will be just a matter of how much time and effort goes by before they do,” he says.

David’s work to facilitate improved Air Force support services during the Western Australia 2014-15 fire season, one of the worst on record, did not go unnoticed.

Air Force contributes significantly to the emergency response efforts of local and State government agencies in Western Australia through the Defence Assistance to the Civil Community arrangements.

This includes support to water-bombing aircraft from the Department of Parks and Wildlife and Fire and Emergency Services Australia based at RAAF Base Pearce and Gingin Airfield.

David co-ordinated the airfield support arrangements to enable continuous and often concurrent water-bombing activities from December 2014 to March 2015.

This included support to heavy-lift aerial firefighting tankers and equipment deployed from the eastern states for the first time.

“The bushfires definitely took priority and we provided extended services,” David says.

“The C-130 and RJ80, the large aerial fire tankers operated over east, deployed on short notice. We had to get them operating out of Pearce quickly so they could assist with the firefighting.”

David says the general operating agreements already in place and the strong working relationship between the Department of Parks and Wildlife air operations management and the base enabled the fast and effective support to the initial arrival of the fire tankers.

“When Parks and Wildlife are using aerial

firefighting aircraft on a fire and want to use one of our airfields, we have procedures in place to be able to support them with airfield services including water replenishment effectively and efficiently,” David says.

David has also initiated support and access procedures through a memorandum of understanding between the WA Government, the Department of Parks and Wildlife and Commonwealth services, which is reviewed each fire season.

“The procedures have a positive effect on the way Defence supports the community in times of emergencies as they clear everything up and makes processes more efficient,” he says.

“I feel satisfaction from doing a good job to assist the community, however, it’s a whole-of-base effort to be able to support and co-ordinate flying operations.”

Game-changing work by Dr Mark Patterson, of Defence Science and Technology Group, is critical in improving protection for our soldiers


SCIENTIST’S WORK REWARDED

DR MARK Patterson has won the 2015 Minister’s Award for Achievement in Defence Science for his significant contributions to the Defence

Science and Technology Group in enhancing the protection and performance of ADF personnel.

Mark received the award at a ceremony on 25 November.

The audience heard that Mark’s primary work has been in the area of human physical performance. His expertise has been critical to improving protective combat armour for soldiers, reducing heat injuries and establishing a framework that match individuals to tasks, helping to remove gender restrictions across ADF employment categories.

His work aims to meet the increasing demands for the continued protection and wellbeing of Australian soldiers who are at the heart of ADF capability.

Mark and his team have made a major contribution to the integration of the soldier combat system under the Diggerworks initiative, in collaboration with Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group and Army Headquarters.

The development of tiered body armour has reduced the weight soldiers need to carry while improving their survivability and effectiveness in the field.

Mark says the award is appreciated and valued by the teams involved in the project.

“I am both humbled and honoured to receive the award considering the calibre of previous recipients and having some understanding of the world-class research conducted across our organisation,” he says.

“We feel privileged to work with the ADF warfighters and personally rewarded and satisfied when we see our science

directly impacting on the warfighter.” This award provides our teams with outstanding recognition that DST Group, highly values our research that seeks to maximise warfighters effectiveness and safety in an austere operating environment.

Australian soldiers have benefited from Mark’s research into the prevention and treatment of heat injuries.

His team developed an inexpensive hand-held device for ADF personnel to monitor environmental conditions in remote locations and reduce exposure to heat stress.

Mark’s team also led the ground-breaking research program that introduced objective physical performance criteria for the selection and training of Defence personnel, opening opportunities for women to undertake tasks from which they were previously excluded.

Special Operations Commander Major-General Jeffrey Sengelman (formerly Head Modernisation and Strategic Planning in Army Headquarters) is proud of the collaborative team effort over the past four years to enhance the program.

“It’s come because we’ve worked together, because we believe in what we’re doing. The leadership has got behind us and supported the operators and the outcomes are fantastic,” Jeffrey says.

“Over the past four years, the relationship we’ve had in enhancing the program to make this the team of teams that supports the warfighter who goes in harm’s way has come a long way.

“I can say with confidence today that when Australian soldiers deploy individually they have the best kit in the world for the jobs they are given.”

Mark says Technology continues to rapidly evolve and human science is essential to ensure that these technologies are both

“WE FEEL PRIVILEGED TO WORK WITH THE ADF

WARFIGHTERS AND PERSONALLY REWARDED

AND SATISFIED WHEN WE SEE OUR SCIENCE

DIRECTLY IMPACTING ON THE WARFIGHTER.”

DR MARK PATTERSON, DEFENCE SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY GROUP

developed and employed to maximise war fighter capabilities. “We’ve had to be persistent and patient in maximising the impact to defence research outputs.”

The Minister’s Award for Achievement in Defence Science has been presented annually since 1988.

The award, which recognises original and outstanding contributions capable of enhancing Australia’s defence effectiveness and efficiency, consists of a crystal trophy and a cash prize of $15,000.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Dr Mark Patterson is focused on the protection and wellbeing of Australian soldiers. Photo: Lauren Larking

Team’s work on MH17 crash recognisedTHE Australian Federal Police (AFP) has honoured five Defence scientists for their support during the initial response and investigation into the MH17 disaster.

The team of scientists from Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) were pulled together at short notice as part of the Australian Government’s initial response after a request for assistance by the AFP.

The scientists worked in tandem with investigators and forensic specialists to provide them with estimates of the wreckage debris field and provide information that might characterise specific damage from surface-to-air missiles.

A multi-disciplinary team was established to address the requests and was able to respond within 24 hours and follow up with additional information.

In recognition of the value of this initial effort, AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin presented a Commissioner’s Certificate to Dale Quinn, Jeremy Anderson, Kevin Bramley, Mike Grant and Russell Connell.

Dale says the team appreciates the recognition of their contribution to the AFP-led response.

“The ability for us to come together and address the needs of the AFP so quickly is testament to the professionalism and dedication of Defence scientists on this task,” he says.

DSTG contributed to the whole-of-government response to support the investigation and recovery after Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was downed on 17 July 2014 in Ukraine with no survivors.

The Australian Government sent a team of AFP investigators and forensics experts to help identify and repatriate the remains of the passengers and to conduct an investigation into who was responsible for bringing down the aircraft.

Jeremy says DSTG scientists were included in the team that remained back in Australia to assist the AFP in its accident investigation.

“DSTG was uniquely positioned to support this task due to our deep scientific knowledge and experience in weapons systems and warhead terminal effects,” Jeremy says.

In support of the resulting international investigation, being led by the Netherlands’ authorities, the AFP sought further input from DSTG.

A work program was subsequently developed that forms a component of Australia’s contribution to the investigation, and is now nearing conclusion.

This ongoing effort includes the support of additional Defence scientists.


BEST CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT


A framework that has created a stronger and expanded network of research capability to meet Defence priorities has been recognised

DEFENCE has won the Best Creative Engagement Strategy Award from Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia, the peak

body promoting commercialisation and technology transfer. The award is recognition of the Defence Science Partnerships framework developed by Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) to form research collaborations between Defence and the Australian university sector.

Since it was established 18 months ago, the framework has streamlined and significantly improved the process for Defence engagement with universities.

Chief Partnerships and Engagement Dr Len Sciacca, of DSTG, says a more strategic approach is required to better manage capability in the innovation system to ensure it aligns with Defence requirements.

“The Defence Science Partnerships framework establishes a single deed for use with all universities, as well as a standardised agreement and method for costing research inputs,” Len says.

“This is a novel approach that has been

negotiated in collaboration with a representative sample of universities and has now been embraced by 27 universities across Australia.

“Other research organisations like CSIRO and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation are keen to emulate this model for their own engagement with universities.”

The framework also allows for the sharing of infrastructure, scholarships, staff exchanges and a simplified intellectual property regime.

A team in DSTG’s Technology Partnership Office, headed by Robert Peile and Victoria Pitt, developed the framework, assisted by Troy Thomas, of Defence Legal.

One of the aims of the new model is to reduce transaction times and overheads.

During the first financial year of operation, the average time taken to process agreements has more than halved from 86 days to 38 days, while the number of agreements to be processed has risen to 240 in the year.

Chief Defence Scientist Alex Zelinsky says this is an excellent result.

“It is in keeping with an initiative of our strategic plan, in line with the First Principles Review, to streamline business processes and

administration,” Alex says. “More importantly, the Defence Science Partnership framework creates a much stronger and expanded network of research capability to meet Defence priorities.

“It gives Defence a bigger bang for our research dollar.”

The award is proof of DSTG’s success in forging strong external relationships.

“The First Principles Review recommended we strengthen partnerships with academic and research institutions,” he says.

“For more than two years we have been single-minded in our pursuit of joint research and collaboration with industry and academia. The Best Creative Engagement Strategy Award is a validation of our efforts.”

He says DSTG will not be resting on its laurels.

“We will continue to work on strategic partnerships and collaborative programs to facilitate knowledge exchange for building Defence capability,” Alex says.

“Teamwork between Government, industry and universities is the only way we can truly achieve the best outcome for the ADF.”

ACHIEVEMENTS

From left, Robert Peile and Victoria Pitt, of Defence Science and Technology Group, with Defence Legal member Troy Thomas.

AMEMBER of the RAAF School of Administration and Logistics Training (RAAFSALT) has been recognised for her outstanding executive skills.

Carmel Freeman, the Training Support Administration Officer at RAAFSALT, was nominated the Executive and Administrative Support Award of the Year (APS 2-5) at a ceremony in Canberra on 30 September 2015.

The award recognises the contribution of people in executive support roles who have delivered outstanding achievements and exemplified the behaviours valued in the APS.

RAAFSALT’s Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Wendy Gill, says Carmel provides invaluable support to the unit and is always willing to lend a guiding hand.

“In an average year, RAAFSALT trains more than 1200 students including civilians, members of all three Services and occasionally overseas students across 100 sessions,” Wendy says.

“Carmel holds a wealth of corporate knowledge and is willing to share information to ensure the continued effectiveness of the school.

“She is widely regarded as the heart of RAAFSALT and has had a positive effect on thousands of initial employment and post-graduate trainees.”

Carmel, who has been a member of RAAFSALT since its inception in 2005, says she is pleased and honoured to have been nominated.

“It is great to be acknowledged for my contribution to the organisation in this way,” she says.

“Over the years I’ve worked for the organisation I’ve received terrific support, advice and assistance, not only from my colleagues, but also from the wider RAAF community.”

While Carmel did not win the award, her commitment and dedication to Air Force was recognised with a certificate.

Staff from the RAAFSALT also attended the Executive and Administrative Support Awards in support of their colleague.

HEART OF RAAFSALTRAAF School of Administration

and Logistics Training employee praised for

outstanding contribution

Flight Lieutenant Jason Wirth

“CARMEL HOLDS A WEALTH OF CORPORATE

KNOWLEDGE.”WING COMMANDER WENDY GILL,

CO RAAFSALT

Carmel Freeman, Executive and Administrative Support Award of the Year nominee. Photo: Corporal Sheridan Kelly

ACHIEVEMENTS


BRIGHT FUTURE


The APS Commissioner says the Public Service is well equipped to meet the challenges it

faces in 2016 and beyond

PUBLIC SERVICE

THE APS is well positioned to meet the priorities for 2016 and beyond, but it cannot be complacent about its success. This was the message from APS Commissioner John Lloyd when the 2014-15 State of the Service report was tabled in Parliament on

30 November 2015.John highlights the digital revolution, an ageing population,

the end of the resources boom and the need to balance forward budgets as key challenges the APS must address, but notes the APS is a resilient and effective institution, operating in a complex and challenging environment.

“The APS will respond to its challenges by improving capability, performance and productivity,” John says.

“Much is being done by agencies individually and in collaboration.

“Australians want services from government with similar features to those they receive from the private sector: fast, online, personalised, competitively priced and open to feedback.”

He says it is also important to equip human resource professionals to play a strategic role in the leadership of the APS.

“Historically, the focus of human resource has been on the delivery of transactional and operational services,” he says.

“While these remain important, increasingly public sector agencies look for a strategic contribution from HR. This includes a heightened focus on talent management and development. Strategic workforce planning is also required to align people with changing organisational requirements.”

The format of the 2014-15 report is shorter than in previous years. John says he is keen to ensure the report reaches a wider audience than it has in the past.

“Much of the evidence base for the assessments of the 2014-15 report has already been provided on the State of the Service website,” he says.

