Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade

Completed Inquiry: Review of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence Annual Reports, 2000-2001

List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

The Department of Defence should, in preparing reports of unacceptable behaviour, separate incidents into serious and less serious. The types of behaviour that fall into these categories should be defined in the report (paragraph 3.40).

Recommendation 2

The Department of Veterans Affairs should develop an information package clarifying what Australian Defence Force conditions of service equate to under the provisions of the Veterans Entitlements Act 1986 (paragraph 4.19).

Recommendation 3

The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) should develop information fact sheets for all deployments covered by DVA, stating what benefits and assistance are available to Australian Defence Force personnel serving on those deployments. This information should be posted on the DVA website (paragraph 4.20).

Recommendation 4

The Department of Defence should develop a compulsory survey questionnaire which should be provided to all ADF personnel three to six months after returning from an operational deployment. This survey is in addition to the ADF Census which is held every four years (paragraph 4.28).

Recommendation 5

The ADF Census should be amended to ensure that a person in a defacto relationships is no longer regarded as single (paragraph 4.29).

Recommendation 6

The Department of Defence must ensure that the use of decompression periods for all ADF personnel returning from operational deployments is mandatory (paragraph 4.51).

Recommendation 7

The Auditor-General should consider conducting a performance audit focusing on transition management programs conducted by the Department of Defence (paragraph 4.76).

Recommendation 8

The Department of Defence should provide access to outplacement services for all ADF personnel as part of the Career Transition Assistance Scheme (paragraph 4.89).

Recommendation 9

The Department of Defence should provide access to specialised employment services for the spouses of ADF personnel (paragraph 4.90).