“Since August, short, targeted content updates have been published once or twice a week. These updates cover issues such as leadership in the APS, diversity, employee engagement, staff mobility, APS workforce numbers, integrity and the Code of Conduct.

“The release of data and information on a continuous cycle enables APS employees and agencies to use analyses and findings in their own work earlier than in previous years. It also enables the APS Commission to facilitate discussion on issues relevant to the state of the service.”

He says the latest report focuses on contemporary challenges and opportunities, and identifies the strategically important issues that have to be addressed for the APS to enhance its performance.

“I encourage feedback on the new approach to the report and how it can be made more relevant and useful in future,” he says.

The report can be read in full at www.apsc.gov.au and feedback can be emailed to [email protected]

Joint Logistics Unit – South personnel Colin Sherriff and

Sarah Smurthwaite conduct a stocktake at the Edinburgh clothing store.

Photo: Corporal Nicci Freeman

State of the Service ReportWorkforce capability at a glance

Agencies rate their project management and stakeholder engagement capabilities highly. Areas for improvement include innovation, talent management and workforce planning.

Investment to ensure sufficient focus on leadership and talent management has occurred.

Building workforce diversity remains a priority for the APS with a recent increase in focus on improving employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

A credible, capable and strategic human resources profession is needed to ensure the APS has the leadership and workforce capabilities required to meet its future needs. Work is under way to achieve this.

The APS employment framework

The objectives of the Government’s bargaining policy are to facilitate balancing forward budgets, and improve workforce flexibility, productivity and efficiency.

The majority of APS employees remain satisfied with their monetary and non-monetary conditions of service.

Modernising the APS employment framework includes improving recruitment and performance management processes and enabling increased mobility between the public and private sectors.

The APSC is developing guidance material for human resource practitioners and managers to help equip them to have effective performance discussions.

Public sector performance

The APS relies on a combination of people, processes, systems, structures and culture to deliver services to the Government and public.

Capability reviews demonstrate that the areas of public sector performance where the greatest improvement is required are talent management, workforce planning and innovation.

Digital transformation and innovation are areas of focus for the APS in improving organisational capability and performance.

APS Values and promoting integrity

The effectiveness of the APS relies on a values-based culture that encourages trust and accountability.

Internationally, Australia is perceived to be one of the most corruption-free countries in the world.

The level of serious misconduct in the APS remains low, with fewer breaches of the APS Code of Conduct investigated in 2014-15 than in 2013-14.

Most APS employees consistently agree their senior leaders, immediate supervisors and colleagues act in accordance with the APS Values.

Agencies continue to develop their policies and procedures for managing integrity risks and dealing with reports of misconduct.

THE APS HAS A LONG HISTORY SUPPORTING SUCCESSIVE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS.

THE APS HAS A HIGHLY ENGAGED WORKFORCE.

A STRONG AND COMPELLING EMPLOYMENT PROPOSITION IS CRITICAL TO ATTRACTING THE BEST CANDIDATES.

THE RECRUITMENT OF GRADUATES CONTINUED DURING RECRUITMENT RESTRICTIONS, CONFIRMING THEIR ONGOING IMPORTANCE TO APS RENEWAL.

Design and Development tailors Hai Tran and Liga Smith work with Major John Taylor on body armour

prototype at the Diggerworks facility at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne.

Photo: Lauren Larking

Joint Logistics Unit – South personnel Colin Sherriff and

Sarah Smurthwaite conduct a stocktake at the Edinburgh clothing store.

Photo: Corporal Nicci Freeman


IMPROVINGGENDER

DIVERSITY


Senior leadership pushes for a more diverse workforce at Women in Defence conference

THE Women in Defence – Our People and Capability conference has reinforced Defence’s commitment to improve gender diversity across the organisation.

CDF Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin and VCDF Vice Admiral Ray Griggs opened the two-day event on 13-14 October 2015, declaring a more diverse workforce will improve capability, pushing for more women in key leadership roles.

About 250 guests from across Defence, government agencies, allied militaries and industry, attended day one of the two-day conference in Canberra.

Erica Gold, who works with the New Zealand Defence Force, gave a presentation on the effects of female military personnel improving capability, demonstrating the vital role women play on deployment.

Lieutenant Colonel Dave Benson, of Workforce Strategy – Army, says Erica’s research presents some great ideas.

“She questioned the roles women can have that men can’t, in terms of capability,” he says.

“This is an important lens that can be used to review how gender diversity can enhance our capability.

“Long-held paradigms within the ADF need to be revisited, reviewed and potentially discarded.”

Dave says the ADF has come a long way since he joined.

“Policy changes and, more importantly, cultural changes, have led to a more positive environment,” he says.

The Executive Officer of HMAS Cerberus, Commander Melanie Verho, pointed out how much has changed since she joined the Navy in 1990.

“We are judging people on their performance, skills and ability, not their gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation,” Melanie says.

“In my role it’s more about recognising the unconscious bias we have when we make assumptions based on gender, and becoming

more self-aware to begin to mitigate this problem.”

The idea of unconscious bias was a theme throughout the event. Like Commander Verho, many guests pledged to take the initiative to be more aware of assumptions they made based on gender.

Squadron Leader Naomi Gill, of the Directorate of Personnel – Air Force, says Defence has started talking more about issues surrounding cultural change and developing a stronger understanding of ways to move forward.

“The conference shed light on the issue of unconscious bias as something we need to be aware of,” Squadron Leader Gill says.

“I agree with Liz Broderick, who moderated a panel with the Service Chiefs and representatives from private industry. If we do not intentionally include women we unintentionally exclude them.

“We need to have the difficult conversations and work out ways to overcome these problems.”

The conference also shed light on the future of our ADF, with Service Chiefs participating in a frank and informative panel discussion pushing for a workforce that is representative of our 51 per cent female Australian population.

Day two was an intimate forum with leaders and diversity experts from across Defence given the opportunity to delve deeper into some of the ideas and topics explored on day one, while brainstorming ways in which these ideas could become a reality.

It was the second time Thomas Hoffman, of Defence People Group, organised the conference.

“Working on a high profile event, with strong support from Defence senior leadership, has been very rewarding,” Thomas says.

“Feedback has been extremely positive as this is an important topic for Defence and I think the event showcased the commitment to progressing these issues.”

Holly Brambley

WORKING TOGETHER

“IT’S MORE ABOUT RECOGNISING THE

UNCONSCIOUS BIAS WE HAVE WHEN WE

MAKE ASSUMPTIONS BASED ON GENDER,

AND BECOMING MORE SELF-AWARE TO BEGIN

TO MITIGATE THIS PROBLEM.”

COMMANDER MELANIE VERHO, EXECUTIVE OFFICER HMAS CERBERUS

The Service Chiefs address the audience during a panel discussion at the conference.

Participants in the Women in Pacific Defence Forces Seminar.

Photos: Lauren Larking

Women in Pacific Defence Forces Seminar

ELEVEN female military personnel from across the South Pacific, including Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and Tonga, met in Canberra to participate in the Women in Pacific Defence Forces seminar from 12-14 October 2015.

The seminar, which was an outcome of the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting held in Port Moresby earlier this year, aimed to promote the positive role women play in the military and to encourage more women to aspire to leadership roles.

Delegates also attended the CDF’s annual Women in Defence conference where they had the opportunity to hear Service Chiefs advocate the benefits of gender diversity.

Lieutenant Ungatea Tu’ivailala, the first female commissioned officer in the Tongan military and the first Tongan female officer

to deploy to Afghanistan, says seeing such senior officers pledging themselves as ‘Champions of Change’ is heartening.

“It gives me optimism for the future role of women in regional militaries,” she says.

The seminar also focused on the significance of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 Women, Peace and Security, which reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, as well as peace operations and humanitarian response.

Director National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security Navy Captain Jennifer Wittwer, says the resolution acknowledges that increasing the representation of women is important.

“This gives militaries a more flexible and adaptive workforce and contributes to

operational effectiveness,” she says.International Policy Division staff

consulted with both gender subject matter experts and Defence advisers in the South Pacific while planning the event.

Lula Dembele, a Policy Officer in the Pacific and Timor-Leste Branch, says she is encouraged by the progress made in promoting the role of women in Defence in Australia.

“I was delighted to share some lessons with other women in the security sectors in the region,” she says.

The next steps for the Women in Pacific Defence Forces initiative will see a range of follow-on activities being offered, including in-country training, career mentoring and staff officer secondments between Pacific regional partners.

Sarah Llewellyn


INCLUDING OUR DISABLED


Network aims to raise awareness of the challenges faced by people with disability and ensure Defence is an

employer of choice

Carla Roscoe

THE Defence Disability Employee Network (DEN) was launched as Defence members celebrated the UN-sanctioned International Day for People with Disability

(IDPwD) on 3 December 2015. IDPwD aims to promote an understanding

of disability and seeks to increase awareness of the valuable contribution people with disability make in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Deputy Secretary Defence People Group Rebecca Skinner says by marking this important day, Defence is demonstrating its commitment to inclusion and diversity as an organisation.

“While we still have a way to go before we could claim that inclusion is business as usual, Defence is working hard to improve the experience of every diverse group in our workforce, including people with disability,” she says.

Defence celebrated the day by hosting a number of events, including the launch of the DEN. The network aims to empower all Defence personnel by raising awareness of the challenges faced by people with disability, finding inclusive solutions to support people with disability and acknowledging the successes of Defence people with disabilities.

Director of Diversity Nikki Curtin says the network will build disability confidence in Defence.

“It provides a forum to raise ideas and solutions that will increase the accessibility for people with disability,” she says.

“By establishing the DEN and other disability programs in Defence, workplace barriers facing our colleagues living with disability are broken down, ensuring that Defence is an employer of choice for this group in our community.”

Disability Employee Network Convener Jay Sullivan says he is “excited to see what the network will achieve for Defence employees with a disability. ‘Inclusion matters’ is a theme for the IDPwD, and it does

Director Diversity and Inclusion–Navy

Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Macklin (centre) with

Ellie Tonkin (left) and Allex Allen at the International

Day of People with Disability celebration at Russell

Offices in Canberra.

WORKING TOGETHER


“BY ESTABLISHING THE DEN AND OTHER DISABILITY

PROGRAMS IN DEFENCE, WORKPLACE BARRIERS

FACING OUR COLLEAGUES LIVING WITH DISABILITY

ARE BROKEN DOWN, ENSURING THAT DEFENCE

IS AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE FOR THIS GROUP

IN OUR COMMUNITY.”REBECCA SKINNER, DEPUTY SECRETARY

DEFENCE PEOPLE GROUP

Deputy Secretary Defence People Rebecca Skinner (second left) with other guest speakers and

attendees at the International Day of People with Disability event at Russell Offices in Canberra.

Photo: Able Seaman Jake Badior

The 2015 International Day

of People with Disability ribbon.

matter. It makes organisations better – better to work with, and better to work for.

“In an organisation like Defence it requires proactive champions and ongoing communication about what we are doing and how well we are doing it.

“The DEN is an opportunity to be practically involved in ensuring Defence continues to move forward towards its future goals as an employer of choice for people with disability.”

Along with the celebrations on the day, Defence proudly participated in Lights Up for People with Disability during the week of 30 November 2015.

The colours of blue – used to signify equality and accessibility – and orange – for harmony and diversity – were projected

after dark on buildings R1 and R2 at Russell Offices in Canberra.

“By lighting up the main buildings at Russell, we are making a visible statement of our commitment to people with disability,” Rebecca says.

Buildings at Russell Offices were among 15 Australian landmarks lit up for people with a disability, including Telstra Tower in Canberra, Federation Square in Melbourne and Sydney Town Hall.

Membership of the DEN is open to all Defence personnel with disability, or those with an interest in progressing issues relating to people with disability.

For more information, contact [email protected]

LEARNING TO KEEP THE PEACE


Dispute resolution practitioners don’t just use their negotiation and communication skills in the office

WORKING TOGETHER

Helen Marks

D ISPUTE resolution is viewed by many as resolving problems with a co-worker or supervisor. But dispute resolution incorporates so much more, as an integrated team

of APS and ADF members discovered last year. Carol Bowen, Squadron Leader Eugene

Wadsworth and Captain Sue Brereton delivered negotiation, communication and cultural training during Exercise Garuda Kookaburra in Indonesia in 2015.

As part of the exercise, members of the Indonesian and Australian militaries undertook training organised by the Australian Peace Operations Training Centre.

The training included a two-day negotiation, communication and cultural module presented by Sue, who works at the Alternative Resolution and Equity Technical Authority in Sydney. She was joined by dispute resolution practitioner Carol, who is based at Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, and dispute resolution panel member Eugene, of RAAF Base Amberley.

“The types of disputes encountered by personnel working in a United Nations peacekeeping mission may, at first glance, seem to be far more complex than a workplace dispute,” Sue says.

“But the issues at the core of these disputes aren’t unlike the drivers of a workplace dispute.

“Questions of dignity, cultural awareness, values, beliefs, equity and fairness are married to the individual’s needs, especially the ideas of the right to be heard and respected.”

Sue believes these types of questions are omnipresent in conflict and disputes – it is where the deployment of sound negotiation and communication skills can achieve resolution.

The culminating activity of the training in Indonesia put the students through two days of realistic peacekeeping scenarios acted out by role players, conducted across six different stages.

Every stage included a cultural aspect as well as negotiation and communication skills across problems of varying complexity and threat level.

Alternative dispute resolution practitioner Carol Bowen.


“QUESTIONS OF DIGNITY, CULTURAL AWARENESS,

VALUES, BELIEFS, EQUITY AND FAIRNESS ARE MARRIED TO THE INDIVIDUAL’S NEEDS,

ESPECIALLY THE IDEAS OF THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD

AND RESPECTED.”CAPTAIN SUE BRERETON,

CROSS CULTURAL AND INDIGENOUS DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROJECT OFFICER

Captain Sue Brereton works at the Alternative Resolution and Equity Technical Authority. Photo: Corporal Aaron Curran

Squadron Leader Eugene

Wadsworth. Photo: Leading

Aircraftman Brenton Kwaterski

The team delivered feedback to the students during the culminating activity on how effectively the skills learned from the two-day module were applied in the scenarios.

The team also learned a great deal from working in an unfamiliar and challenging cultural environment.

According to Carol, the most important lesson was that culturally appropriate negotiation and communication skills, combined with a solid theoretical understanding of dispute resolution and conflict, are critical to success in the culturally diverse and challenging environment in which peacekeepers operate.

“The best resolution, whether in a workplace in Canberra or facing a roadblock in a volatile area of the world, means a workable solution, a win-win situation for the parties involved, or a negotiated agreement on how to move forward from the problem,” Carol says.

She has seen many APS members in leadership positions undertake similar communication and negotiation training to add to their set of skills.

“Leaders and managers at all levels with sound, well-developed communication and negotiation skills have the ability to engage their workforce and enjoy better workplace

relationships,” Carol says. “These skills enable the leader or manager to deal with conflict or disputes at the lowest appropriate level.

“Negotiation and communication are at the heart of all our interactions with each other. Refined and practised skills in the craft of negotiation and communication are important in our Defence culture.”

Sue says the Defence culture is complex.“It is a labyrinth of intersecting and

overlaying elements across the Services and Groups, as well as the cultural values that we bring with us from childhood,” she says.

“Importantly, the skills that help us negotiate workplace culture can also assist in negotiating the cultural nuances in a war-torn region of the world.

“These skills are also fundamental to capability, leadership and management, especially during periods of significant change. They are skills that seamlessly move across cultural differences, types of disputes and conflicts and contexts, both for the ADF and APS.

“They are skills that, once learned, are employable in any context where a negotiation well executed will benefit all.”


Defence grows teamwork, networking opportunities and wins awards in

activities outside the office

A TEAM of eight novice Defence rowers took first place in the Corporate Rowing Regatta in Canberra on 22 November. The event was designed for corporate networking and to give people with no previous rowing experience a chance to get on the

water and develop skills. The focus was on achieving teamwork and a shared

commitment to achieve common goals through communication, synchronisation, motivation and mutual support.

Defence had three teams made up of APS, contractors and ADF personnel in the six-boat event, and spent four weeks training to be race ready.

A large number of participants were from the Chief Information Officer Group (CIOG). This is the 10th year CIOG has entered crews as a corporate team-building, leadership and personal development activity, and was the most successful to date.

Natasha Pilipovic, of the winning Defence Red team, was well placed to watch the team’s performance.

As the coxswain, she says she was able to observe everything that was going on.

“Every session you could see a little improvement. The most important thing is the team works together.”

Of the six teams, Defence boats finished first, second and fourth, but Natasha says her biggest challenge was rising early.

“It’s a good achievement saying you got up three times a week at 5am,” she says.

“I think I picked up the rowing techniques pretty quickly and the whole team built up our strength and skills together.

“My friend said I wouldn’t be able to get up at five in the morning, so I wanted to prove her wrong.

“Being on the lake and watching the sunrise was beautiful and it was also great making friends with everyone.”

Chief Petty Officer Andrew Horsburgh, who coached the Red team, says it can take up to five years to become a competitive rower, but he aimed to teach the basics in the four-week program.

“It’s important to keep in time with each other as a crew of eight,” he says.

“Even if you row badly, but you row badly in time, you’ll get a better result.

“In regattas like that, races are often not won – they are lost by something like getting an oar caught under the water, which can slow or stop a boat. So we try and train them so that doesn’t happen.”

People interested in the sport of rowing should visit the Australian Defence Force Rowing Association website at: http://drnet.defence.gov.au/VCDF/Sports-Rowing/

Corporal Max Bree

IN SYNC

WORKING TOGETHER

The Defence Red team conducts their last training session on

Lake Burley Griffin before the Corporate Rowing Regatta.

Photos: Corporal Max Bree

“I THINK I PICKED UP THE ROWING

TECHNIQUES PRETTY QUICKLY AND THE

WHOLE TEAM BUILT UP OUR STRENGTH AND

SKILLS TOGETHER.”NATASHA PILIPOVIC,

DEFENCE RED ROWING TEAM


Kim Gillis explains why he has returned to Defence with a fresh perspective

CAPABILITY


PLANNING FORSUCCESS

THE abolition of the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and the creation of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) was necessary,

according to recently appointed Deputy Secretary CASG Kim Gillis.

Responsible for the acquisition and sustainment of capability for the ADF, the introduction of CASG signified the beginning of a significant shift in the way business is done with Defence industry.

Embracing the need for change, Kim brings a fresh perspective to Defence, most recently performing the role of Managing Director of Boeing Defence Australia.

Returning to Defence during a time of great activity, Kim was attracted to the Deputy Secretary CASG position by what he saw as positive change outlined in the First Principles Review.

“I read the First Principles Review report when it was first published while I was on a plane flying between Brisbane and Canberra. By the time I’d landed in Canberra I’d read it and thought ‘this is actually a workable plan’,” Kim says.

Supplying support to the warfighters, Service Chiefs, Vice Chief of the Defence Force and Chief of Joint Operations, Kim says he saw CASG’s role and function in Defence as one he could actually believe in.

“It looked to me as though it put CASG where I think it needed to be, which was sitting in the middle of the Defence organisation,” he says.

“I left the organisation last time because I believed we were moving too far away from Defence in the role of prescription and even the attempt to become an executive agency.”

During his time within the then-DMO, Kim rose to the position of General Manager Systems and Deputy Chief Executive Officer before departing in 2010.

Since his return, Kim has seen vast areas of improvement in the Department and what’s now CASG, particularly in the Land Systems Division.

“The changes that former Head of Land Systems Division, Major General Paul McLachlan, implemented through his leadership have been phenomenal, but there are a lot of other areas where I think the old DMO went backwards,” Kim says.

He also believes the former DMO had become too process-ridden and too hierarchical.

“Everything had to go up to the CEO for approval and it really didn’t empower the organisation as a whole,” he says.

“I think it’s a balance – there were some good organisational changes and some good leadership inside the old organisation, but I think the structure and methodology they were using wasn’t getting the organisation to where it needed to be.”

Having more than 10 years’ experience in Defence industry including Austal Ships, Kim brings with him the priceless advantage of industry perspective.

A key point identified in the First Principles Review was that industry is fundamental to the successful delivery of capability. Kim has embraced this shift and says to work with industry effectively we need to understand their psychology, their motivations and their structures.

“You need to know how American companies work versus European companies versus Asian companies,” he says.

“I think the benefit of having been a member of the Australian Industry Group Council and witnessing how industry operates and inter-relates gives me insight into their perspective. I understand what they need us to do to support them to deliver the capability to our warfighters.

“Another thing is that I know the CEOs in industry well and I have a strong relationship with them and that certainly helps.”

Visiting bases and System Program Offices (SPOs) around the country during CASG roadshows late last year, Kim spoke at length about the importance of diversity and inclusion in the organisation and says that any society that doesn’t equally value 100 per

Sophie Pearse

cent of its resources isn’t going to be efficient or effective.

“In our organisation, we have diversities between males and females and other groups and we need to be as inclusive as we can to get the best possible outcome,” he says.

“The differences in the way people think are only going to benefit us because you get a diversity of views, diversity of opinions and diversity of approaches. If you get those co-ordinated you can actually make a huge difference.

“My experience has been that when I have a diverse group in my leadership team or in a project team, or indeed a diverse group in anything, you get better outcomes; it’s as simple as that.”

Kim is ready to face the challenges that lie ahead and believes CASG needs to work on simplifying its processes. One of the biggest changes will be the introduction of the Smart Buyer model.

“The philosophy behind Smart Buyer is that you should spend the minimum amount of resources necessary to effectively purchase a piece of equipment,” he says.

“With a large, next-generation submarine

Kim Gillis is embracing the

need for change. Photo: Grace Costa


I’m expecting a large workforce spending many years doing lots of complex analysis and documentation, but at the other end there are a lot of things we purchase that are relatively simple and we should spend a short amount of time and little documentation actually purchasing those. That unleashes the capability of the organisation and resources of the organisation to balance where we actually have to deliver our capability, so it’s common sense.”

His philosophy is that in order to ensure change we need to allow the right people to make the right decisions for the right types of acquisition and sustainment. We also need longer relationships with industry while holding them clearly accountable to deliver outcomes.

As it comes to fruition, CASG will begin a number of outsourcing exercises for SPOs, or parts of SPOs, ensuring that industry understands their accountability and responsibility.

“When CASG better understands what its own cost and performance structures are, we can successfully and confidently move forward,” Kim says.

“MY EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN THAT WHEN I HAVE A DIVERSE

GROUP IN MY LEADERSHIP TEAM OR IN A PROJECT

TEAM, OR INDEED A DIVERSE GROUP IN ANYTHING, YOU

GET BETTER OUTCOMES; IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT.”

KIM GILLIS, DEPUTY SECRETARY, CAPABILITY

ACQUISITION AND SUSTAINMENT GROUP

TANKER TRIUMPH


A Defence and industry team has worked tirelessly on a project to acquire two new refuelling aircraft

Sophie Pearse

A N INNOVATIVE project will deliver two additional KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft at an attractive price and has been approved in record time, thanks to the collaboration, teamwork

and agility of a Defence and industry team.In late February 2015, Capability Acquisition and

Sustainment Group (CASG) was tasked to investigate a proposal to acquire and bring into service two additional KC-30As to add to the existing order of five.

While many projects can take up to four years to come to fruition, in the space of four months AIR 7403 Phase 3 went from a discussion between Airbus Defence and Space (DS) and Air Force to a contracted order.

Air-to-Air Refuelling Project Director Luke Brown says the team, comprising members of CASG, Air Force and Capability Development Group, worked with Airbus DS to pull together the project approval and draft contract material.

CAPABILITY

An Air Force KC-30A Tanker Transport refuels an E-7A Wedgetail. Inset, Air-to-Air Refuelling Project Director Luke Brown.Photos: Phillip Vavasour and Flight Lieutenant Drew Abbott

“A recognised capability need matched a particular opportunity to acquire additional aircraft quite quickly and we had two things line up to make this possible,” Luke says.

“One of those was the proposal we were developing, which was based on two used A330 aircraft that were being operated by Qantas.

“By the end of February, we knew we could develop an attractive proposal based on these aircraft but, due to aircraft market availability, we would need to be in contract by 30 June to realise the opportunity.”

The second was that the two aircraft were of similar age and configuration as Air Force’s in-service fleet.

This made the required conversions easier with lower operating costs.

A team from across Defence worked tirelessly to collect project approval documentation, negotiate the contract and have it ready for signature upon Government approval.

Defence was in contract the next day. Project Engineering Manager

Wing Commander Andrew Harrigan and his team were responsible for ensuring the aircraft’s condition and configuration was suitable, that sufficient data would be delivered and the aircraft could be integrated as seamlessly as possible into the operational and sustainment systems for the existing KC-30As.

“We worked with Airbus DS, Qantas and the previous owner to determine the aircraft’s suitability, identify data requirements and develop the overall project schedule to deliver this capability to Air Force,” Andrew says.

“This was all completed in just over four months and necessitated close engagement with each stakeholder.

“By working together to establish this project, we’ve reaffirmed a strong working relationship with Defence and industry that will take the project through to delivery of the additional KC-30A capability.”

The first A330 was purchased in Singapore and transported to Spain in July 2015.

Engineering manager and project technical lead Squadron Leader Damien Maldon travelled

to Singapore twice to oversee the progress. “Being over there with the responsibility to

work with the Airbus DS team on the quality and configuration aspects of the baseline A330 to establish a starting point for additional Air Force capability was a rewarding experience,” Damien says.

“A lot of stuff had to come together very quickly, and the collaboration between CASG and Air Force Headquarters, No. 86 Wing, No. 33 Squadron and the Heavy Air Lift Systems Project Office, as well as the Airbus DS quality team, made it possible.

“It’s been some long hours, but it is satisfying to get to that point where we’re signed off and we have an aircraft now over in Spain ready to get converted.”

The second A330 was purchased in Singapore on 25 November 2015 and both aircraft will be converted in Madrid in 2016-17.

For more on the Multi Role Tanker Transport, visit www.airforce.gov.au/Technology/Aircraft/

TYPE: KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport

MANUFACTURER: Airbus Military

ROLE: Air-to-air refuelling, long-range troop transport

CREW: Pilot, co-pilot, one air refuelling officer, one mission coordinator and up to eight crew attendants

ENGINE: Two General Electric CF6-80E1A3 engines

AIRFRAME: Height 17.4m;Length 59m

WINGSPAN: 60.3m

WEIGHT: 233 tonnes (max take-off); 180 tonnes (max landing)

CRUISE SPEED: 860km/h

RANGE: 14,800km

CEILING: 41,000 feet

CAPACITY: Up to 270 passengers, or 34,000kg of cargo, or 111 tonnes of fuel

Facts & figures


TEAM ON TARGET


TO ENGAGE a surface target from the air with pinpoint accuracy or take out an enemy on the first floor of a building, leaving the rest of the structure relatively intact, is a

capability Navy has never had – until now. The AGM-114N Hellfire air-to-ground

missile, also known as Hellfire November, was accepted into the Fleet in August 2015 and rounds out the devastating weapons complement of Navy’s MH60R Seahawk helicopter.

The seamless transition from acquisition to sustainment to acceptance into service on budget and on time can be attributed to a team from Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), headed by MH60R (Weapons) Project manager Tom McLaren.

He says he came in late in the transition of the AGM-114N from project to sustainment and was pleased by the smooth and efficient manner with which the team managed the project.

“The project team worked hard to achieve early handover of this weapon to the through-life sustainment team and I would like to acknowledge the team at RAAF Guided Weapons System Program Office (RAAFGWSPO), Defence Establishment Orchard Hills, who accepted responsibility for sustainment of the Hellfire November for Navy,” Tom says.

“My team did a fantastic job in doing everything that needed to be done so the transition could be smooth and that we didn’t hand off any additional work to the sustainment organisation.”

Project Transition Manager Kent Murrells says the CASG team in Canberra was responsible for training, spares, support equipment and transporting and storing the weapons.

“We acquired the missile itself, conducted engineering certification and implemented a support system to sustain the missile through its life,” Kent says.

He says there were no significant obstacles between the acquisition and sustainment teams, however, the training of warfighters provided some challenges.

“The project manager at the time, Grant Williams, and I travelled to Jacksonville in Florida in August 2013 to train our warfighters,” Kent says.

“There were a lot of stakeholders in geographically dispersed locations both in Australia and the US and an array of Australian

Sharon Palmer and Leading Seaman Jayson Tufrey

CABABILITY

Teamwork initiated and coordinated by the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group enabled a smooth transition

of the AGM-114N Hellfire air-to-ground missile into service

Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group’s MH-60R (Weapons) Team, Lieutenant Commander Robin Haller-Trost, Kent Murrells, Tom McLaren and Lieutenant Rory Lea-Mclaren, at Brindabella Business Park in Canberra. Photo: Leading Seaman Jayson Tufrey

and US Government uniformed and civilian officials and contractors all involved in the delivery of this important capability.

“We conducted a training readiness review with the MH60R maintenance crews and US Army trainers.

“Coordinating that review ensured an effective training outcome which culminated in 36 Royal Australian Navy technicians being trained to conduct operational maintenance of the missile.”

The Army Guided Weapons Integrated Product Team, a part of RAAFGWSPO, manages the sustainment of the GM-114N Hellfire Missile.

Deputy Director Logistics Support Unit at GWSPO Bernadine Green says the smooth transition to sustainment of the Hellfire November was a direct result of the collaborative approach taken by the acquisition team at the outset of the project.

“Regular communication between the teams ensures that long-term sustainment requirements, such as maintenance regimes

and future procurements, are discussed early on,” she says. “This leads to more transparent and meaningful decisions, which provide more effective and efficient outcomes for the customers.

“For instance, historical surveillance data maintained by the sustainment team was considered by the project team resulting in more accurate forecasts for spares and maintenance activities.

“Scheduled procurement activities were agreed to in consultation resulting in more realistic budget estimations, forward planning and greater accountability for those involved.”

Kent says without this collaborative approach the success of the project would have been compromised.

“We acknowledged the subject matter expertise of RAAFGWSPO and they in turn acknowledged our project management expertise,” he says. “The relationship between us was collaborative, collegial and deliberately inclusive and engaging at all times and led to a timely and successful outcome.”

“THE PROJECT TEAM WORKED HARD

TO ACHIEVE EARLY HANDOVER OF

THIS WEAPON TO THE THROUGH-LIFE

SUSTAINMENT TEAM.”TOM MCLAREN,

MH60R (WEAPONS) PROJECT MANAGER

What is the AGM-114N?

Aircraft 902 from Navy’s 75 Squadron fires the first Hellfire November missile from the

MH60R Seahawk helicopter in Florida, US. Photo: Lieutenant Commander Stephan Immerz


THE AGM-114N, better known as Hellfire ‘November’, is an air-to-surface missile.

It has multi-mission, multi-target precision strike ability and can be launched from air, sea and ground platforms.

The Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (Tiger) employs the ‘Mike’ variant of the Hellfire missile.

When used against land targets, military planners are able use computer modelling to determine the precise direction and angle of attack needed to destroy desired targets, while sparing nearby civilian facilities.

MH-60R (Weapons) Project manager Tom McLaren says the missile has an “awesome capability”.

He says the Hellfire November’s metal augmented charge warhead is substantially more effective in attacks against enclosed structures, like ships, than the Hellfire Mike’s blast fragmentation variant.

“If the ship is closed down it could blow the doors and hatches off the hinges so the blast will affect a number of compartments beyond the immediate one hit,” Tom says.

Commanding Officer of Navy’s 725 Squadron, Commander Dave Frost, says the Hellfire is an extremely capable weapons system which greatly supports the combat mission of his aircraft.

“The Hellfire system enables the Romeo Helicopter to pack more of a punch in the surface warfare domain,” Dave says.

“The ability to deliver the weapon in a number of modes either as a single aircraft or a section, greatly supports the Navy’s mission of fighting and winning at sea. Based on the

success of firings in the US, it is clear that Navy maintainers and aircrew are rapidly becoming highly proficient with the system.”

Dave says the project moved forward at a great pace across both technical and operational fronts and in training and firing the weapon in the US.

“This is due to the great work across the Fleet Air Arm, Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group and numerous other supporting organisations,” he says.

He is excited about the versatility and interoperability of the missile system.

“The Hellfire is another arrow in our surface warfare quiver and greatly complements the Mag 58 and 50 Cal capabilities of the Romeo Helicopter,” Dave says.

“With supporting communication systems and state-of-the-art sensors that enable crosstalk with ADF and US Navy units, the Romeo can be called on to deliver the Hellfire in a number of arenas.”

Dave is looking forward to the first live firing of a Hellfire Tactical Missile in Australia early 2016.

“A number of organisations are finalising plans to support Hellfire at sea and working hard to develop comprehensive laser safety cases as well as sourcing a suitable target,” he says.

“Although the Navy now has experience firing the weapon in the US, completion of the first exercise firings at an Australian weapons range will establish the foundations for future firings in support of training and test and evaluation for the life of the system.”

PROTECTING OUR FUTURE


Defence joins forces with the WA Department of Parks and Wildlife to ensure Australia’s World Heritage-listed icons are

preserved for generations to come

ENVIRONMENT

Flight Lieutenant Lauretta Webster

ENVIRONMENTAL stewardship near Exmouth involved more than checking out spectacular views and whale watching from the air during Exercise Northern Shield.

The inaugural exercise took place in the Gulf Coast of north-west Australia in September 2015 in an area adjacent to the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef.

When operating in areas of high ecological importance, Defence has a responsibility to ensure the impact on the environment is minimal. This was particularly important before commandos parachuted into the ocean.

Danielle Rob, a conservation officer from the Exmouth office of the Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife, says it is vital environmental surveys are conducted to ensure whales and other marine life are not disturbed during exercises.

“The Exmouth coast is the most significant resting ground for migrating humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere,” Danielle says.

“We took a flight to get an aerial picture of where the whale pods were. It was crucial to do an environmental survey to make sure we weren’t impacting on the animals.”

Surveying the environment during the exercise was an ongoing task, with rangers from the Department of Parks and Wildlife taking part to monitor the area and ensuring the drop zones were clear.

“As part of the mitigation strategies to guarantee we didn’t have an impact on the whales, we actually had one of our marine rangers go out on the boats with the military to ensure that everything went according to plan,” Danielle says.

Lieutenant Colonel David Hoey, the Environmental Officer for Exercise Northern Shield, says Defence always strives to be a good environmental steward.

“Protecting the nation is not just about the physical forces, but also about protecting the environment and the things we all consider important,” he says.

“This is even more relevant when we are operating near a World Heritage-listed environment.

“It is crucial we maintain a trust with the Australian people, particularly local communities, about what we are doing in the country.”

“TO GUARANTEE WE DIDN’T HAVE AN IMPACT

ON THE WHALES, WE HAD ONE OF OUR

MARINE RANGERS GO OUT ON THE BOATS WITH THE MILITARY

TO ENSURE THAT EVERYTHING WENT

ACCORDING TO PLAN.”DANIELLE ROB,

WA PARKS AND WILDLIFE

Right, Exmouth as seen from a King Air.

Left, Danielle Rob and Lieutenant Colonel David Hoey discuss a flight plan.

Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife Conservation Officer Danielle Rob and Environmental Officer Lieutenant Colonel David Hoey look out of an RAAF KA350 King Air to identify humpback whales.Photos: Corporals Janine Fabre and Bill Solomou

Commandos parachute out of a C-130J Hercules during Exercise Northern Shield.

RECORD BREAKING


A record has been set for projects considered by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works

INFRASTRUCTURE

DEFENCE’S Capital Facilities and Infrastructure (CFI) Branch has set a record for projects considered by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public

Works (PWC) and subsequent Parliamentary approvals gained in a calendar year. In 2015 the branch, supported by capability sponsors and industry partners, presented 13 major capital facilities projects to the committee at a total value of about $3.4 billion. Apart from being a record for projects considered in any one year, the total number of hearings conducted in 2015 almost surpassed the previous three years of hearings, where a total of 15 projects were considered by the committee.

CFI Branch, within Infrastructure Division of Estate and Infrastructure Group, is responsible for the development and delivery of all major capital facilities and infrastructure projects for Defence following Government first-pass approval.

Specifically, the branch is responsible for developing projects through industry to a level of design in order to obtain all subsequent departmental, government second-pass and Parliamentary approvals before the start of any construction.

The branch is then responsible for ensuring that projects are delivered safely, within scope, on time, to budget and fit for purpose, until handover of the completed project to Estate Services Division.

Any major capital facilities and infrastructure project, including Defence capability projects, with a facilities and/or infrastructure component that has a total delivery value of more than $15 million, has to receive Parliamentary approval before construction can begin. These major projects are subsequently referred through Parliament to the PWC for consideration and examination, including the conduct of formal public and in-camera hearings.

Director General Capital Facilities and Infrastructure Brigadier Noel Beutel is Defence’s lead witness for all Defence projects considered by the PWC.

“The committee process allows the Parliament and the community a measure

of confidence that public monies spent on infrastructure are being spent appropriately,” Noel says.

“The committee has to consider the need, scope, cost, purpose and value-for-money of proposed works and report to the Parliament before the project can proceed.”

As the main point of contact for all liaison between Defence and the PWC secretariat, Assistant Director Executive Andrea Barrett has the task of managing the workflow of submissions and coordinating the administrative arrangements for all PWC hearings for Defence.

“The process is straightforward and well documented within the branch, as we have done this many times before,” Andrea says.

“However, the sheer number of projects referred to the committee this year has been a big challenge.

“There has been a significant workload on each of the project teams to develop and finalise their submissions. There has been an even greater workload on Brigadier Beutel as the Defence lead witness to manage so many projects presented so close together.”

She says with such a lot of committee hearings in one year, on two occasions they had two projects presented back-to-back and on one occasion three projects were briefed to the committee on the same day, with the hearings for those three projects conducted over a two-day period.

The PWC process starts with departmental approval of a project’s detailed business case and, if required, seeking government second-pass approval. The project teams then start preparing for the committee briefings and hearings.

The teams prepare a statement of evidence to outline the need for the project and the facilities to be constructed to meet this need. They also prepare a separate confidential cost estimate for the project.

The project is referred to the committee by a vote in Parliament and the statement of evidence is posted on the committee’s public website. The project teams then conduct public consultation sessions and the committee seeks public comment on the proposal.

“THE COMMITTEE PROCESS ALLOWS THE PARLIAMENT AND THE

COMMUNITY A MEASURE OF CONFIDENCE THAT PUBLIC MONIES SPENT ON INFRASTRUCTURE

ARE BEING SPENT APPROPRIATELY WITH THE

COMMITTEE.” BRIGADIER NOEL BEUTEL,

DIRECTOR-GENERAL CAPITAL FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The project teams also prepare a project briefing for the committee, which often includes a site inspection of the proposed works.

After being briefed on the project, the committee holds a public hearing. The committee questions Defence witnesses about the need for the project and the proposed facilities.

These public hearings also take evidence from interested members of the public who have made submissions during the consultation period. The public hearing is considered to be a formal proceeding of the Parliament and the evidence is recorded in Hansard.

The committee also conducts an in-camera hearing to examine the project’s cost estimates.

The committee then reports back to Parliament on its findings, including

Leila Fetter

Above and right, members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works receive a tour of RAAF Base Amberley facilities. Photos: Corporal Shannon McCarthy

any recommendations that come out of their inquiry into the project. Only when Parliament has approved the project can it proceed to construction.

“As the branch responsible for the development and delivery of major capital facilities projects, the PWC process is a prominent feature of our core business,” Noel says.

“We have a responsibility to the public to ensure that the facilities we provide enable Defence capability and that the facilities solutions developed provide a value-for-money outcome.

“The referral of 13 major projects to the committee in one year is a record for the branch and I am immensely proud of my project teams.

“They have worked hard to continue the good reputation that Defence has with the committee.”

Left, the Commanding Officer of 6 Engineer Support Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Johnson, leads a tour of RAAF Base Amberley facilities for Member of Parliament Graham Perrett.


The Australian Defence College introduces Google Apps for a Defence Learning pilot

TECHNOLOGY


APPS A BOOST FOR STUDENTS

“IT’S A BIG STEP FORWARD IN OUR COMMITMENT TO

INNOVATIVE AND FLEXIBLE LEARNING. STUDENTS WILL BE

ABLE TO ACCESS ACADEMIC MATERIAL ON ANY DEVICE, ANYWHERE AND ANYTIME

AND GOOGLE APPS WILL ALSO INCREASE THE ABILITY FOR

STUDENTS TO COLLABORATE ON JOINT TASKS.”

MAJOR-GENERAL SIMONE WILKIE, COMMANDER AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE COLLEGE

THE Australian Defence College (ADC) has implemented Google Apps for Education at its Weston Creek campus. Defence is the first major Australian Government

Department to roll out Google Apps.Staff and course members at the Australian

Command and Staff College began using a Cloud-based platform for unclassified academic studies in November.

Commander ADC Major-General Simone Wilkie says the site-wide roll-out was completed in January as Defence and Strategic Studies Course members begin using Google Apps.

“Google Apps is an exciting development for the ADC. It’s a big step forward in our commitment to innovative and flexible learning,” Simone says.

“Students will be able to access academic material on any device, anywhere and anytime. Importantly, Google Apps will also increase the ability for students to collaborate on joint tasks.”

The ADC’s Directorate of Learning Capability Development managed the Google Apps project, in conjunction with Chief Information Officer Group Business Relationship Management Office and Defence Legal.

The project included consultation with a number of government agencies to ensure security and privacy issues will be managed in accordance with policy requirements.

“Google Apps is replacing the ADC’s Open Student Network, which would have required substantial and costly remediation,” she says.

The Directorate’s Joint Learning Technology team, supported by a Google Enterprise Partner, completed the implementation in 17 weeks.

“This implementation was different to many others because we were able to focus on change management – getting people comfortable with the new platform, because the technology component already existed. Previously IT projects have required the bulk of effort on

Andy Anderson

Students at the Australian Defence College can now use

their tablets and other devices in conjunction with Google

Apps to learn and participate anywhere at any time.

Main photo: Lauren Larking

building and integrating servers and services,” Simone says.

“As a result, the user uptake and enthusiasm for using the new Google Apps environment is better than expected. Most users are really keen to see how Google Apps will modernise our learning environment.”

The Google Apps pilot complements the established ‘bring your own device’ WiFi environment for all staff and students, as well as its broad use of externally hosted Moodle learning management systems.

“Now that we have fully migrated to the Cloud we can decommission the old network. We no longer have to maintain servers, storage, patching, applications or a standard operating environment like we have in the past,” Simone says.

“The ADC will evaluate the Google Apps pilot to determine the potential for Cloud-based services to be introduced in other education and training environments.”

HOT NEW RESEARCH


Defence partners with Siemens and Queensland University of Technology on superconducting technologies

TECHNOLOGY

DEFENCE Science and Technology Group has signed a five-year strategic partnership agreement with Siemens and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

to undertake research and development in high-temperature superconducting technologies.

The research will explore applications of superconducting technologies for Australia’s maritime defence and industrial power requirements.

High-temperature superconducting technologies under development in superconducting motors, generators and magnets can carry high-density currents with virtually no loss and have the potential to reduce the size and weight of conventional motors by more than 30 per cent.

Chief Defence Scientist Alex Zelinksy says the partnership will focus on world-leading

research, investigate the military applications and transition research innovations to industry for the purpose of tangible advancements in Defence technology.

“This agreement is in line with our strategic goal to partner with the best talents in industry and academia to achieve a capability edge for Defence,” Alex says.

High-temperature superconductors have the potential to solve a range of challenges for Defence as well as Australia’s national power infrastructure.

“With superconducting technology we can halve the size and weight of current systems or achieve twice the power for the same size, all at higher efficiencies,” Alex says.

“Savings like these will allow for smaller, more agile ships and submarines or make room for more physical space to add further systems and capabilities in current designs.”

Siemens Chief Executive Officer Jeff Connolly says the agreement opens a pathway to more energy-efficient ships and more effective capacity utilisation.

“They will also have less environmental impact and will be cheaper to operate,” he says.

Professor Arun Sharma, of QUT, says the partnership is immensely valuable.

“It enables our university to pioneer research into superconducting motors and generators that can potentially replace diesel propulsion by superconducting-derived magnetic fields,” he says.

Alex says the three-way agreement is a good example of both industry and academia partnering on a game-changing technology.

“It brings together our collective expertise and synergies in support of Defence and national security,” he says.

From left, Chief Defence Scientist Alex Zelinsky, QUT Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and Commercialisation Professor Arun Sharma, Siemens Marine Solutions Global Head Andreas Schwan and Siemens CEO Jeff Connolly.

New technology could lead to more

energy-efficient ships.


BETTER VET ACCESSDefence and Veterans’ Affairs collaborate to improve ICT services, making

applications for support quicker and easier for personnel

PEOPLE SERVICES

THE Departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) are providing seamless and efficient exchange of information via a direct data link to improve the

services they offer to their clients and personnel.The changes have made a significant

improvement to the existing process for Defence members and veterans to submit applications for DVA support services online.

For the protection and security of Defence personnel information, a Data Management Agreement was established to enable DVA to have a direct data exchange from PMKeyS to DVA, according to Assistant Secretary Personnel Systems Modernisation Brenton Searle.

“Before this project came to life, Defence members and veterans had to wait up to four weeks to find out if they were eligible for

DVA services because of the slow manual information exchange between Defence and DVA,” Brenton says.

“Now members and veterans can perform a self-assessment online and receive confirmation on their eligibility for DVA entitlements within seconds.

“This technology innovation has broken new ground and represents an important step forward in further developing the exchange of information between the two departments and to further enhance services for DVA clients.”

Steve Trpseki, of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Delivery team, says in 2013 the Chief Information Officer Group (CIOG) and DVA embarked on the collaborative project to improve ICT business processes and, in May 2015, the two departments achieved the shared vision.

“This project is an example of the direction

Defence would like to progress post First Principles Review,” Steve says.

“The project provides a glimpse of how the requirement for enterprise-wide frameworks for architecture and master data management can be achieved through the use of SOA, and reflects CIOG’s desire for two-speed ICT delivery.”

Major General Dave Chalmers, the First Assistant Secretary Client and Commemorations, says making access to information quicker and easier for members and veterans is a great achievement for both departments.

“This result reflects the good work of the Defence and DVA program teams, and clearly shows the benefits of introducing a real-time data exchange service between the departments,” he says.

Leanne Blackmore

Defence and DVA personnel involved in a data link project that is benefiting veterans. Back row, from left: David Jonas, Wayne Fuller, Paul Hart, Steven Lowe. Front row, from left: Karen Giovinazzo, Fiona Davidson, Tony Pianca and Brenton Searle.

PSST... HELP IS OVER HERE


Defence People Services and Solutions Teams are available to provide advice and support on local workforce issues, recruitment

and retention, and career and performance management

Carla Roscoe and Michael Hughes

PEOPLE SERVICES

DEFENCE is a widespread organisation with a large workforce. From dealing with regionally specific issues and different time zones to differing population density and

varying access to services, Defence employees are well supported by People Services and Solutions Teams (PSSTeams).

PSSTeam Edinburgh in South Australia is one such team. Like their regional colleagues, team leader Julie Holder, Amanda Skewes, Helen Buzas, Anne Davenport, Lucia Polisena, Anika Wazlawek, Jenny Barrie and Tracy Valentyn are impacted by geography, population and, on occasion, limitations on career progression. We asked Julie what it’s like to work in a regional area and the different services her team offers.

Who are your main clients? We provide our suite of services to all South Australian APS employees and their APS and ADF

supervisors from all Defence Groups within the region.

Our biggest customers are from the Defence Science and Technology Group. They are a lively bunch of people working on really interesting projects.

We have a visiting service for Defence sites across the state with regular appointments set up for staff to meet with us. So we are often out and about interacting with our customers. Our furthest customer base is in Woomera, which is a five-hour drive. Unlike some of our colleagues in other regions we don’t have to fly to meet with our customers.

We also provide visiting services to the Edinburgh Defence Precinct, Woodside, Keswick and Warradale Barracks, the Air Warfare Destroyer Project, Australian Submarine Corporation and Port Wakefield sites.

These visits benefit us as we get to see interesting things we wouldn’t get to see if we’d

“A LARGE FOCUS OF OUR WORK CENTRES ON COMPLEX ISSUES

INVOLVING MANAGING POOR PERFORMANCE,

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT,

ATTENDANCE ISSUES AND BEHAVIOURAL CONCERNS.”

JULIE HOLDER, PSSTEAM EDINBURGH TEAM LEADER

Top left, People Services and Solutions Team members Jennifer Barrie, Darren Handberg, Anne Davenport and team leader Julie Holder.Above, former Regional People Services director Gina Craig, PSSTeam Edinburgh team leader Julie Holder and PSSTeam Enoggera team leader Stephen Brooke attend a workshop in Canberra. Photos: Corporal David Gibbs and David McClenaghan

stayed at our desks and we can better understand our customers and their needs.

What are the biggest challenges Defence people face working in regional areas?There are a variety of challenges for employees working in regional areas depending on their location and the type of work in which they are involved.

Employees in Woomera, for example, are in an isolated area with minimal services.

They face challenges on a daily basis such as access to appropriate schooling, access to hospital and specialist medical services and recreational facilities.

The prospect for career advancement can also be limited unless you are willing to move to Canberra or the eastern seaboard.

What are typical human resource issues you get asked to help with? Our work with customers covers a variety of situations ranging from something as straightforward as “how do I apply for long service leave?” to complex multi-faceted issues

where individuals don’t know where to start. A large focus of our work centres on complex issues involving managing poor performance, relationship management, attendance issues and behavioural concerns.

A reasonable portion of our work revolves around answering the technical human resource questions based on policy and legislation.

We are increasingly undertaking one-to-one coaching to assist people to drill down to the root cause of an issue and discover their own resolution options.

While we use a variety of methods to assist our customers to manage these situations, we tend to take a holistic perspective where we act as a conduit and actively link customers with other experts in the organisation to ensure all their needs are given the appropriate attention.

We find that our close relationships with centres of expertise are invaluable in providing a holistic human resource service that benefits everyone.

If there was a manual or instruction you wish your clients would read, what would it be?

The one point of reference we consistently refer our customers to is the Mutual Responsibilities in the DECA. These cut to the core of a lot of our more complex people issues, which involve performance, injury, illness and behaviour.

Your team is very collegiate. What are the tricks you use to work so well together? It isn’t one specific action that helps us to work well together – it’s about making it part of our everyday routine. We do a lot of talking to get to know and understand each other, take time to have fun and celebrate our successes and important personal milestones.

We take pride in providing a quality service to our customers and ensure we acknowledge and use the skills we each bring to the team where they are most effective. We don’t always come at an issue from the same perspective, but we acknowledge it’s okay when this happens and respect others’ expertise and points of view.

See the Mutual Responsibilities section in the DECA at www.defence.gov.au/dpe/pac/ and select DECA, Part A, A3-Mutual Responsibilities.

Find your local People Services and Solutions

Teams on the DRN

Search for “People Services and Solutions Teams” on

the DRN or PeopleConnect site to reach the PSSTeams

PeopleConnect page to find out more about your

regional team.


A peacekeeping course in Kenya tops off training experience

PEOPLE


UN TRIP HIGHLIGHT FOR GRADUATE

FOR RECENT graduate Bianka Zyra, a trip to Kenya, Africa, to instruct a United Nations peacekeeping course was a definite highlight of her time in the Graduate Development Program.

It also enabled her to put her qualifications and experience in international relations, public relations and communications to good use.

The trip was the final phase of her third rotation with the ADF Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC), which serves Defence, government organisations, and international defence forces by providing peace operations training, education, engagement and advice.

Leading up to her month-long stay at the Humanitarian Peace Support School in Nairobi, Bianka spent a month at RAAF Base Williamtown and a month in Russell Offices in Canberra.

In Williamtown, POTC conducted a United Nations Military Expert on Mission Course for military representatives from 21 different countries.

“Participating as a student was a wonderful experience as it allowed me to gain a thorough understanding of peacekeeping operations,” Bianka says.

“I engaged with servicemen and women from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Zealand and many other regional partners on a daily basis in training activities and syndicate discussions.

“I underwent training in a variety of areas in which I had never been exposed, including radio communications, GPS, navigation, first aid and four-wheel-driving.”

The next phase of Bianka’s rotation was in Canberra where she was instructed on how to be the administrative officer for the United Nations Military Expert on Mission Course to be delivered in Kenya. Here she acted as the focal point for the international instructors who POTC had invited to help conduct the course.

She liaised with five international teams to book flights, accommodation, prepare course material and present lessons.

The two phases prepared her for her time

in Kenya where she supported Australian and international instructors in facilitating the UN course, which was targeted at military officers from the Eastern Africa Standby Force and reinforced Australia’s relations with its African partners.

Bianka prepared and instructed two UN-mandated lessons to 22 students: Respect for Diversity and Protection of Children.

“Travelling to Africa and being able to instruct on the course was a great achievement and I was proud to support my team and represent the Department in this multinational setting,” she says.

Instructing the course on Respect for Diversity proved a particularly interesting experience for Bianka.

“I was rather nervous to be female, Caucasian and civilian teaching a room of male, African, military officers about diversity.

“I thought it would be intimidating but once I started the presentation the students were interactive and respectful. The lesson went well.”

While in Kenya, Bianka says she enhanced her interpersonal and verbal communication skills.

“The experience taught me that a smile goes a long way no matter what language someone speaks, culture they value, or religion they follow.

“I also built on my ability to interact in a culturally sensitive manner and respect differing views and ways of operating.”

Bianka is currently Staff Officer Multinational Relations and Interoperability with the Chief Information Officer Group.

With her background in communications, she is enthusiastic about working with people from around the world.

“I enjoy being the focal point for international project coordination, events management and multinational dialogue.”

Bianka says she found the Graduate Development Program to be challenging and rewarding.

She encourages future graduates to look for

Michelle Hazell

and create their own opportunities within the Department.

“POTC had never previously taken on a graduate so they were very interested when I contacted them and asked if they would be willing to take me,” Bianka says.

“Graduates need to know what they want, seek opportunities and create their own experiences.”

Bianka Zyra is encouraging graduates to seek their own opportunities.


Above, Bianka Zyra (far left) with other instructors, students and Defence attaches and Australian High Commissioner to Kenya John Feakes (centre) at the opening of the ADF Peace Operations Training Centre UN Military Expert on Mission Course in Nairobi, Africa.Below, Bianka with UN instructors, from left, Major Christopher Nobrega, Major Gobalakrishna Govindasamy, Lieutenant Colonel Damian Eaton and Lieutenant Colonel Kumareson Shanmugam at the Remembrance Day Memorial in Nairobi War Memorial Park.

“TRAVELLING TO AFRICA AND BEING ABLE TO

INSTRUCT ON THE COURSE WAS A GREAT

ACHIEVEMENT AND I WAS PROUD TO SUPPORT MY TEAM AND REPRESENT

THE DEPARTMENT IN THIS MULTINATIONAL SETTING.”

BIANKA ZYRA, STAFF OFFICER MULTINATIONAL RELATIONS AND

INTEROPERABILITY

Geoff Earley reflects on his challenging and interesting role as the first Inspector-General of the ADF

PEOPLE


JUSTICE HAS BEEN

SERVED

A T THE age of 14 Geoff Earley wanted to be a naval officer, a lawyer, or a rock-and-roll guitarist. He retired as the inaugural Inspector General

of the ADF (IGADF) on 21 December 2015, having achieved two out of his three ambitions.

Geoff, who spent 13 years as IGADF after having served 40 years in the Navy, says his brief was to monitor and provide an oversight of the military justice system.

“The office of the IGADF was established in 2003 as a result of a major review into the military justice system by James Burchett, QC, who was a justice of the Federal Court,” he says.

After a thorough review, Justice Burchett recommended there be a constant scrutiny of the military justice system by a military inspector-general.

“The opportunity to not only establish something entirely from scratch, but to be around long enough to develop it, is rare and it has been an honour and a privilege to have been entrusted to do that as the inaugural IGADF.”

According to Geoff, military justice is an often-used term, but it has different meanings to different people and is not defined in legislation.

He says he took a fairly simple view of what it meant.

“It simply means the need to maintain discipline appropriate to an armed service, but to do that with due account taken of individual rights,” he says.

“That provides the basic jurisdiction for the IGADF, which is now enshrined in the Defence Act. The role basically has two aims.

“The first is to provide the ongoing scrutiny of the military justice system that

Justice Burchett had recommended. The second is to provide an avenue where ADF members can be heard and can make complaints about alleged failures in the military justice system where the normal channels of redress may not be appropriate.”

Geoff says there have been some recent significant additions to his role.

“In July 2014, the CDF and Service Chiefs decided the role should be expanded to include the investigation and inquiry into deaths in service,” he says.

“The office also became the final level of internal review in Defence for redress of grievance applications prior to referral to a decision-maker.

“The other big change that occurred in July 2014, and came into force in legislation in 2015, is that the IGADF is now required to make an annual report to the Minister for tabling in Parliament. Before that the report was made to the CDF.”

One of the major initiatives introduced during Geoff’s tenure has been the Military Justice Performance Review Program.

As part of the program, teams visit about 50 units across the ADF each year to conduct an audit or performance review of the military justice arrangements at that unit.

“When it started, nobody liked to be audited and it was treated with some caution, but my objective from the beginning was not to create an organisation or project an image for the office that people should be afraid of,” Geoff says.

“Our objective has always been that we are a helping organisation.

“The audit program has now gained a

Sergeant Dave Morley

lot of acceptance and credibility, to the extent commanding officers across the ADF will often ask us to come out and do a performance review of their unit.

“We have audited more than 530 units.”According to Geoff, one of the major

challenges he faced was to convince people that his staff took an impartial, independent and objective view.

“THE OPPORTUNITY TO NOT ONLY ESTABLISH SOMETHING

ENTIRELY NEW FROM SCRATCH, BUT TO BE AROUND LONG

ENOUGH TO DEVELOP IT, IS RARE AND IT HAS BEEN AN

HONOUR AND A PRIVILEGE.”GEOFF EARLEY,

ADF’S INAUGURAL INSPECTOR-GENERAL

Geoff Earley’s career in Defence has spanned more than 50 years. Photo: David McClenaghan


“Even if they don’t get what they want in terms of support for whatever it is they’re complaining about, I would like them to at least accept that they’ve had a fair hearing,” he says.

“Of all the hundreds of submissions that we have dealt with, touch wood, none has yet been overturned or successfully challenged for want of legal rigour or process reasons.

“The cost of that is high in terms of checking and rechecking our work before it goes out, but I’m proud of the product produced each day.

“During my tenure, I had many opportunities to meet with my counterparts from around the world and to examine their approaches to military justice. Those experiences, together with

the work that the Office of IGADF does each day, confirm my belief that, despite the sometimes uninformed criticism of the ADF military justice system we see from time to time, our system is second to none and it functions extremely well overall.”

Geoff says he is going to miss the challenge and excitement of not knowing what’s going to happen the next day.

“Obviously, in this job we deal with matters that are unusual, in a sense they’re at the more complex end of the scale, and that’s always been interesting,” he says.

“Each year I think there’s nothing new that can happen that I haven’t heard about before, and each year I’m proved wrong.

“It’s been a challenging job but it’s been an interesting job and I have never doubted that it has been, and will remain,

an extremely worthwhile initiative for the ADF to have taken on.”

However, he will have plenty to keep him busy in retirement.

“I have a son in the Navy and another son working in America,” he says.

“I’m interested in training German shepherds. I’ll probably take up golf again and I recently joined an archery club.

“My wife and I have a place down the coast, which we’ve hardly had much time to enjoy, and we also plan to travel a bit overseas.”

The position of IGADF is an independent statutory authority appointed by the Defence Minister.

Geoff’s successor as IGADF is yet to be announced.

GEOFF Earley joined the Navy as a 15-year-old cadet midshipman in 1962, undertaking his initial training at HMAS Creswell and later at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth UK.

“I had no previous experience of the military apart from being in the Army cadets as a lance corporal,” he says.

His sea time included service in the Battle-class destroyer HMAS Anzac II, the guided-missile destroyer HMAS Hobart II, the hydrographic survey ship HMAS Moresby II and the replenishment oiler HMAS Supply.

He also served at Fleet Headquarters, was the commanding officer of HMAS Stirling for three years, Deputy Naval Officer Commanding WA Area and, for a short time, was the Naval Officer Commanding WA.

Other senior appointments included Director of the Naval Legal Service, Director-General of Service Conditions and Director-General of the Defence Legal Office.

He was also the last commandant of the Joint Services Staff College.

“I had to actually haul down the flag for the last time, which was sad. I’ve still got it,” he says.

In the Navy


Alan Hutchinson has been proud to serve his country

in the ADF and the APS. Photo: David McClenaghan

LOOKING back on 56 years of service, Alan Hutchinson says if he had his time again, he wouldn’t change a thing. Alan retired from his job as an EL1 trajectory safety officer at the

Directorate of Ordnance Safety at Campbell Park on 28 January. This brought to an end a Defence career of 36 years in the Army and 20 years in the APS.

Alan started his military life as a 19-year-old national serviceman in 1959. He enjoyed the Army so much he applied for the Officer Cadet School at Portsea in Victoria, later graduating as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Artillery.

He was transferred to 105 Battery in 1965, when it was preparing for deployment to South Vietnam.

“On arrival, we were sent to Bien Hoa Airbase, where we joined the Australian and New Zealand forces making up the 1st Royal Australian Regi-ment Battalion Group, operating as part of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade,” he says.

“In early January 1966, the 1RAR Bn Gp was involved in Operation Crimp in the Hobo Woods, above the Cu Chi Tunnels.

“We were ferried into the area by helicopter and came under fire as soon as we landed. I land-ed with the second wave of troops as the forward observer for Charlie Company.

“We landed on a hot landing zone with the US artillery doing preparation fire on us; they should have been dropping it on another LZ but decided to drop it on us.”

Alan says the Viet Cong were all around. “You could hear them digging in the tunnels at night,” he says.

In August 1966, Alan found himself involved at the tail end of the Battle of Long Tan, where 18 diggers were killed and 24 wounded.

He had been on another operation north of their headquarters at Nui Dat on the night of 17 August when the Australian Task Force HQ was mortared.

“I thought I’d finished my last operation and was getting ready to go home in a few weeks,” he says.

“I was trying to find a tent to move my gear into during the late afternoon, when I heard the calls of ‘fire mission, regiment’.

“Everything was going crazy, so I went back to my mates at D Coy, 5RAR, and we listened to the fire missions being called in as it got more serious.

“While we were listening to all the radio nets we got this unbelievable storm with thunder and lightning like you wouldn’t believe.”

Alan’s battery commander told him his forward observer party was going out as the ready-reaction company the following morning.

“We went out by helicopter to a pad and got picked up by armoured personnel carriers and taken to Battalion HQ,” he says.

“The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Colin Townsend, told us there were 18 diggers not accounted for at that stage and they thought they’d killed at least 100 VC, which made us feel a bit better.

“Then we moved forward in APCs and we were the left-front company when we got there.

“There was absolute devastation everywhere we looked; all the rubber trees had been flattened and powdered by the artillery rounds and there was mud and VC bodies everywhere – it was a scene that will stay with me forever.”

After Vietnam, Alan was had another nine years of overseas postings, two to the UK, one at the Australian Embassy in Washington and one with 108 Field Battery in Singapore.

He says the Washington posting was a fasci-nating one.

“I was there from 1982-84, as the Staff Officer One Armaments,” he says.

“It was a marvellous job; I didn’t want to come home.

“My job was to look at anything the US Army, US Marines and even the Canadians were buying

MEMORABLE CAREER

Alan Hutchinson has enjoyed his 56 years with Defence in a career that has included service in war and peace


“DEFENCE HAS BEEN MY LIFE FOR 56 YEARS;

I’VE BEEN PART OF A BIG FAMILY.”

ALAN HUTCHISON, VIETNAM VET AND

LONG-SERVING EMPLOYEE

PEOPLE


in the way of small arms and artillery. I was also involved with the Army’s procurement of the 155mm towed M198 howitzer.”

When Alan retired from the Army as a colonel in 1996, he was appointed to the then Defence Materiel Organisation as an assistant project director for Project Ninox.

Project Ninox comprised five major projects including perimeter surveillance equipment, night-fighting equipment, thermal surveillance systems, ground surveillance radars and unat-tended ground sensors.

“It was a good project and we delivered a lot of useful night-fighting equipment just in time for our troops to use in East Timor,” he says.

He was awarded a Chief of Army Commen-dation at the end of 2001 for his work on the project. After Project Ninox, Alan moved into the position of assistant project director in Na-vy’s Directorate of Minor Capital Projects.

“We bought a variety of minor items of equipment for Navy. I think minor items had a value of less than $10 million,” he says.

From there Alan moved into the posi-tion of Technical Staff Officer – Army (now TSO – Land) in the Directorate of Ordnance Safety in Joint Logistics Command in February 2007. The Directorate assesses the safety and suitability for service of weapons and explosive ordnance being introduced into ADF service.

In April 2010, he was awarded a Commander of Joint Logistics Commendation.

Alan says his Army background was of im-mense value to him when he joined the APS.

“I ‘spoke the language’, and after 36 years in the Army I knew the Defence culture,” he says.

“As far as materiel projects were concerned, as a former user I knew how important the pro-jects, with which I was involved, were to ADF members who needed the equipment.

“I think that previous ADF service is most useful to members of Defence who join the APS.”

He recommends that people starting their Defence APS career talk to as many ADF mem-bers as possible.

“Find out what makes them tick. Service in the ADF is unlike any other career. Those men and women are special people, who do a special job,” he says.

Alan received a farewell on his last day of service from Defence Secretary Dennis Rich-ardson and CDF Air Chief Marshal Mark Bin-skin. He says they were most kind to take time from their hectic schedules.

“They asked me about Long Tan, and what part of my career I enjoyed most. They thanked me for my service, and I am most grateful for their interest and their time.”

After having worked in Defence for so long, Alan says it felt peculiar to be leaving.

“Defence has been my life for 56 years; I’ve been part of a big family,” he says.

“You grow attached to it and it becomes part of you. It’ll be a bit strange for a couple of months but I’ll get used to it – everyone has to.”

The next phase in Alan’s life starts in March when he begins training as a volunteer guide at the Australian War Memorial.


PEOPLE

A volunteer firefighter found herself in the thick of the action while

fighting bushfires in South Australia

JODIE Petersen, a Logistics Clerk at Woomera Test range, was among Aerospace Operational Support Group members who put their lives on the line recently while helping their community fight the devastating South Australian Pinery

bushfires.Jodie is also a senior firefighter with the South

Australian Country Fire Service, where she assists with the co-ordination of firefighting efforts.

Since June 2014, she has attended many vehicle accidents and has gained extensive firefighting experience.

“I have fought every type of fire there is ranging from house fires to running grass fires,” she says.

Jodie recounted how her crew survived a burnover while fighting the Pinery fire in early December.

A burnover is when a crew becomes trapped by fire. In this case, she said it was a sudden and rapid wind change that they couldn’t outrun.

In a burnover, the crew bunkers down in the fire truck while the fire engulfs it. It is one of the worst-case scenarios for firefighters.

“We train regularly for burnovers,” Jodie says.“In our case, the training kicked in automatically. Our

burnover went for about 12 minutes in total – around four minutes of fire front, the rest of the time was smoke.

“It has been estimated the flames we were in during the burnover were around 1000 degrees Celsius – and all five of us came out without so much as a scratch, which highlights the benefits of good training and teamwork.

“The skills of teamwork and training that I have learned while working in Air Force have definitely assisted me in my firefighting.”

Jodie thinks it is important to be an active member of the community.

“The South Australian community supports us in Defence extremely well here. The ability to give something back to the community, which we are all a part of, in time of need is what motivates me to fight the fires,” she says.

Jodie Petersen in front of one of the South Australian Country Fire Service trucks used in the recent bushfire crisis. Photo courtesy CFS

Flying Officer Shane Ivimey

LIVES ON THE

LINE

The Senior ADF Officer – Edinburgh Defence Precinct, Air Commodore Stephen Meredith, says Jodie’s involvement in the CFS is just one example of Defence’s assistance to the civilian community.

“It is important for people to know that Jodie is a Hamley Bridge local herself,” Stephen says.

“While she was out selflessly defending her local community, she did not know whether or not she would have a home to go back to at the end of the day.

“Tragically, one of her crew lost his house. Jodie’s efforts truly embody our values of dedication and teamwork.”

As well as Defence members performing duties on the ground, Stephen says RAAF Base Edinburgh hosted a DC-10 air tanker in support of the CFS firefighting effort.

FIGHTING FOR TIMEThe McGoram family is grateful for the support they continue to

receive in their long battle with cancer

Aurora Daniels

TOM McGoram, of Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group, fell in love with his wife Sarah in 2001 when they met at a Wallaby and All Blacks game. Soon after,

she told him she had been diagnosed with a rare type of cancer and had been given only 12 months to live.

Fifteen years later, the couple and their nine-year-old son George are still fighting to buy the determined former schoolteacher more time to spend with her loving family.

Sarah, 37, has gastro intestinal stromal tumours (known as GIST) and has been working her way through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme-funded drugs that are approved for her condition. However, by mid-year her current medication, which has been approved free of charge from the pharmaceutical company on compassionate grounds, is expected to stop working for her.

The family will have to pay $280 a day for a new drug, Tom says.

“It is an arms race between the tumours

and the companies making the drugs to combat them,” Tom says.

“Sarah has had six major surgeries to remove tumours and parts of her bowel, including major liver surgery in January 2015 as the tumours had spread there as well.

“Unlike some other cancers, GIST doesn’t make Sarah look unwell most days. The tumours cause rapid internal bleeding, which means she goes from feeling OK to being in intensive care and having blood transfusions on the edge of life.”

After being asked time and again by family, friends and colleagues how they could help and where they could donate, the McGorams finally decided to accept offers of fundraising.

“It is a very difficult step. No one likes to ask for money so we both found it extremely uncomfortable, but dignity is a luxury you have when nothing terrible is happening in your life and is an option we no longer have,” Tom says.

The family is thankful to Defence for its

support over the past 13 years. Tom joined as a graduate when he finished his PhD in nuclear physics at the Australian National University.

“Defence has been very supportive in terms of flexible workplace arrangements,” Tom says.

He says his posting to the US in 2003 benefited Sarah’s health.

“It turned out that Boston is the world centre of expertise for GIST, so Sarah received life-saving surgery there and we got results from treatment that wouldn’t have been possible in Australia as there were just not enough cases here for specialists to gain all the knowledge and practice.”

The McGorams are overwhelmingly grateful to people who have dipped into their pockets to raise enough money for close to a year’s worth of medication.

To donate to buy Sarah time, visit http://youcaring.com/buytimeforsarah/ To register your support, visit www.facebook.com/groups/547165855431536

Tom McGoram with his wife Sarah and son George. Photo: Lindi Heap


PEOPLE

Defence is cleaning up World War II ammunition, helping to improve safety in Papua New Guinea and supporting

villagers to plant food crops and make a living

OPERATIONS


HELPING TO IMPROVE LIVES

Clockwise from top, Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel from No. 65 Air Base Recovery Squadron

relocate a World War II 500-pound bomb for destruction at a beach on the island of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, during Operation

Render Safe 2015.A World War II fighting pit filled

with abandoned ordnance before its destruction in Torokina, Bougainville,

during Render Safe 2014. 4.5 tonnes of World War II high explosive is destroyed off the coast of Bougainville

during Render Safe 2014. Photos: Leading Seaman Helen Frank and

Corporals David Cotton and Matthew Bickerton

OPERATION Render Safe is Defence’s annual series of operations that aims to safely dispose of World War II-vintage explosive remnants of war from

South Pacific island nations.In August 2015, the then First Secretary

Defence – Port Moresby, Lachlan McGovern, of the International Policy Division, visited Torokina in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, to see how Render Safe has changed the locals’ lives. He had visited many times since mid-2013 to build community awareness of the operation.

“I was keen to see old friends and hear their stories,” Lachlan says.

“District Manager Simon Koraikove told me that communities are appreciative of Render Safe’s contribution. They are opening the cleared land for food gardens, cash crops and schools.

“A cocoa project funded by the World Bank and World Vision is also using land cleared during Render Safe and contributing to economic development and employment, with 500 locals now farming cocoa.

“Bomb awareness has also improved. Simon emphasized the benefits of Render Safe for the women and children of Torokina.”

Lachlan says these sentiments were shared by the villagers he encountered during the visit.

“Also evident in communities was the Render Safe paraphernalia distributed before and during the operation, and the accoutrement left behind, all demonstrating the affection locals felt towards Render Safe and the personnel who participated,” he says.

An example of this was the participation of Torokina women on a course facilitated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to prepare Bougainvilleans to attend police training in Port Moresby.

“These women told DFAT representatives they were inspired to join the police force following their interaction with the women on Render Safe,” Lachlan says.

“Another dividend from Render Safe was the delivery of 5000 books for primary school libraries in the Torokina district. The request for the books was made to Commander Joint Task Force Navy Captain Jay Bannister during

Operation Render Safe 2014, and arranged by the Australian High Commission in Papua New Guinea.”

He says Torokina is a remote part of Bougainville and remains difficult to reach, which is a constraint on broader economic and social development.

“Simon is particularly interested in building a road link to enable vehicle traffic to reach Torokina from Arawa, using Render Safe-cleared land,” Lachlan says.

“He is extremely thankful for Render Safe, and he and the people of Torokina know that while Render Safe won’t make all the difference, it has vastly improved the quality of their lives.”

Then First Secretary Defence – Port Moresby

Lachlan McGovern visits Bougainville.


NO MORE VIOLENCE


Defence personnel mark White Ribbon Day at the Australian Defence Force Academy

COMMUNITY

Darryl Johnston and Michelle Fretwell

VIOLENCE against women starts from a lack of respect. Men can choose to be violent against women or not. They can also choose to seek help to deal with their violent

behaviour. These were the messages from the 2015 Australian of the Year and anti-domestic violence campaigner, Rosie Batty, at Defence’s White Ribbon Day flagship event on 1 December 2015.

Rosie was joined at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra by V8 Supercar champion Craig Lowndes, more than 600 Defence personnel, Australian Federal Police and Emergency Services representatives, as well as ACT Government community service workers.

Chief ABC political reporter Chris Uhlmann acted as Master of Ceremonies and interviewer.

During the event Rosie related her own story in which her son was killed by his father at a junior cricket training session in country Victoria.

Her account of that day in February 2014 brought some members of the audience to tears. She also spoke about how she felt being named Australian of the Year following such a horrific event.

“I felt undeserving because I was standing beside people who had done something, whereas I was there because something was done to me,” Rosie says.

“Since Luke’s death it has been bittersweet – feelings of incredible pride but at the same time feeling that I do not deserve this and the pain that goes with that.

“But I have also been given, and continue to receive, amazing opportunities, respect and assurance from people I meet.

“This has helped me to find purpose in my life and give me direction.”

She says violence against women comes from a lack of respect that can be passed down from father to son. It is also a choice men make and it is no longer hidden behind closed doors.

“As a society we still find it difficult to

believe and understand that violence towards women and children is a gender issue and that it comes from a lack of respect,” she says.

“We still want to blame drug and alcohol abuse, the woman, mental illness, everything, to try and make sense of something that makes no sense.

“It’s a topic that used to be hidden behind closed doors, which no one acknowledged, no one intervened and no one cared about.

“In many cases men who themselves are suffering from addiction, depression or mental illness can choose to be violent towards women, or seek help instead.

“My message to young people is: it doesn’t matter who you are, male or female, you will have incredible challenges in your life. At some point you may suffer from anxiety, depression or post traumatic stress. The questions are, ‘What are you going to do about it? Who are you going to talk to? Who are you going to reach out to? Who are you going to listen to?’ ”

Craig says young men need positive role models and male attitudes towards women are slowly changing.

“Violence against women is not only physical, but also emotional. Social media plays a large part,” he says.

“We use social media in motor racing to communicate with fans. They can be very passionate, but some of the comments can be very degrading.

“When using social media, people should take a step back before posting their comments and ask whether they would like that said about them.”

Craig says attitudes towards women in traditionally male-dominated sports, such as motor racing, are changing.

“When I first got into motor racing, it was very much a blokes’ sport,” he says.

“In the past, women were the receptionist or worked in administration. But now there is a lot more depth in the industry. We have female mechanics, engineers and drivers.”

“As a team, we have about 46 full-time

workers and now it is almost a 60/40 split between men and women,” he says.

According to Craig, even the fan base has changed, with whole families, including mothers and daughters, attending race meetings.

The flagship event was summed up by reminding the audience that violence is a choice and referring to the book Man’s Search for Meaning, in which Viktor Frankl chronicles his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II: “To be radically free and to have a choice on how to respond to the circumstances is the essence of leadership.”

Right, motor racing champion Craig Lowndes

speaks at Defence’s flagship White Ribbon Day event

at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Aunty Agnes Shae, of the Ngunnawal Elders Council, delivers the welcome to country for the

Defence White Ribbon flagship event.

“AS A SOCIETY WE STILL FIND IT DIFFICULT

TO BELIEVE AND UNDERSTAND THAT

VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN AND CHILDREN IS A GENDER ISSUE AND THAT IT COMES FROM A

LACK OF RESPECT.”ROSIE BATTY, ANTI-DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE CAMPAIGNER

Left, CDF Air Chief Marshal

Mark Binskin and Rosie Batty

at the event.Photos: John Carroll



COMMUNITY

WHITE Ribbon Ambassador Rod Harrod has issued a heartfelt challenge to his Defence APS colleagues to stand up to violence against

women and take up the White Ribbon cause. “There are about 90 White Ribbon

Ambassadors in Defence today – only one is a member of the APS and that is me,” he says.

“The challenge is for more male members of the Defence APS to join me and become White Ribbon Ambassadors.”

Rod was delivering the closing address at the Defence White Ribbon flagship event and thanking special guests Rosie Batty and Craig Lowndes.

Rod spoke strongly and passionately about the White Ribbon cause, talking from very close personal experiences.

“Tragically, we know that one in three women in Australian society will suffer physical or sexual violence in her lifetime,” he says.

“This could be our mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends. So it’s likely that violence against women actually affects all of us here today.

“It certainly affects me at a very personal level, as I live every day with the damage that men can do.”

Unbeknown to most people in the audience, Rod’s wife had been abused by men in her life. She felt compelled to reveal her dark secret not long after they first met. Over the years, Rod’s wife has received professional support to deal with post traumatic stress, depression and anxiety.

Fortunately they have built successful lives, raised two children and made a valuable contribution to society, with Rod being

awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2012 and his wife being a two-time finalist in the Lifeline ‘Women of Spirit’ award.

Rod says Defence has the same aims as the White Ribbon campaign, and with a predominantly male work force, “we are in a prime position to support the White Ribbon cause”.

“Each of the Services has also been very active in their support of the White Ribbon Foundation and gained important accreditation for their efforts,” he says.

Rod issued a personal plea to all men in Defence.

“I hope you will think about what we, particularly us men, can do to combat violence against women and within families,” he says.

He says leaders in Defence can take concrete action, including:

l leading by positive example, not be part of the silent majority, but taking an active role in influencing the minority of men to “unlearn” their destructive behaviour;

l becoming advocates and ambassadors of White Ribbon; and,

l buying a White Ribbon pin or wrist band and wearing it as a clear sign that you do not excuse violence against women and are committed to supporting the change that we desperately need in our society.He ended by inviting men in the audience

to stand and leading them in the White Ribbon oath: “I will stand up, speak out and act to prevent men’s violence against women.”

CHALLENGE FROM THE

HEARTA passionate supporter of the White Ribbon cause encourages

all men in Defence to fight violence against women

White Ribbon Ambassador Rod Harrod delivers his address at the Defence White Ribbon flagship event at the Australian Defence Force Academy.Photo: John Carroll

Darryl Johnston

SENIOR male leaders in Defence People Group (DPG) marked White Ribbon day by taking the White Ribbon Oath to stand up, speak out and act to prevent men’s violence against women, and challenged other males of Defence to follow their lead.

White Ribbon Day 2015 was celebrated on 25 November. White Ribbon is the largest male-led movement in Australia and encourages men to stand up and speak out against violence against women.

Defence has more than 92 White Ribbon Ambassadors.

White Ribbon Ambassadors are the leaders and faces of the White Ribbon Campaign – they are men and boys who incorporate White Ribbon values into their daily lives.

Head People Policy and Culture Richard Oliver says Defence’s ongoing commitment to driving cultural change plays a strong role in influencing change for

the families who experience violence in the home.

“By showing a strong commitment, we set a positive example for our staff and family members who may have experienced or witnessed violence against women,” Richard says.

Head People Capability Air Vice Marshal Tony Needham also expressed his commitment to White Ribbon Day and cultural change.

“Entrenching cultural change in our future workforce is of the utmost importance,” he says.

“I have no doubt that by showing our strong commitment as senior leaders, our staff are encouraged to do the same.”

Other DPG male senior leaders to take the White Ribbon Oath include Commander Grant Ferguson, Paul Way, Stan Mitchell, Lindsay Kranz and John Geering.

Entrenching cultural change

First Assistant Secretary People Services Richard

Oliver and Air Vice Marshal Tony Needham

show their support for the White Ribbon cause.

“THIS COULD BE OUR MOTHERS, SISTERS,

DAUGHTERS AND FRIENDS. SO IT’S LIKELY THAT

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACTUALLY AFFECTS ALL OF

US HERE TODAY.”ROD HARROD,

WHITE RIBBON AMBASSADOR



Despite its size, the Changi War Museum in Singapore has a lasting impact on visitors

MORE than 1000 Defence civilians rolled up their sleeves to help the annual Defence Blood Challenge reach a new benchmark

in 2015.They made 1071 donations, which helped

to reach a record 6549 donations during the four-month competition.

The total number of donations from 1 September to 8 December was enough to save the lives of 19,647 people.

The challenge pitted the Groups and Services against one another with the aim of boosting Australia’s blood supplies before the busy Christmas and New Year period.

A highlight of the challenge was the battle for third place, with the APS pipping Navy.

Army was a clear leader with 2685 donations, followed by Air Force with 1715. There were 1062 donations from APS staff

and 1025 from Navy. Defence personnel made an incredible effort to attend a Red Cross Blood Donor Centre and make a blood or plasma donation to exceed the target of 6000 donations.

Defence Blood Challenge Ambassador Phil Bartholomeusz says employees did well.

“It was a great effort by Defence APS employees and the highlight for us was beating Navy into third place,” he says.

Phil says he enjoyed the journey as a Defence Blood Challenge Ambassador.

“It has been very enlightening about how we can make a major difference to someone through such a small effort as a blood donation,” he says.

Red Cross Australia’s Sally Gavin praised Defence personnel for their generosity in giving blood.

“Great efforts were made in all states across Australia, with South Australia

contributions matching that of the ACT,” she says.

“Having a proactive Defence Blood Challenge Ambassador, Phil Bartholomeusz, sharing his story about how the need for blood affected his family directly, always motivates donors by putting a face to the cause.”

Sally says a feature of the competition was the increase of plasma donations from all Services, at all levels of rank.

“Time is precious, but so is their donation. These remarkable donors understand that even though it takes a little longer to donate plasma, it is the liquid gold they are donating that is life changing for so many Australians,” she says.

Defence Blood Challenge organiser Gary Schulz says the target for the 2016 event, which will run from 1 September to 8 December, will be 7000 donations.

COMMUNITY

RECORD RESPONSE

Defence Blood Challenge Ambassador Phil Bartholomeusz with Billy the Blood Drop. Photo: Lauren Larking

Blood donors roll up their sleeves to help save more than 19,000 lives


APS and ADF members lace up their hiking boots and step out to raise $116,000 for Mates4Mates in memory of Sergeant Andrew Lund


A GROUP of 29 current and former APS and ADF members and their mates took part in a Kokoda trek from 10-20 October 2015, raising $116,000 for Mates4Mates along

the way.Pay and Administration Branch staff member

and former 1 Aviation Regiment soldier Wes Jasper, who works in Campbell Park Offices in Canberra, was one of the instigators of the trek.

He says the trekkers’ initial aim was to raise $50,000 for Mates4Mates.

“To say I am pleased about raising $116,000 would be an understatement,” he says.

The walk was called ‘Lundy’s Trek’ and was dedicated to the memory of former Army Sergeant Andrew Lund, an Iraq War veteran who lost his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder in November 2013.

“I was in 1 Aviation Regiment with Lundy

from 2000-01 and we were both from Ballarat, so we had an immediate connection,” Wes says.

“I went to school with two of Lundy’s sisters.”

Wes says Mate4Mates was chosen because of the work they did for people in Sergeant Lund’s situation.

“If we can save one ‘Lundy’ then we will feel as if we have achieved something,” he says.

“Serving and former Defence members need to know there is help out there – please use it.”

According to Wes, Andrew joined the Army at 23 to create a better life for himself and his family.

“He was 43 and battling severe PTSD when he took his own life,” he says.

“The Army was the chance to develop personally and professionally, to build a career and create financial security for his kids.

“Tragically, he is no longer with us and he

will never understand how many people he had, and was having, a positive influence on.

“He left behind two kids, his wife, a very large family and so many mates he loved.”

For more information, visit www.lundystrek.com.au or to donate go to www.everydayhero.com.au/event/lundystrek2015/

Defence has a range of options available to help those with mental health issues: All-hours support line – 1800 628 036. Defence family helpline – 1800 624 608. Veterans and Veterans’ Families Counselling Service – 1800 011 046. Lifeline – 13 11 14

“IF WE CAN SAVE ONE ‘LUNDY’

THEN WE WILL FEEL AS IF WE

HAVE ACHIEVED SOMETHING.”

WES JASPER

Pay and Administration Branch staff member Wes Jasper with

Faori, one of the last Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. Faori lives in

Menari village in Papua New Guinea and helped 2nd AIF

diggers by carrying munitions and supplies along the Kokoda

Track during World War II.

MILES FOR MATES

COMMUNITY

Find us online at www.defence.gov.au/defencemagazine

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